Callahan’s Irish Pub

This place has floors that, even when you’re shoes and the ground is dry, you slip on. I almost went down three times. The furniture looks like it came from a Walmart and it’s falling apart, just like you’d expect from that grade of crap. It smelled so bad in the bar area (like beer and puke) that we left… after downing a bunch of dollar beers. This is truly the Walmart of bars, if I have ever seen one. Yuck!

I can say as a person working across the street that this bar is probably the worst in Carbondale we had to sometimes use our bouncers to break up fights started over there and the drinking tickets don’t get me started. They call themselves «sports bar» and recently did an image change to saluki bar again to probably avoid bad press associated. They play the favorites like most bars cept more so. It is known for being TKE territory so that’s what you make of it. Good for underclassmen and sketchy people. It’s kinda like the walmart of bars for people watching just make sure you don’t get thrown up on.

Saluki Bar: terrible. I can second that scam recently mentioned. No proof of course, but VERY sketchy that I am constantly overcharged. I’m convinced the waitresses overcharge to get their own drinks on the job free. You should always do this, but especially keep track of your tabs here! And god d*mn it, get some L brackets and fix those F*cking table chairs before someone collapses on their ass.
Also, Ry N. is a troll. Check out his comment on Cali’s. He obviously works for saluki/Cali’s/stix or something.
Long live Winston’s bagels!

This is actually the worst bar in carbondale. The staff have serious issues and this is where all the sketchy locals come to hang out. It’s very dirty and the atmosphere sucks too.

Finally, the actual death of Callahan’s. This use to be one of the only places that catered to the upper classmen, grad students, and professors in town. Then they decided to go 18 and over like Pinch, but worse, turn it into the Carbos/​SIN/​whatever else they called that hell hole of a dance club next door. Now instead of Callahan’s, it is Saluki Bar and Grill.
A large half rectangle bar is the impressive center piece that it always has been. There use to be a huge selection of all things booze. Some really nice whiskeys, lots of other good liquor. High top tables and a room for pool tables. Now, it is similar, but TV’s in every direction. It went from Irish bar, to dance club, to sports bar.
With the identity crisis, the somewhat decent beer list and huge liquor selection dwindled. Then, my favorite pub grub spot outside of Mugsy’s stopped serving food. It use to be one of my favorite spots for fish and chips. Service was always hit and miss, though really passive now.
The reinstated kitchen is a joke. Store bought wings, and mozzarella sticks. Crappy burgers and wraps. Some of the best pub grub in Carbondale turned to pre packaged crap. Avoid.

It is one of the better places in Carbondale to go for well assembled mixed drinks. They tend to be more consistent than other Carbondale bars in handling complex drink orders. I haven’t had as much trouble here as at other places in Carbondale.
The seating and reliance on server coming to tables for the operation of the bar tends to provide a natural limit to how crowded the bar can get. Even on Saturdays it is a bar that it is possible to have a conversation at.
The food is good but not stellar during the hours they serve it.

I might be biased– I’m a bartender from a bigger city. I got served decently quickly, but one bartender was a bitch and totally screwed up a basic drink. The second bartender also totally screwed up the same basic drink, but put like 2x the alcohol in it (as opposed to half from the first) so I didn’t mind as much.
The bathrooms are past security, but the door/​security guys didn’t seem to give a damn anyways, so getting in and out was easy. Weird overflow with the dance half, a lot of girls in really slutty outfits. Interesting experience for people watching!

This is a favorite place of many in Carbondale. They have an array of top shelf drinks and are always packed on the weekends. In my experience, though, the bartenders are good on nights where it’s not so crowded. However, if it’s crowded, it can take 20 minutes to get a drink. You’re better off getting a table and hoping a waitress comes to you because you’re probably not going to get a drink at the bar. It’s a good place to chat with friends, though, because you can actually have a conversation.