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July 1, 2009

The best neighborhood bar in Fells Point is ...

midnight sun's commenter's choice award for best neighborhood bar in Fells Point Bad Decisions!

Big surprise, eh? Hee hee.

Sorry it took me so long to post this -- it took quite a while to go back through all 135ish comments and tally the votes.

But as you can see from this highly scientific chart, Bad Decisions was the clear winner, with 45ish votes.

Hey, I'm a journalist, not a mathematician!

Thankfully, parachuting marine soldier toy was there to keep watch over the vote tallying. Fairness is most important when it comes to such a prestigious award.

Here are the runners up ...

Second place: the Wharf Rat (801 S. Ann St.), with six votes

Third place: Ale Mary's (1939 Fleet St.), with five votes

It's pretty crazy just how much of a lead Bad Decisions had -- and pretty much from the get-go. Then there was the controversial vote change on my part, when I realized I had forgotten about Bad Decisions. 

Pot = stirred.

Sam = satisfied.

I'll unveil the next neighborhood in the Midnight Sun Commenter's Choice Awards later today.

(Photo by me)

Posted by Sam Sessa at 12:29 PM | | Comments (13)
Categories: Bars & Clubs, Commenters' Choice Awards
        

Comments

I think Bad Decisions has a dedicated group of regulars that harness the power of Twitter. This smells of bad statistics! You scoundrels.

no mention of Max's!?

I guess that depends on your definition of "neighborhood" bar. To me, that means a majority of the patrons live in the neighborhood.

Check the original post!!!!

You also have Friends listed twice on your tally sheet.

Anon, wow, you beat me to it!

Dammit, me, I'm a journalist, not a mathematician! Doesn't matter anyway. Ale Mary's still comes in 3rd.

I really can't believe that many people love Bad Decisions that much. I was in there once and just didn't "get it". The bartender said they had food but they couldn't make anything right now, the decor is up there with a Clarion Inn, and the TVs are so far up under the overhang, you can't see them from anywhere. Add to this that it's blocks from the main drag, so when you leave you have to walk to get back to a good bar.

No John Steven?
No Max's?
No Horse?
No BAR (which, ironically, is probably about the only real neighborhood bar in Fells Point).
Friends got how many votes?
I smell a rat and it ain't a Wharf Rat.

You are missing the point Gary.

You walk from the main drag to Bad Decisions. You did that. You may come back again, but from the sound of things probably not. A lot of other people come back.

I go to bars for drinks not food. I don't go to a steak house and order chicken or salad.

Bartenders mix drinks. Maybe make some small talk about the locals. They don't just pour, pop open cans, bottles, and or mini kegs, take food orders... bus tables, and be eye candy. There is skill involved, something that a place like Max's just doesn't get. Which by the way, if everyone of their employees voted here, they would have crushed Bad Decisions. (Same with Woodies, the irish bar below it, and coopers... which are all the same bar.)

At Bad Decisions, you can hang out for hours. Surfing on the free wireless, talking to friends... all with out having douche baggy guys with pop collars trying to bang anything that moves. (We do have one pop collar guy, but thats a different story.) Or having super loud music blaring in the background. I think club Pur on Boston is attracting what it wants to attract.

You're right, you don't get it. Which is why there are a few dozen bars down the street. Bad Decisions also doesn't have 82357928375 beers on tap or in bottles, nor are they a micro brewery. There is also no chef in the back. (A chef is different than a cook, one went to school.) I'm not really going to bars to look at the wall. Play/work on my laptop yes, staring at the walls, not so much so.

Why would anyone want a dozen of the same bars all together is beyond me.

PS: Ale Mary's has delicious food.

I'm a Max's guy, but that has everything to with me being a beer geek and Max's having 80 beers on tap and 500+ bottles, doesn't hurt.

I finally made my way to Bad Decisions (more like stumbled my way into...) last night, after one too many strong beers @ Max's.

Nothing fancy, but the few guys who were there that night were good peoples. Really good peoples. Same goes for the owner.

Where else can you have a radio DJ storm in at 10pm and yell, "Ok! It's on! Natty Boh vs Pabst Blue Ribbon blind taste contest." Then laugh hysterically as the bartender pours 5 glasses of Natty and 5 glasses of Pabst... labels the bottoms of the glasses, mixes 'em up and the 2 contestants down each one and guess which is which.

Pretty epic stuff for my first Bad Decisions encounter. Looking forward to the next!

HI PETER!!!!!

After reading all of the glowing reviews about Bad Decisions here, I decided to go on Thursday night. A bad decision, indeed. Surly bartenders who made a face when I asked for a Woodchuck cider (well, excuse me!), a roller derby match on the one tv, and electronic equipment covering one of two tables. It was lame, and my friends and I guzzled our drinks (well, they guzzled their drinks, I chose not to spend any money there after the attitude I got from the bartender) and left as quickly as we could.

Jen -- I also went to Bad Decisions for the first time on Thursday night, and it was a bad decision! They had guest bartenders who were horrible! I went there specifically to sample their drink menu, and they couldn't make any of the drinks. You would figure on a holiday weekend that they would have their best employees working, but that wasn't the case.

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About Sam Sessa
I've been The Baltimore Sun's nightlife and local entertainment reporter for a couple years, and it's surprising how much the scene has grown in that time. Most of Baltimore's bars and clubs are unpretentious places with fairly cheap drinks and plenty of character. I like dancing and think this city needs more clubs, but nothing beats having a cold, locally brewed beer with friends in a comfortably full corner bar.
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