Far West Billiards

I LOVE this place, and I've never even played pool there! Great, laid-back atmosphere. It's a nice place to go when you don't want to scream into someone's ear to talk to them. I've never really seen the place packed, you can almost always find a seat at the bar if you're a loan wolf like myself. Bar staff is very friendly.

They also have pretty good beer on tap. You won't find Bud/Miller/Coors stuff on tap, you will find many NW and California microbrews, including a rotating tap featuring Spokane's own Northern Lights Brewing Co's seasonal ales.

Food is surprisingly AWESOME. Seriously. Get the "Mediterranean Delights" if you're into Greekish stuff. It's a HUGE selection of (kinda) healthy munchies. A meal for one person, appetizer for 2+. Full menu is available till 11pm, making it one of the later places in downtown Spokane to get (non-fast) food.

Happy Hour is 4-6pm, $1 off all drafts.

After our 6-hour drive to Spokane, we needed a drink...fast. Granted, it was a Friday night at about 8pm, so we knew we'd be in for a wait. Stepping into this joint, it felt perfect. The vibe was spot on, casual and cozy. It wasn't too crowded yet, either. They had pool tables and board games in the back. We love playing pool, but there were no free tables in sight. Still, there were plenty of places to sit, so we just headed to the bar first for our drinks.

What ensued was the longest, most ridiculous wait we've ever encountered for 2 drinks. My husband stood at the bar, waiting for service from two bartenders who were mostly cleaning the bar and talking to other patrons, while I proceeded to read an entire issue of The Insider. Finally, after 15 minutes of repeated "excuse me" and "ahem" indications, he was able to get their attention. When he came back to the table with his pint of Guinness and my Tom Collins, he informed me that it had cost $16.50!!! WTF?? This is Spokane, people. Not the Tokyo airport or something. What am I paying for here? My sore feet? Your nonchalance?

Then, I tried to drink my Collins, which is supposed to be made with gin, soda, and muddled lime & sugar. Sometimes, bartenders cheat and use Collins mix or sweetened lime juice, which is totally fine by me. Sometimes, if they're not familiar with the cocktail, they'll confirm the ingredients and ask me how to make it. This bartender, however, obviously didn't even bother to ask how to make my drink. She wasn't that busy, but obviously didn't care to make it right. It was literally straight gin, with maybe (I'm doubtful) a tiny splash of soda. No lime. No cherry. No sugar whatsoever. Just absolute Bleh. If I wanted that shite, I might have asked for a Superman-strength gin & tonic.

I took another cautious sip and forced it down. My husband then tried it and took it directly to the bar for more soda and some lime juice. His words, "I'm not paying for this if it's not made right." After I watched him wait for 10 minutes without even a nod from the bartender, I went up and brought him back to our table and drank the stupid concoction.

Pissed off that we paid an arm and a leg for waiting at the bar and receiving at least one shitty drink, I was ready to walk out, but I needed the alcohol at that point. I was buzzing so hard when we left, I'm sure I was drinking straight gin.

This place gets one star because it seems like it could be cool, if you knew the bartender. Way to treat out-of-towners, guys. We stayed at the Montvale next door for 2 more nights and didn't even think about going back.

OKAY - I'm sold.

Man, I don't know what kind of grumpy girl took over my yelp page back in the day, but she's gone. I tied her up and left her in the trunk of my car. Oh, actually, I don't have a car, so that's not really true.

AT ANY RATE... I really like Far West. Like Really. I've made it a regular stop for the last few months and am growing more and more fond of it. I don't want to catch some sort of ed hardy borne disease, so I stay out of 211 and fast eddie's and opt for the quieter scene at the west end of downtown. There are no strobe lights or light effects encouraging people to forgo conversation and just DANCE. It's a great weeknight joint and even the weekend scene is way more lax.

The food is great - I almost always have the chips and queso.

I AM A FAN. YEAH!

Sandwich better without the dip. Fries better without the ketchup. Bartender(long hair dirty blonde pony tail)... Good work on answering my questions about your brew. Unfortunately the food was such a let down that after much deliberation Far West only warrants a 3 1/2. Cook, Grillman, whatever... Get rid of your freezer burnt sh%t, people like me can smell and taste it and it sucks. Good tables, not aburdly loud. Good time. Very very mellow. Would go to shoot pool and drink but never again to eat.

I have to give it higher than average marks just for the fact that they had a huge varietal of beers on tap and in bottles PLUS my friend was drunk like really drunk and they were kind enough for us to drag him out of there rather than calling the cops. Yes it was Thursday night and there was no one there but they were cool about a small group of us drinking and making tom-foolery of ourselves as we were all from out of town and haven't seen each other in over a year.

As I lounge here in a comfortable hunting lodge-esque armchair watching my boys play a game of pool I can't find anything wrong with the place. My strawberry infused beer is delicious, the music is at a comfortable volume, I'm warm, and I got to autograph the cool chalkboard bathroom walls. The bartender was nice enough to plug my phone in behind the bar for a while so it wouldn't die. Thanks Spokane, from the South with love.

I love that Far West has something to do while I drink besides sit at a table and try to talk over too-loud music. That's fun sometimes, but a good night-scene needs variety and Far West helps provide it. Nice pool tables by the hour, games, comfy chairs, excellent laid-back atmosphere, decent drinks, decent food - a great place to meet up with friends and spend several enjoyable hours.