Picnic tables line the outside of the white with brown trim building, those magical words “food” and “liquor” attached to the aforementioned roof above. Notably, a menu can be seen from the street, making it immediately clear that this is a dive bar with more than the usual amount of pride in its food. Windows dot the exterior, but those windows somehow seem to let in precious little light, a trait readily apparent walking in to see the space unfold in a burst of Christmas lights, red padded booths and every conceivable dive bar beer sign.
The space is amazing. As the first visitors to the dive bar that day, we were able to pick out seats at the bar up front that serves as a sort of nerve center to the surprisingly large space. The horseshoe shape provides for ample bar seating and the type of community vibe that quickly presented itself as locals trickled in. There was shouting about current events, sports stats, the definition of a “ballplayer” as a universal term and that kind of vibe really only exists in a way that welcomes strangers in a truly neighborhood dive bar like CC Club.
To top off the cavalcade of local drinkers, an elderly couple and their daughter were among the first to enter the bar that Saturday, taking up one of the many, many low circular tables that make up the majority of the bar’s seating. One patron was even overheard talking about how is parents met at the CC Club decades ago. It’s that kind of place.