The Loft

This place is gross and dirty. The owner only likes the regulars ans has his favorites. This is his own personal play ground, bartenders don’t know how to make a good drink.

Flint has a lot of bars– and this is one of them.
For certain, it was a heck of a lot better back in the day when it was the Backroom. I went here all of the time as a college student when it was known as the Backroom and later I dropped in once in awhile when it was called Kelly’s, until it was sold and became the Loft.
Yep, it’s a dive bar, always has been and always will be, but the really good old days of the dive bar experience here are sadly gone. As dive bars go, I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse. In fact, if look up the phrase «dive bar,» you will probably come across a picture of the Loft. You can’t order food here, the «dance floor» is tiny, the music is sometimes good, sometimes not. Don’t let me get started on the parking situation– it’s terrible and you might as well make a mad dash to wherever you managed to park your car when you leave! It’s actually laughable.
Some of the cocktails are a bit overpriced for what you are getting (sometimes weak or improperly made), but service largely depends on if you are regular or friend of a friend. Random strangers probably tend to get the short end of the stick. I admit, I’ve gotten free drinks here before, but that’s because the staff knows me. Rodney, the owner, is a great guy, but sometimes the bar runs out of essentials, like premium spirits and mixers. I wish the bar staff would just get it together and make certain that the bar is properly stocked to avoid having to order something alternative because they’re out of the appropriate ingredients. Beer selection is just average, but they do carry Stella Artois, one of my favorites, so the Loft has that going for itself.
While I don’t particularly care for most of their cocktails (either too sweet or extremely tart– so much for a happy medium), the bartenders do make a good mojito and a decent old fashioned, though. My preferred cocktail is a whisky sour, which is pretty easy to make and the last few I ordered kinda sucked. They just didn’t taste right, too tart.
More often than not, I haven’t cared for the vibe, the atmosphere, etc. There are just way too many barfly types hanging around drinking draft beer all night. Plus, I often run into an ex or two here and that’s just bad mojo all around…

This place is deep, takes some explaining. To quote the late lou reed «Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I’ll piss on ‘em /​That’s what the Statue of Bigotry says /​Your poor huddled masses, let’s club ‘em to death /​And get it over with and just dump ‘em on the boulevard.» this place is a lot of things, one of the more unpredictable bars in flint. Easy to get drunk, great place to meet interesting people. Also likely to watch a fight break out before last call. Takes all kinds but it’s got character, I’ll give it that. If you’re out for an adventure and like to drink and dance, do it. Just dont get sucker punched or pissed on.

Who doesn’t love 90’s Indie music streaming from the speakers, a kick ass bartender serving me Stella in a gold rim glass and a huge jizz stain on the pool table? God knows I loved it. This place is a chill hole in the wall in downtown Flint. They have a lounge area (where the pool table is) with some comfy retro chairs in the front and then the bar area in the back. A great pit stop before you head to the Torch bar in the back alley behind it.

The Loft has always been a great place downtown to run into your peeps and work on your dance moves. Wednesdays and Sundays are always free cover and pretty laid back. The DJ spins well off three turntables, playing top-​40, 90’s hip-​hop, alternative rock and an electronic assortment of bangers. Not bad downtown Flint, not bad at all!

Played a show there and was able to pull out my nutsack, not on stage, without being kicked out. So that was cool. The place has a really cool setup to it
Cant remember the alcohol selection but that must mean they have a good one

Not bad… and not great. The loft is a place I wouldn’t really seek out to go to, but if your in the area it’s not bad (well the parking is. make sure you get a lighted highly visible spot!). It’s kind of like a dive bar… sans hipsters. and replaced with hip hop and booty shaking music. There are pool tables and a few places to sit and chat in the front of the bar, the dance area is kind of squeezed in so you have to make your own «get down space.» A very eclectic crowd, although most patrons seemed to be younger (I’m 26). Not bad Downtown flint!

I love hanging out in Flint when I return to my hometown. I came here over Christmas break with my best friend and had an absolute blast! The DJ was cranking out R & B tunes from the 90’s and I loved every minute of it. The bartenders were cute and very prompt in service. The drinks were strong and decently priced.
A man that looked as if he pimped since he was 16 was hustling the pool table and let me jump in on his game — I appreciate a man who wears gold chains and rose colored shades at midnight.
Ahhh yes. Thank you Flint.

I’m only giving it 2 stars because way back when I was sort of an almost regular. I didn’t hang out in it so much as I hung out around it. How so? Because back in my Flint tromping days it was like a big playground. Friends of mine lived nearby and so we would create our own fun walking around the almost dead city, drinking wine, or 40s of Mickeys or god-​forbid Big-​Bear.
I’m going to tell my Big Bear story here. There was a store that sold Big Bear malt liquor in Downtown Flint — as dangerous as Downtown was rumored to be we used to walk all over the place, climbing buildings and exploring hidden places. I have never even been close to feeling like I was in any danger. So this store had a special: three 40s of Big Bear for $ 4.50 Talk about a mess. You know how sometimes you’ve been sitting wrong too long and your foot or leg falls asleep and you have to shake the blood back into it?
Well this is the ONLY beer I have ever drank where when I woke up in the morning it felt as if half my head, the side I was sleeping on, was asleep; and that happened twice! Ya — So just don’t.
Oh ya, I was talking about the loft. I mean… The owner is like this guy who trys to act like he’s a Gangster — like he owns this little crap-​hole in a broken city and he spends way too much time here. He would hire girls to get them behind the bar and try to make the moves on them and didn’t get his way the chick was «let go.» I have heard this story so many times from different girls I started telling them before they told me. There was a saying amongst many that I talked to — «Rodney’s a d*****bag.»
When I moved out of the Flint area like 3 years ago I remember there was construction going on out front of the loft. There was this big dumpster right next to the door and the sidewalk was all torn up. I went back 2 years later for some business and did a driveby. Yes, there was still a big dumpster out in front of the door and the sidewalk was still torn up.
And the bar wasn’t that great but there were some cool people that frequented the place — I wouldn’t say social outcasts like Bruce, actually some of the coolest people in Flint would come here from time to time. It’s just a crappy bar with overpriced drinks and Yes — the DJs do tend to be Terrible. The ONLY reason, I think, people would come here is because it was right smack dab in the middle of downtown. Some people, myself included, like City-​Life.
I only give it 2 stars because once my friends and I were drunk we always seemed to manage going in to see who we could find. Oh and the music they sometimes got in there. They would get some pretty good bands in there. Too bad I would have to hear stories later about why they refused to play there anymore because of the owner shorting them or some other sad story.
If you want to go to a Bar in Downtown Flint for whatever reason, the Torch is right across the alley and within walking distance. If you like dive bars, you may like this place. Just understand, it’s a bar that’s trying to pretend it’s not a dive bar even though it is.

I came here with a group of friends, and for a night we owned it. It has a neighborhood feel on a slow night, laid back, kinda like everyone knows you and you’re the cool kid on the block rather than the drama queen. That’s how I like it. We just bought round after round after round. They made our car bombs out of Bushmill’s whiskey which was a huge plus!
I love dive bars and I wouldn’t call this one a dive exactly, but the atmosphere is definitely NOT one where you want to drink expensive specialty martinis and eat tapas while toting your designer bag around. It’s more like the place that gets really cozy when you go there regularly. Torn jeans, comfy white T-​shirt, your busted Cons. I definitely would go do some major chugging with my Flint town crew if I was back around there.

What a joke this place it.
I went here on the recommendation of someone else. I don’t know wTF kind of crack they were smoking, but it was NOTHING like they hyped it to be.
The musical «talent» had anything but. the «DJ» was worse.
drinks were watered down, no food menu at all.
parking is downtown Flint’s «finest», so I hope you keep your starving Rottweiler in your car while you are patronizing the establishment.
the «scenery» is mostly social outcasts and locals with nowhere else better to go.
the space is small and cramped.
1 star is being generous.

While I can’t argue with some of the previously stated points about the Loft, it does not serve to lessen the experience of being a regular there, starting when it was the Backroom, thru the Kelly’s phase and into the Loft era. I never found Buckham alley all that scary but I also cut my drinking teeth up and down it from Churchills to The Backroom and The Torch. If you want upscale, go elsewhere, but if you want down to earth, diverse, and cantankerous company (and often live/​DJ music) then suck it up and do downtown.