Iron Post

Fun dive bar in downtown Urbana. Decent drink menu and atmosphere. They will bring in live music that is very eclectic and fun (if you are in to it). I would say that it is either a place that you love or you hate. Worth a look, but there are so many great bars in downtown Champaign/​Urbana that it is hard to recommend this over many of them

The Iron Post is a in a great location at 120 S Race in Downtown Urbana, surrounded by several other great places so a walk downtown Urbana can lead you to a few nice stops. mostly known for being a Jazz Bar it also hosts several types of live local music which is top notch in my book! — the staff knows what they are doing and may come across without a smile at times, but really they just know there job and get to it they are prompt and check tables often — in the summer time the patio is one of the best in CU to sit outside, many times the musician’s will get done with their gig go outside and get their instruments and start playing again. its incredible!
I highly recommend The Iron Post for Live Local Music and Drinks its a good atmosphere and people enjoy them selves. the food is A-​OK
Terry
C.U. Bands and Fans on Facebook!

An interesting spot in downtown Urbana. Just around the block from Crane Alley. A dive bar that has a lot of bands play. There is also a patio area outside that is comfortable. There is a long bar along the left, stage in the back. Simple pub grub that is not particularly memorable, but not bad. Plenty of bottled beer, I usually go with Bells Two Hearted, which always seems to be fresh. Nothing particularly special here. Though always a fun time.

Rude service and bad food. I don’t get the love some of my friends have for this place. There are other places very close by that are much better.

First the good things about the bar. There is live music which is good and there is ample outdoor seating. The food is good but not excellent.
The bad things: The waitress is extremely rude. She refused to give us a beer menu and asked us to just go to the bar and take a look at what beers they have. She took a long time to service at the bar. So I get some beers, tip the waitress at the tip jar and later she comes outside and shouts at me saying that I wouldn’t be getting any beers unless I tip her. I told her that I’d complain to the manager and that I did tip her at the tip jar, to which she said she didn’t care and walked away. They have a bad beer selection too.
I am never going to Iron Post again and wouldn’t recommend others to go. There are other very good and hospitable bars close by.
[Edit] The waitress I was talking about sent me this message at Unilocal.«Dude, stay in the library. You obviously don’t understand the idea of cool. You parents will be proud of their engineer loser son.»

I came in wanting to like this place, but I was met with some squarely bad service at the beginning of the night, and things never got better to the point that they made up for it. Waiting close to ten minutes by the bar, with nobody in front of me, and having the bartenders listlessly walk around without doing anything, and then immediately serving someone older that comes up (before they served me) really put a damper on the rest of the experience.
My group got two baked potatoes: one of the «buffalo» variety, one cajun style. The buffalo one was… not very good, and skimpy on toppings. The cajun one was really good, and generously topped with spices, sour cream, chives, etc. The fact that these two equally priced and supposedly equivalent dishes were inconsistent causes me a bit of alarm.
Drinks-​wise, the craft beers aren’t terribly expensive ($ 4/​bottle), and the Bloody Marys (also $ 4) were pretty good, and rather unique in my experience. Live music was nice, and the bar had a nice ambiance to put the focus on the music, even if it was at the expense of conversation on this particular night.
Overall, I’d guess that this place has the potential to be good, but I just didn’t see that potential get realized tonight.

This is one of those places that I never think of going off the bat, but every single time I end up there, I have a good time. Mostly I go just to see my friend’s mom’s band or other friends band’s and it’s always a great atmosphere. The drinks are solid, nothing special, but it hits the spot. I actually haven’t had any of the food here, but I definitely want to try it out!

So, I was all set to give this bar a solid four stars…
They feature live music quite a bit. Been here once a few times recently. The first seeing a band from Austin. It’s a solid, clean, neighborhood spot a half step above dive. The drinks are good, and fairly priced. They don’t have a lot of beer on tap.
The other time there, it happened to be a night where they had the grill going, on Mondays I believe. Me and two friends each had a dinner platter of various steaks with sides. The meat was tasty and well done, though not spectacular. All the sides were fairly good.
The food was an excellent value for the price point. Checking out the menu we saw that their other, daily basis, menu items were at really reasonable prices as well
Just a nice four star kinda bar, until after our visit last night. Five housemates, two ate the burger. Others had veggie burger, and the chili dog.
The fries are pretty great. Upon noticing the menu claimed the fries were baked, and not greasy, MrT asked why anyone would want them. But despite the non-​greasy they were fairly fantastic.
You can ask for a side of their house BBQ sauce. Not bad flavor, but it is a mainly straight black pepper taste; not quite a true thicker multi-​flavored typical BBQ.
Everything tasted great, everyone was happy. All set to give the Iron Post a solid four stars.
Until a few hours after we got home. The burger dinner folks BOTH had food poisoning!
One of the food poisoned has stated since that her six week recovery from heart surgery was less painful than her case. She ended up having to go to the hospital for it.
So, be warned. Maybe stick with sides or veggie options here? Don’t know if I’d ever go meat here again!
I’d give the place another chance, steering (huhuh) clear of the meat. I would give the bar more stars, but can’t forgive the disgustingly, painfully stricken.

Dive bar/​jazz jam? I’m there!
There’s a lot of solid bar food here, and some nice outdoor seating, but the real kicker is the open jam session. It’s a nice change to have a session at a place where the venue isn’t some dumpy dungeon-​like space. Not to say that tiny cramped jazz spots aren’t hip or anything, but it’s good to see that this college town can maintain an event like this.
OK and an extra star because I met some life-​long friends at the session too… really chill people come here. Gotta love the vibe.

Damn fine waitresses
So many delicious beers
Paul– bring on the meat.

A dive bar where the food and booze is good and dirt cheap, the live bands are always awesome, the bartenders are great, parking is plentiful and free, and it’s just always a fun time.
Whether you decide to come here for some grub (you have your typical bar food of burgers, hot dogs, pizza, fries, wings, etc.), to enjoy the music, and/​or just to chat with friends, Iron Post has you covered. They have outdoor seating if you want to enjoy the music and hold a conversation at the same time (without having to shout). On some days there is cover ($ 3 or so) depending on the band, but it’s really nothing when you factor in the cheap food and libations. I think the total bill one night for my friend and myself (including two burgers w/​fries, 3 or 4 beers, couple of vodka shots) came out to just over $ 25 (including tax and tip). I’m convinced they forgot to add something as there’s no way it could’ve been this cheap, but upon doing the math… maybe not.
My only qualm is that the only beer they have on tap is PBR (ugh).
Basically, live music almost every night, fun crowd, and good food too! What more could you ask for?

I need to show Iron Post more love. First off, I didn’t know that they served food. Score. Second, the bartenders are usually quite friendly and that patio is the best on a hot summer night. So, Iron Post, you have gone up in my heart. And I really enjoyed that the fries for some reason kinda tasted like hamburger. I dont’ know how that happened, but I loved it. Dont’ judge me.

My favorite experience here so far was a night in early fall, sitting outside and enjoying a few beers with a friend after a bike ride. Perfect weather, great suds, and a lively crowd enjoying a blues band. Every town needs a place like this!
The Iron Post earns their stars with live music: most nights, some local group is on stage for a cover of $ 2 – 3. Of course, the quality depends on the group, but many are wonderful. They often feature student/​faculty groups from the UIUC jazz program, which can be fantastic (especially the faculty groups). The calendar is on their website and is up-​to-​date despite the 1990s-​looking design :)
Food is inexpensive but only okay, particularly compared with the Embassy next door (which actually has a grill). I believe they have an oven and a microwave only. On the plus side, their fries are baked (healthier but still tasty). They have a night where they grill steaks outside, something I’ve not yet experienced but would try.

This is one of my favorite bars to hang out in Urbana. Whenever I feel like listening to some jazz music, I would check this place out because many local musicians play here. The food here is super CHEAP. I think the salmon burger is just $ 4 and 1lb fries for $ 2. It is excellent with their black pepper sauce. They have specials on other days as well.

I think this pretty much sums it up:
Me: I feel like I’m at a graduate student house party, but actually instead I’m at this bar.
My friend: And they just put Old Style on tap!
Not crazy about the cover.

A cozy, spot across from Busey Bank and the library.
I enjoyed many a friends’ show here — from Irish folk to jam band-​ish to pure jazz.
It was always a nice place to gather with friends.
And some nights offer great drink specials.