150 Main Street
Claire City, SD 57224
Roberts County
Phone: (605) 652-4621
Fax: unknownWebsite: no website on fileEmail: no email on fileHours: unknown
by Nobody M. on Post apocalyptic steam punk artifacts (as well as architectural elements of The Edison) create a Vampire-chic atmosphere and combine to form a dark, Victorian Gothic environment that is rarely experienced anywhere outside of the imagination. If you ever find yourself in the enviable position to host an event for Lestat, Escher, Bauhaus, Stalin, Nikola Tesla, Mary Shelley, David Bowie and Bram Stoker, this would be the place to do it.
by Hilton Chachere on So last Thursday, my friend Scott's friend's band Tornado Rider was playing at the El Rio. I'd brought 2 people with me from the East Bay and met up w/ Scott down the block. We thought we'd go in for some $1 PBRs (I know, I know: PBR is gross, but it's also $1 during happy hour, which lasts til 9, so, I mean, what can you expect? I'm unemployed right now, okay?) at about 8 and just hang out and wait for the show to start. Only we get to the door and discover that there's some music festival going on until about 9 and they expect us to pay $8-$12 to go in, listen to the last 50 minutes of this festival that we aren't even interested in, and drink some cheap beers. This didn't sit well with us, as 75% of the group is about as broke as I am. So we left and went next door to Nap's, which I'll review later. I mention this because, as a result of the El Rio charging an exorbitant cover for an event that we had no desire to see (a cover which, it turns out, had we paid, wouldn't have gained us access to the later show that we were coming for), we totally missed happy hour. Oh, well. C'est la vie, I suppose. But this shan't soon be forgotten, El Rio! No, no it shan't. When we finally came back at 9ish, there was no cover. But there was also no $1 PBR. And all of the other beers were listed at like $4.50+--not sure whether or not those were happy hour prices (someone said they were, but that would seem rather ridiculous, so I hope they just thought I was looking at the wrong sign)--so we ended up drinking $2 PBR cans all night...you know, to chase that $9 flask of Jameson from the liquor store right down the street. As a bar, the El Rio is fine. Its interior is nothing special and doesn't stand out in a good OR bad way. It's a bar with a pretty limited and expensive beer selection and liquor that I'm sure is equally expensive. The exterior is where it really makes its mark. The backyard is phenomenal. Chairs, small tables, picnic tables, a patio that they roll an area rug over, chairs, lights hanging from trees, and an overall pretty verdant look. It's always nice when bars have outdoor areas--not only for those of us who (shamefully) indulge in drunken cigarettes, but also for anyone who isn't a fan of overcrowded bars and likes to enjoy their drinks in an outdoorsy setting (which, to be honest, may very well be as busy as the interior of the bar). My friends and I weren't enthralled with the crowd outside, though. There was nothing wrong with them, of course, but there seemed to be this "young pretty city" thing going on. Can't really articulate it; maybe I'm just used to being surrounded by hipsters and punk rockers at all the bars I go to (the latter, I lust after, the former, I ignore) and so seeing the rare J. Crew catalog subscriber now comes as a surprise. And a frightening and unsettling surprise, at that. Still, while perhaps not really my "scene" or crowd, everyone seemed pretty nice and, with the exception of my drunken and loquacious friend, pretty much stayed within their circle of friends. The room that the show was in was cool and small. The sound wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either, and there's a lounging couch in the back. I'm sure it's a fun place to dance and just hang out. We didn't watch that much of the show; although Tornado Rider is good (check 'em out: drums, bass and CELLO! with a unique sound), after watching the end of their first set, we decided to return to our post outside and continue drinking $2 PBR under the late-night San Francisco fog. I won't go out of my way to head back to the El Rio (especially because, being all the way down by Cesar Chavez, it's wayyyy further down Mission than I generally travel), but I'm not going to complain next time there's a show I want to see there, because I know that there's a great patio and at least 1 cheap beer for me to drink.
by Jack Peretti on My ex-boyfriend from high school (seven years ago--does he even count?) came up to San Francisco, so we went clubbing. Yeah, what a crazy idea and nah, there was no romance rekindling. The romance died in 2001 when I discovered he was Republican (ewww). Haha. Anyway, I was his wingwoman for the night at 330 Ritch. We came early to avoid the cover and thank goodness for that. It would NOT have been worth 15 bucks. The club itself is cozy and reminiscent of a New York pad with its brick walls and dark decor. I loved the Sex Not on the Beach (pink champagne?) I was imbibing that wasn't mine. I'm totally a Sex Not on the Beach girl--sandy bottoms just isn't my cup of tea. Besides the fact that it never got uncomfortably packed, there's not much else that would recommend this venue. The music was terrible (90's stuff)--I'm surprised Ice Ice Baby wasn't playing. There's not much I miss from that decade except Bill Clinton, cheap gas, and original movies (i.e. not a sequel, not a spin-off, not a spoof). The crowd on Saturday was very Asian. Being Asian, I love Asian people, but being in America, I also love other people--even a club I went to in Cambodia had a higher diversity index than this place. I'm glad I didn't come here hoping to find someone (not that I ever do when I go out to a nondescript club in a dark alley), otherwise I would've been capital-D Disappointed. I had a fun time, but I also have fun sleeping--it was great to be home by 1AM. The only thing that would've been more fun was a trip to In-N-Out Burger. Mmmm!
