Last week while driving down Shaw, we had noticed that the Red Wave Inn (a bar near Fresno State University) was open. Inside, it was a robust bar with a nice atmosphere, decent bar food (though expensive as heck). This place would be useful when I finally transfer over to Fresno State. At bars, I tend to try new things rather than paying money for beers I already know, and here was no exception. They only have “soft” alcohol (no hard drinks), so naturally Mike went for a hard cider, and I for a beer. Mike’s cider was rather unique. It is a Tropical Mayhem, getting its tropical flavor from maracuja passion fruit, and unlike most hard ciders, this one was much stronger at 9% ABV (4.5% is the norm for hard ciders).
As for my beer, I found it odd that I really couldn’t pin down what specific beer I had. I’m pretty sure I had a “Dust Bowl IPA”, though I have been unable to find it specifically online. All I know is that its brewed by Dust Bowl and that they have many IPAs. Regardless, there’s not a whole lot special about it; it tastes typical of an IPA, thought slightly smoother, probably due to its dust like haziness. Haziness in beer is due to not filtering out yeast particles, alongside various other biochemicals. Don’t worry, it’s intentional and harmless).
Despite my rather good experience here, there was something wrong with the place. (Hint: It’s obvious in the featured image). Notice something? Yeah, no social distancing, nor any plexiglass barriers between any of the bar seats. All it takes is one positive person there to give it to everyone there. Luckily, there are tables up against the walls of the building, which is about 6 feet from the bar, but still, the lack of any protection or following of guidelines made me disappointed. (I don’t have any pictures of it yet, but the bar area at Classic Billiards is divided by plexiglass barriers, which I think every bar should be doing!)