Fat Wally's — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

I was here on Saturday, First off this place is cash only. There are no clearly visible signs or posting of this info. Like just a sign on the door would be perfect. The first I heard about this was after placing an order for a group of after he handed me my drinks and I tried to hand him my card. This was after standing waiting at the bar for almost 30 minutes as dude was helping patrons who were walking up after me, either way the bartender was struggling to fill a very small amount of orders. As someone who has bartended and will occasionally guest bartend still I was amazed that this was who is working a Saturday evening. After informing me of the cash only he pointed out the ATM as I’m putting my card in he shouts that I can’t use the ATM he just told me to use because it’s out of cash. Proceeds to tell me I need to walk 3 blocks to the next closest atm he knew of. On top of that the shots we ordered were made incorrectly, drinks are weak and the bottled beer is barely refrigerated because apparently “the cooler doesn’t always stay cold”. I have to re iterate again I have worked in pool halls, dive bars, bars in downtown Iowa city, bars in small towns. I understand how things work in this industry and I’m never critical of a business unless every aspect of it seems to be intentionally trying to tank...

OK, its down a set of stairs in the old and moldy basement of the Tycoon. Odd that it is still open here in the fall of 2020, because its standards have certainly slipped.

No beer on tap. Bring your CASH (no credit cards, no debit cards, no checks, no tabs...however there is an ATM on site). No Food. Yup, its a pool hall, no wine to speak of. The owner is often also a bartender, but if you can get his attention, good luck. Happy hour til 7pm only gets 50 cents off of a low priced tall boy of domestic swill. Since its in the basement, there is no way to watch the passing parade of people on the street. Also, since its in the basement, there are creepy crawlies all around (and I'm not simply talking about some of the patrons). Watch out for the old, balding, bartender with missing teeth. While he knows how to make drinks, while he's schmoozing you, he is also hitting on your gal.

Nope, avoid this...

Fat Wally's doesn't open until 6:00 p.m. A classic worn out pool hall in downtown cedar rapids. The tables are level but quite thread bare, many with drinks spilled on them. Bring your own cue because very few here are worth even trying to play with. No chalk cone to be found, extremely large roaches both guarding and inhabiting the men's bathroom. A good beer selection that's a little too warm even for English beer. Looks good, but enough disappointing factors to only give this place 2 Stars. Oh, the music was pretty good and not too loud, you could still carry on a conversation. Wally needs to raise his rates, recover the tables and get a...