PRINTColumbia bar bathroom showdown
Vox rates 11 restaurant and bar bathrooms from top to bottom
Photo courtesy of stock.xchng
April 19, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
There’s one factor that people often miss when choosing a bar for the night, and it can significantly affect their experience: the bathroom. No one wants to see leftover toilet paper in the toilet, touch a dirty sink or dry their hands on their pants because there are no paper towels. Don’t worry, Vox has done the legwork for you. We went to 11 bars around Columbia on a Friday night and rated their bathrooms on cleanliness, spaciousness, speediness and our overall experience.
Houlihan's
Women's
Number of stalls: 3
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
If this bathroom is out of toilet paper, just ask a neighbor for a square to spare; the trough-like sink is too much fun to miss. It feels modern and industrial and is altogether a pleasant place.
Men's
Number of stalls: 2
Number of urinals: 1
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 5 out of 5
The sophisticated décor will leave you ooh-ing and ahh-ing. A large window lets patrons peak into the starry sky but is high enough that it doesn’t expose the men’s room to the parking lot.
Shiloh Bar and Grill
Women's
Number of stalls: 3
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Automatic
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
Shiloh’s bathroom is well-lit and has a huge mirror, perfect for touch-ups. The garbage is overflowing with paper towels, but bonus points for having enough space to move from stall to sink.
Men's
Number of stalls: 2
Number of urinals: 2
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Automatic
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
Shiloh wins for best overall male bar bathroom; although it is slightly less clean than others, it's well-decorated and has no line. The bathroom carried a lively, entertaining atmosphere, and the patrons were polite and amiable.
Room 38
Women's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
Although it takes about 30 seconds to find the light, this private bathroom is a pleasant surprise. It’s about the size of a small walk-in pantry, but a woman enjoys some privacy every once in a while.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of urinals: 0
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
The line bunches up in a packed hall with people trying to squeeze through to the back room. The facility itself is nothing impressive and not accommodating for Room 38’s sleek crowd. It’s a letdown compared to the rest of the bar.
Whiskey Wild Saloon
Women's
Number of stalls: 11
Number of sinks: 4
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
The Whiskey Wild bathroom is huge, and it even includes a bench to sit on while you wait for your friend. But the bathroom could be spruced up, including new toilet paper dispensers — some are being held together with duct tape.
Men's
Number of stalls: 2 (one without toilet seat)
Number of urinals: 9
Number of sinks: 2 (one faucet broken)
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
Spacious, rustic and mostly clean, the Whiskey Wild Saloon accommodates the male crowd with a slew of urinals. This helps keep the masses flowing in and out of the bathroom quickly so y’all can get back to the dance floor to do-si-do.
McGinty’s Pub
Women's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 2 out of 5
While sitting on the toilet in the women’s bathroom at McGinty’s, you might find yourself wondering where the cream-colored, unfinished cabinet with mysterious brown stains right in front of you came from. No, it doesn’t hold extra toilet paper.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1 (well, it’s just a room with a toilet)
Number of urinals: 0
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels (dispenser is difficult to reach)
Cleanliness rating: 2 out of 5
McGinty’s bathroom could use some help. The door to the bathroom doesn’t lock, which is uncomfortable. Perhaps the janitor was on vacation, but the bathroom needed some serious scrubbing, and an air freshener or five would help cover the stench.
1839 Taphouse
Women's
Number of stalls: 2
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
Taphouse has a clean, tidy, but cramped women’s bathroom with almost no line. However, it looks like it hasn’t been revamped since it was built, and the sliding doors with unconventional door locks aren’t user-friendly.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of urinals: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness: 3 out of 5
After a couple of drinks, it might be hard to navigate to this bathroom. Users must traverse down a corridor to a hidden back area, and closing the stall requires sliding a bulky door and fitting a metal hook into a ring. Shutting a bathroom door shouldn’t be a challenge.
Southside Pizza and Pub
Women's
Number of stalls: 5
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
The Southside bathroom is family-friendly with plenty of space, stalls and diaper changing tables. Although it was relatively clean, Southside would benefit from having a staff person come in to clean up the extra bits of toilet paper on the floor.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of urinals: 3
Number of sinks: 3
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels and hand dryer
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
Southside’s bathroom is the most baby-friendly and offers a diaper-changing station, a wonderful convenience for any dad stuck watching the little tyke on a Saturday night. Décor is lacking, but aesthetically pleasing graffiti scribbled in the stall’s wall gives patrons something to look at.
Bengal’s Bar and Grill
Women's
Number of stalls: 3
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels and hand dryer
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
When busy, it’s difficult to move from stall to sink and then back out to the bar at Bengal’s. However, there some light reading material in the stalls with advertisements for Dollar Burger Mondays. It’s not exactly The New York Times, but it’ll do.
Men's
Numbers of stall: 1
Numbers of urinals: 3
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels and hand dryer
Cleanliness: 3 out of 5
If you can wade through the crowd, you’ll spend five minutes in the bathroom’s line. The experience feels rushed and uncomfortable, especially if patrons take bets on how long it takes for you to pee. A massive mirror near the exit lets urinal-users fix their hair; you look gotta look good for that special someone.
Harpo’s
Women's
Number of stalls: 4
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Automatic
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
The bathroom door at Harpo’s is open the whole time, so anyone walking by can see that you’re waiting in line. It’s cramped and loud, and the water puddles on the floor overshadow the momentary joy of seeing the automatically flushing toilets.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of urinals: 4
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Automatic
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness: 4 out of 5
Harpo’s wins for best décor. Black and gold tiles on the wall form the letters “M” and “U” and makes male Mizzou fans proud. But the men’s and women’s bathroom doors are too close to each other in a tiny hallway, and getting in and out feels is a tight squeeze.
Trops
Women's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 4 out of 5
The Trops bathroom is cozy and comforting with red and brown tiles checkering the floor, a rustic brick wall next to the toilet and the familiar scent of generic handsoap.
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 3 out of 5
Although cleanliness dips to a dingy rating, this bathroom’s got character. An eerie Grim Reaper drawn on the paper towel dispenser points with a bony finger toward the sink. More drawings and scrawlings decorate an out-of-service condom machine that hangs on the wall next to death personified. The room is small, but Trops isn’t big, so it works.
Vault
Women's
Number of stalls: 2
Number of sinks: 2
Flush: Automatic
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 5 out of 5
After seeing 10 other bathrooms, Vault is the Cadillac of women’s bathrooms. It even has special olive oil soap, which on further inspection is probably just an olive oil soap container filled with generic soap, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
Men's
Number of stalls: 1
Number of urinals: 1
Number of sinks: 1
Flush: Manual
Drying method: Paper towels
Cleanliness rating: 5 out of 5
Bring your monocle and top hat for this high-class bathroom. Immaculate and posh, the room felt less like a bathroom and more like the Edwardian parlor at Downton Abbey. The room, however, smells too much like Bath & Body Works. It stings the nostrils.
