Unless you’re a veteran of Eugene’s bar scene, it can be difficult to know where to start for a good night out on the town. Thus, the Emerald spent time at some of the area’s bars to sort out which ones are worth your time.

Horsehead Bar-BQ
99 W. Broadway

Ambiance: It’s kind of dark and looks a little run-down. The outside is very nondescript – not at all interesting. There’s no dance floor, but it has a loud jukebox with a pretty decent selection of music. There are two pool tables – pretty standard.
Bar: The bartenders seemed merely to tolerate their jobs as opposed to enjoying what they were doing, and the drink quality was inconsistent. There are a few booths for sitting down and eating, but they’re arranged in a kind of disorganized fashion.

Prime Time Sports Bar & Grill
1360 Mohawk Blvd. (Springfield)

Ambiance: Very clean, with LOTS of open space and plenty of tables. Smoking is allowed in Springfield bars, however, so asthmatics and anti-smokers might want to beware. Prime Time is a sports bar, so there are tons of big-screen TVs scattered throughout. There’s no dance floor, but there is a decent jukebox, and anyone who wanted to dance could probably do so, because there’s plenty of open space.
Also, there’s a healthy selection of electronic lottery games in the back for anyone wants to blow even more money.
Bar: There’s a good amount of bar space, but the bartender was only moderately nice and was probably new. She had to look up a number of drinks.

John Henry’s
77 W. Broadway

Ambiance: The red-painted walls are a nice change from the dark walls of most other bars, but the outside isn’t exactly inviting. The tough bouncers and sketchy folk hanging around outside make the place seem a little daunting.
The dance floor is pretty decent in size, but on busy nights it can seem a little small. A downside of the dance floor is that most of the room around it is taken up by guys watching all the girls dance. A little creepy, but not too bad.
The pool tables are crammed into the back of the space, so there’s only room for the people playing pool and not much else.
Bar: The drinks are strong (but good), and it’s hard to argue with their $1 well drink special on Wednesdays. The bartenders seem to handle the busy bar pretty well.

Jameson’s
115 W. Broadway

Ambiance: Jameson’s is definitely a bar for the more mature bar-going crowd. The creative lighting and artwork on the walls make it visually interesting, and there’s plenty of room for groups of people to sit together.
The pool table has a red surface instead of the standard green. Pretty rad, right?
There’s no dance floor, but there is music, which is neither too loud nor too quiet.
Horsehead, John Henry’s and Jameson’s are all super close to each other, which makes for good bar-hopping. Jameson’s would make a good starting point for a bar-hopping spree, and John Henry’s would be good for the last drunken dance of the night.
Bar: A good selection of alcohol, with it all on display on the cool-looking bar.

Turtles Bar and Grill
2690 Willamette St.

Ambiance: Parking can be a bit of a problem, but Turtles is worth it. Turtles is more of a restaurant than a bar, so there’s plenty of seating and a menu full of delicious food. Just as full, however, is its menu of drinks.
The service was pretty standard – the waitress was fairly nice. The service wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow, either. It allowed for a good amount of conversation between the time that we ordered and the time that we got our food.
Bar: We didn’t deal with the bartenders at all, because we sat at a table, but the drinks were very good – not too strong or weak.