M. M.

Four stars for effort as I understand this place recently changed hands and the new owners are making some improvements. As an out-of-towner, I found the location kinda interesting It seems to be located in front of some sort of weird residence motel out in the middle of corn field nowhere, although it is on a main artery (Rt. 40) and convenient to major highways. A ten-minute-or-less drive up a dark country road will put you smack in the mall/ hotel outskirts of Hagerstown with dozens of chain restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, large hotels, grocery, drugstore, you name it, so you're not really in the boonies. Basically this is a biker bar turned music venue (at least on some nights) that features local bands, 80s nights and the occasional national club act like Green Jelly. It looks like a little place but is surprisingly big inside, with a big bar room, a pool room of almost equal size, and a really big band room with lots and lots of tables and chairs and room left over to stand down in front. The size and proportion of the band room is great, as so many of these places are like a narrow alley and this one is wide. The bands sound better, there is room to dance if you want to do that, and lots of places to sit and take a load off, which is important if you're attending a long show and over a certain age. Atmosphere felt safe, staff were generally nice and there is a ton of parking on the neighboring lawn as well as the few spots in front of the bar. I'm not expecting these places to be geek beer heaven - most of the selections are standard American mass market brands - but they did have a few interesting choices, although when I went back for a second day it seemed like some selections had run out. The food is not all that great right now (limp fries with a lot of cheeze whiz, etc.) so I ate somewhere else before I went down for the show. A more organized beer list and some better food would be a good addition, since the place is calling itself a "bar and grill". Worth a visit if a band you like is appearing.