Brother Jimmy's West Side

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This venue is closed.

This juke joint chain does its best to bring a little bit of trailer-park barbeque to some of the richest zip codes in the country. Decorated with license plates, neon beer signs, Christmas lights and netting to look like a roadside shack, the bar dishes out Buffalo-style chicken wings, ribs, biscuits and corn fritters and other below-the-Mason-Dixon-line staples most nights until around midnight. By then, an array of post-grads has packed in, and the classic rock gets pumped up to the point where you'll have to shout over it to order drinks, served in pint glasses, pitchers, or in the case of the vodka-and-lemonade Carolina Cooler, a mason jar. Cans of PBR and Natty Light are so cheap that beer-goggle wearers are soon making inappropriate comments at passers-by, but the shots aren't quite as hick as they sound. While stale beer and sweat isn't inherently attractive, those tired of the recycled air of office buildings are happy to reacquire some of the grime and sleaze lost by entering the working world. — David S. Hirschman