The CC Club

Shannon and I went to The CC Club for dinner the other night after much deliberation and discussion. We had been there before for drinks with some friends a while ago and had a dismal experience. Horrible service, a dank, dirty atmosphere, and too many loud, obnoxious drunks. But maybe dinner time would be better? And... it was. But I still don't know if I ever need to go there again.

We walked in a few minutes past 7:00pm and were stopped by a guy sitting at the first booth eating a platter of tacos. He demanded to see our IDs, so he was either a bouncer or just a guy who loves eating tacos and looking at strangers' drivers licenses. Either way, it was a little weird to show an ID just to get into a pub at dinner time. So if you're 20 years old and just want a burger, move along, son. No luck eating here. And then, after were sat down at a booth near the center of the room, a waitress took our drink order and then asked if we were going to be paying by cash or credit. When I said it was going to be credit, she said she would need my card upfront in order to open a tab. Again, this was dinner time. Being forced to open a tab or pay immediately is a policy that makes sense later at night when there are drunk people demanding drinks, but it hardly seems necessary when you're sitting at a table and ordering dinner. But, whatever, that's their policy and it's their right to enforce it.

The drink specials were a few different mediocre taps for 3 bucks a piece, which is pretty much the norm for an Uptown Happy Hour, though their happy hour runs until 11pm most nights which is pretty cool.

I got the chicken tender basket, which came with a generous six pieces of chicken, fries, cole slaw, toast (?), and a choice of either barbecue sauce, honey mustard, or both. Honestly, who's not going to choose both when given that kind of option? The menu boasted that the tenders are the "best in town," and while I probably wouldn't go so far as to say that's accurate, I certainly can't think of any that are better. They were darn good chicken tenders. The fries were good as well, but nothing memorable or all that special. They were just fries. The toast was toast, and I surprised myself by eating both pieces and kind of wanted more. I can't comment on the cole slaw because I don't eat that crap.

Shannon got a patty melt, which was also pretty good as far as these things go. It was a good, greasy burger smushed between two pieces of bread, and smothered with onions and cheese. CC Club is one of those places where the burgers only come with potato chips for some reason, so if you want fries you'll have to pay extra. But at least the chips were quite good. I'm not sure if they were from a bag or home made, but if they were home made I wouldn't be surprised.

Service was perfunctory without being all that good or all that bad. She was there when we needed her and was probably nice enough, but not so nice that I really remember. Shannon did spill half a glass of beer, however, and the waitress was nice enough to bring her a new one free of charge. At least... we think it was free. We never actually got an itemized so that kind of remains a mystery, but I'm pretty sure it was free. Anyway, that tipped the service over the line past perfunctory to actually being good. So there you go.

All things considered, the CC Club has good bar food, but I don't think it compares with the Bulldog which is right across the street, nor does it hold a candle to The Herkimer or the Uptown Bar, all of which have exceptional bar food and much better ambiance. But CC Club is definitely the cheapest of the four, and it is certainly good enough for at least one visit, but I don't feel the need to go back. It's the kind of place I probably wouldn't visit of my own volition, but if a friend wanted to, I'd definitely be up for some chicken tenders and toast. But I'm still not gonna eat the cole slaw.

3 out of 5