Arnie's Bar — Restaurant in Tulsa

During the late 90s and early 00s, this was my bar. Nearly every weekend my wife and I were there. Even when I joined the army and got stationed in Kansas, I would drive 5 and a half hours and meet my friends there. But, it's not the bar it used to be. I know it makes me sound old, but I remember when this was the best Irish bar in Tulsa, but now it's full of millenials that think an Irish Car Bomb is an okay thing to order, the bartender obviously had no idea what "two fingers of Jameson, neat" meant because he just poured me a shot, and I think the biggest gut punch was that they covered up the dog tags that hung from the left corner of the back bar. This was the bar where I had my last drink before deploying to Iraq and the bar where I had my first drink when I came home. Friday nights, getting sauced, throwing darts in the back, singing along with whatever band was playing some Pogues cover. The best thing about it was that it wasn't trendy, it was classic. But no longer. I just paid Tulsa one of my last visits, and if I ever come back, well, I guess I'll just go somewhere else. So...

Arnies is a tulsa classic that has been the consistent dive we all love for ages. I remember when the patio was added years ago. It's packed on the weekends, but has a fair amount of seating space as well as a shuffleboard inside.

The only hitch in my visit was when I received a shot glass that was missing a large portion up top, as if someone or something had taken a bite out of it.

I called attention to the bartender who gave me a scowl and said "you didn't get it like that". I informed him that sometime between him pouring it, someone at my table grabbing it, walking quite literally 5 feet and placing it on the table, something had happened to it then. He was a little frustrated and chucked the broken glass into the trash can and poured me another.

I feel they got defensive when I hadn't insinuated anything and was just bringing it to their attention, but it was packed so tensions were probably high.

Still, service is relatively quick for how busy it is, and this place is worth...

My Wife and I dropped in last November one rainy afternoon to enjoy a beverage. The place did not impress. We encountered very old seating and tables first of all. I sat in a worn out office desk chair from the 70's, and my Wife sat in a similar dated chair. The decor may have been new at one time but looked dusty and dingy. I lost track of how long it took to be served, but it was too long. The barkeep looked at us but didn't offer to take a drink order. We finally got up and approached an employee who was busy setting up the buffet. It was going to be ready in an hour, so nothing to eat at the moment. Our drinks were meager at best, and cost the equivalent of a bottle of Bailey's for two drinks. The bartender was more interested in a group of perceived "regulars" than us, so we finished our drinks and got out, never to return to this dive. Don't...