Brass Rail

I always end up being dragged here and I don’t know why! The beer selection & seating are virtually non existent. Oh yeah, cash only and don’t expect much help from the bartender.

I like a dive bar as much as anyone else, but I expect the beer to be good. The Brass Rail is a diaper. I ordered a PBR draft and it was easily the skunkiest beer I have ever tasted: creamy at first, smelling of ash, and absolutely toxic afterwards. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume they never flush their tap lines. If you wind up here late at night, spare yourself the pain and order a bottle or can.

why am I writing a review about my favorite bar? I mean, I was there last friday night and there were all these hipbros (Jack Threads dressed kinda fratty dudes) and they were all loud and dumb. Did they read reviews and decide to show up? Was one of my friends responsible for this, possibly telling one of their work mates about a fun downtown bar? Oh shit… I“m becoming part of the problem. Well. the deal is the Rail is the shit. and the owner isn’t trying to become some tycoon. He’s a pretty sweet older dude. The bartenders are great, the juke box can be a bit fun, the dart are plastic and shitty. This is what rocks. The beers pour nicely. The booze is mighty fine. No redbull or credit card jerkasses. this is to keep things real.
Are you kinda chill, a bit outside the box? stop in. Are you a douche? eh, you still deserve a shot of fireball… then leave.

Brass Rail is a nice little dive bar I had the pleasure of wandering in earlier this month. The place is cash-​only, which kind of stinks, but it’s small and quiet. Quiet is a rare commodity on Friday nights in Downtown Champaign, and so it’s a great stop for when you actually want to have conversations with the people you’re out with.
The selection of alcohol is pretty good. The beers are pretty much all American domestics (it’s a dive bar, come on) but I was really stoked that they had Old Grand Dad 100 on the bar– it’s one of my favorite low-​price bourbons, and the liquor selection is pretty decent. Plus the bartender was friendly and the specials were pretty good.
Brass Rail isn’t as nice as Bentley’s, but it’s a great little stop on impromptu pub crawls, and I’d like to go back.

Old school dive bar here. Long bar, with wood booths. Several bar games and an internet jukebox. Typical beer selection for such a place. Cheap Hamn’s (really, that is awesome) and Pabst. Along with a full bar. They can make cheep frozen pizzas if you are really desperate for some food.
The place has been here forever, and it has not been updated either. Still an interesting and fun place for a visit every once in a while, but a dive in every respect. No pretension here, and just bare bones. If that is your thing, this is right up your ally.

The Brass Rail is what a dive bar should be. Slightly uncomfortable with bad furnishings, decent beer, and a great place to hang. Every time I’ve come I’ve enjoyed it. There’s even an electronic darts game for when you’re tired of squeezing into a tiny booth, watching bad TV or wondering why they sell so many portable bottles of alcohol from the counter.
I love you Brass Rail, you are divetastic, and you make me happy.

This is the absolute worst place in Downtown Champaign (other than Phoenix), and I mean that in the best way possible. On a Friday night, the place was near deserted after about 10:30pm, with a regular or two, a couple of drunks and a group of quiet students. Seating is in cramped booths unsuitable for people taller than 6′, or at the bar. The interior is hideous: bugly, dated paneling, linoleum and illumination by neon promo signs. My kind of place.
They have 2 beers on tap as I recall, PBR and High Life. The special that night was Hamm’s cans, which were had for (surprisingly, to me) more than a dollar each. The good news is that either Hamm’s is a lot better than I remember, or I was drunker than I thought. I had been drinking ‘good’ beer at other downtown establishments known for the same, but the Hamm’s were somehow better. Thinking about how well those Hamm’s hit the spot makes me want one right now.
The Brass Rail has an internet juke box to kill the otherwise oppressive silence, and is a total ripoff if you put less than $ 5 in, but has an impressive selection. They have a soft-​tip dartboard, a couple of tvs and a broken pinball machine. They also have frozen pizza that they can make for you for less than $ 5, but it is pretty crappy pizza. Huber’s’ pizza is way better. Ours got burnt black in places and was too salty but was still promptly devoured. For two days I wondered how I burned my mouth.
Service is great, and friendly. The bartender has an excellent rapport with her patrons, a quick wit and a kindness that comes across right away. I can definitely see this as a place to go back to.

A great local dive bar. The place is interesting and has a comfortable low key feel. I’ll never forget going into the place on Halloween a few years back and seeing the bartender dressed as the bee girl from the Blind Melon video, we still refer to her as the bee girl. I’ve met some strange folks in this place late at night which I find to be a plus. Can’t say it’s as cheap as Esquire but it has a way different feel that goes in it’s favor.