Clybourne

Extremely poor staff. Racist behavior.

Wine night is a joke. It’s people standing around with their group of friends drinking overpriced wine, interrupted by bursts of random dancing from some drunks.
Cly’s hasn’t been the same since they stripped the dance floor. Last time I went, it was bright enough to see someone across the room. Drinks aren’t impressive, unless you know someone who works behind the bar.

Easily the worst bar in Champaign, IL. Garbage staff.

Smells like puke. Literally everything from floor to ceiling is somehow sticky and drink spillage was everywhere. Drinks are okay… but just okay. The clubby atmosphere is well-​crafted but it just smells and feels too gross too worry about coming back.

Clys used to be THEE PLACE to go and dance of friday and saturday but now it’s almost always dead. To be honest, the only day I would consider going would be Tuesday which is wine night. $ 8 Bottles of really awful, really cheap moscato. I’m not a fan of that wine and it is WAY too sweet but when you’re 21 and all you’re trying to do is get drunk it’s great. Plus it is seriously the only time the bar gets any sort of traffic resembling a crowd anymore. Sucks you have to pay cover for that though. I mean it’s TUESDAY! Come on Cly’s! Now that I think about it… no WAY should I even give this place 3 stars. Used to be a favorite but now I never go.

I effing hate this place. Of course, I was in grad school and not an undergrad. I guess if you are just turning 21 and have nothing to compare an inexperienced nightlife to, perhaps this place could be one of those places for you. However, for all others that have lounged in NYC or upper Chicago, this place is loud, sticky, smelly, and just a big meat market for international students. I am an ethnic Asian myself, however, it was a big turn off when they acted very pretentious (like u «made it in life») because you are partying and seen at Clybourne on fucking Green St. I found the whole demographics off in this place. It just boiled down to slutty drunk Asian girls and the yellow fever people chasing a wanna be geisha into the smoke and mirrors dance floor. All around sloppy. Pass.

The drinks are so-​so, but I love the dancing here. People are very… unique and spontaneous with their moves. My friends don’t usually come here to drink, but we come to dance. It’s a great time for just $ 5 cover on a weekend. Come with fun people and dance the night away. ;)

This place is the best for dancing. Its either here or Joe’s but I despise the weird smoke they disperse over the crowd. Don’t get me wrong. You need to be eight shots deep to enjoy this place. If you’re sober enough to think straight, you’re too sober to enjoy clys.
I once walked in, realized I was too sober and immediately slammed three drinks and then all was good. Snobby pretentious hipster kids that like downtown champaign and its classy environment need to stay over there. This is a place for undergrads that want to get hammered and dance. If you don’t like to dance, dont come. Its as simple as that. You’re paying five dollars to stand and listen to really loud music.
This is also one of the few Ethnically diverse bars on campus. There’s a reason this line is so big every weekend. People like it and they want to go back. if you.look at the line for Kams you’ll see only white faces. Clys has people of every race and very attractive ones at that.

I write only to remember that this is a bar worth coming back to on game day. The layout of the place is interesting as it forced those on the dance floor from those who just want to chat in relative peace. Seemed to be more upscale than other bars in the area.

I must admit that I’m a little older and biased against the college bar scene. If I was in my early 20’s, I would probably say that it’s one of the best bars in town. It’s dimly lit, there are beautiful intoxicated women, and the music is upbeat. However, if you’re in your mid 20’s or older, this is not the place you would want to go. The floor is VERY slippery (sweat and spilled booze), the music is so loud you can’t hear your friend’s voice even though they’re standing next to you, and the majority of patrons are under 21 (anyone under age 19 can enter a bar in Champaign). I’m also not a fan of cover charges, or at least they can charge those who are under 21 and let those of us who can exactly purchase our booze enter for free. Going to this place reminded me of why I don’t miss going to college bars:
1. Long lines
2. Cover charges
3. Youngsters who can’t handle their overpriced watered-​down liquor
4. Even longer restroom lines
5. Listening to ridiculously-​loud music while patrons «dance», a.k.a. «dry hump».
Bottom line:
If you’re a college kid between the ages of 19 and 22, this might be the place for you. But if you’re older or not really into the «club scene», go to Urbana or Downtown Champaign.

This review is solely based on the nightlife I experienced here. I thought it was alright, at first, but it was ruined by the excessive amount of rude/​shady (some seemed to be in their 30s-​40s and trying to steal a dance with a drunk college girl) that come here. They just take away from the whole aesthetics. I guess I can’t solely rate the business based on the customers, because they have no control of who comes in (all they want is money). The DJ’s music selection often sucked, and the dance floor was really compact. This place would definitely not be my first choice when going out for a end-​of-​the-​school-​week stress relieving dance session.

Snobby and pretentious. drinks are very weak. Too loud to hear anything. Floor is very slippery. Unfriendly doorman. not a fan, at all.
Joes has a better dance floor. Firehaus has more class.

Two friends and I lunch occasionally and are always faced with big crowds here on campus. One suggested Clybourne. No big lunch crowd made me wonder about the food and service. Well, both were great. Lots to choose from on the menu and the service is quick and friendly. Have been back several times and tried different menu items and always enjoyed. Try the Irish Nachos. Quite good. I remember when Coslow’s was around and they had them. Clybourne’s are excellent.

I work on campus and enjoy going for lunch at the Toasted Bean in the front of the Clybourne — espcially on a good weather day when the front is open air.
The menu has plenty of choices for everyone. There is a nice selection of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and pizzas. I espeically like that they offer fresh fruit as a side dish along with the usual fries and slaw. My favorite lately is the Sonoma Salad with fresh apples, dried cranberries, and goat cheese.
They also offer nice coffee drinks and University employees get a discount! What’s better than that?

Went here last night with a couple of friends to celebrate a birthday and to have a good time. The club scene is not very different from California (Bay Area specifically) clubs, however, a first timer here, such as myself, would very easily get lost in the building unless guided by a knowledgeable person. I was not able to find the dance floor on my own, and initially assumed that the first area with the bright lights and bar was the dance floor.
There were several floors; three to be exact from what I remember. The basement, or the lowest level in the building, were the bathrooms, which, in my opinion was extremely small and could not accommodate 250+ people inside one building in a timely manner. The main level (1^st floor, right when you enter) consisted of a bar and a little social area. Walk past that and you will hit the dance floor. The second level was a bar and a couple of tables where people can socialize, with more of a bar feel to it. The lights are very dimmed so things can and may get a little more personal, or intimate, in this section of the building.
The bartenders are very busy, which I can clearly see so customer service in my opinion would not play a factor. The bouncers don’t mess with you unless you give them reason to. The crowd is very diverse and energetic.
The thing that struck me were the floors. About two hours inside the club, the floors got really slippery. I understand people spill drinks, but that’s the first case where it was like walking on frozen ice without ice skates.
Overall a good experience. I didn’t like the fact that I woke up in the morning and realized I spent 80 dollars on drinks. LOL! That was my bad, whoops. See you again soon Cly’s!

3:31pm — Clybourne is now a coffee shop and restaurant by day, and a bar by night.
3:32pm — The new coffee bean sign caught my eye as I drove past, so I stepped in. Writing this review as I sit inside the floor-​to-​ceiling windows.
3:34pm — I have just been offered a free cup of coffee by the barista for no apparent reason.
3:36pm — Right after I walked in I asked the nice girl at the counter if the bar I remembered had become a coffee shop. Apparently it’s both a coffee shop and a full-​menu restaurant during the day, and at night it converts back into the Clybourne everybody knows and loves/​hates.
3:37pm — The cook just came out and punched me in the neck.
* Turned out I knew him from high school. Apparently the barista went to high school with us too. Nothing like coming home for the holidays…

Oh god. Clybourne’s = glorified undergrad house party. Seriously, it was like college parties all over again: Shoving through a packed dance floor/​avoiding being stepped on by the people shoving through the packed dance floor, dancing awkwardly with one eye on the couple grinding behind you to avoid being hit by their wild gyrations, and weak drinks that you chug in the hopes that it’ll somehow make the whole experience fun. I wanted to try out the only other place in the area with a decent dance floor (the other is Soma), but since this place is on campus, I should’ve known it’d be like, well, a glorified undergrad house party. Which is totally fine, if that’s what you’re in the mood for (I unfortunately graduated two years ago and so have already had my fill of college parties). Oh, except this party also charges $ 5 cover.
Anyway, music isn’t bad, and there’s a pretty cool multi-​floor layout with plenty of bars. The drinks though are absolutely pathetic (aka standard for on-​campus bars): I was voted «one shot wonder» of my sorority, and the drinks here got me at best mildly happy, and at worst wondering why I paid so much for just juice/​soda/​insert-​mixer-​of-​your-​choice.
So after a night of downing weak drinks, dancing awkwardly, and getting my ass grabbed, I think it’s safe to say I’ll be sticking with Soma. At least there the drinks are real, I’ll be tipsy enough to enjoy dancing on a packed dance floor, and if I must get my ass grabbed, at least most of the time it won’t be by guys who’re younger than me.

Ok, so i went here on a busier night. Bartenders were still slow/​confused for the most part, and dear GOD the music was loud, even louder than firehaus. I would probably love it if I was still 19, but I felt old there and I’m only 22.
They have, however, added more tables, which is a plus. But, I just realized that the women’s bathroom has a translucent glass door!!! So, everyone on the dance floor can see you while you wait. Sometimes guys knock. Awkward.

Oh. Mah. Gawd.
Um, alums, you need to go back to your alma mater and check this place out. As I remember it, Cly’s was the place where the beer formed a sticky film on the floor, the wine on Wine Night almost ate through the plastic cups, girls grinded drunkenly on poles on the second floor, and where I once spent 5 minutes on my 21^st birthday before I had to be escorted home in my blacked out state. Classy, no?
WELL.
I just went back for a visit, and they redid the place. COMPLETELY. They serve food and there is a coffee bar in the front! The front part is all open-​air now (like at Firehaus), and the décor is about a million times classier than before. The place was packed when no other bars were, probably because everybody is so excited to see its new makeover! Also, the whole back downstairs area is a total dance floor now, with glittering disco lights and a stage for girls to strut their skanky stuff!
Seriously, I was impressed. I mean, the clientele looks and acts exactly the same, but the décor is a stunning difference from the old Cly’s. It looks good, although I must shed a tear for the trashy Cly’s of my college years…

Oh Cly’s…it bills itself as one of the «classier» bars on campus. But don’t let that fool you, it’s just as slimy and gross as Kams or CO’s or Gully’s. The floors are gross, the bathrooms are a nightmare, and somehow it’s «classy». Probably because the bartenders wear button-​downs and ties.
There is always a line at this place and there is always a cover. The bartenders think their shit smells like roses, and it always smells like puke and stale beer.
But specials… oh the specials allow for a lot of forgiveness on my part. Wine night always meant a good time (read: blacked-​out drunkenness). The themed parties were entertaining. And there was absolutely enough room to dance at all times. Clientle is attractive, mostly naked (if they’re girls), and YOUNG (mostly under 21).
This is a place to see and be seen. It COULD be a really classy place, but… it isn’t.