Brothers Bar & Grill

Way better than Brothers in Iowa City, I can tell you that much. I’d say it’s a pretty typical college bar, not the best and not the worst that I’ve been to. I’ve been here a few times that I’ve visited UIUC, and most of my experiences have been positive.
Pros: No cover for 21+, CHEAP drinks (all of my Iowa City friends were surprised when they realized this Brothers is literally half the price of ours), a decent amount of space.
The only negative experience I’ve really had here is some girls saying some pretty racist stuff in the bathroom, but oh well. Also sometimes their music is just kind of weird.
If you want somewhere to go and dance, this is definitely not it. But if you want somewhere to go and get hammered for less than $ 20 on a weekend, this is a good choice.

Crazy cheap for an alum used to Chicago bar prices. Tried the broski for four. Floor was so sticky it pulled my shoe off my foot when I tried to walk across the floor. Bought a Bacardi and sprite and felt almost instantly roofied by bacteria from the spray gun and glassware.

I like the lofted floor plan here. Beer selection is quite good. Prices not bad. Nothing special though.

This might be the lesser of all the evils in Champaign, in terms of bars.
$ 2 wells on a Friday, no cover for 21+, friendly bartenders and door guys, a pretty large inside with the unique loft overlooking the whole place, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
The crowd here is mostly older than what you would get at Red Lion or Kam’s, I saw a lot of grad-​looking students. The music is really loud but ironically not too much dancing going on for some reason.
They don’t have gestapo-​like security checking every 5 minutes for wristbands, nor does the crowd push you around annoyingly, and the music is usually halfway decent.
The only things I didn’t like were that the place is a little dirty, but what U of I bar isn’t?
The service was also a little quicker than the other bars, but they still could have used at least 1 more working!
I like this place, it’s really great to just sit up on the balcony and have a good conversation with someone as you watch everyone below.
I’ll be back!

Seems like a normal bar at first, until you actually spend any amount of time inside. Why I so strongly dislike Brothers:
1) You will go home deaf. Guaranteed. I’ve never been in a bar that insists on playing such outrageously loud music in this space. My ears hurt more than anywhere else I’ve been. And often it’s not good music — if I want that type of music, I’ll go to Firehaus.
2) Never enough space. Yes college bars are going to be packed and such, it’s part of the atmosphere. But there are WAAAY too many people in Brothers and I’ve had beer spilled on me just about every time including once having a beer from the loft fall and spill/​hit me.
3) The people at Brothers tend to be so completely and utterly hammered. When I go out I want to have a good time, I don’t want to be surrounded by people stumbling into me or throwing up all over the bathroom or on the stairs on the way down. Disgusting.
4) Hot as hell. There’s no air circulation whatsoever. You’ll be sweating just standing there even in the middle of winter. The fans on the ceiling are useless.
I admit, Brothers has 2 redeeming factors: it’s dirt cheap and the wings are pretty solid.
GO ELSEWHERE!

Overpriced and dirty. Never had any good memories from this place.

When we got in, it took about 20 minutes of standing at the bar to get a drink. The bartender skipped over me several times; they have no system at all of serving people waiting at the bar. It seems to be totally random.
The bathroom is completely and absolutely unusable. There is about 3 inches of water on the floor, every toilet is flooding and clogged, and there is no toilet paper anywhere.
Never wasting my time at Brother’s again.

I’ve had good times at Brothers. I’ve had bad times at Brothers. If you want to know which I’ve had more of, just look at my rating.
This place would be remarkably better if it didn’t feel like management had only two bartenders working the giant bar on the «first floor» every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It gets too crowded to play darts. It seems like every time I’m here someone does what in my olfactory opinion equates to crapping their pants so then you have to go to the other side of the bar just to avoid it. Guard your jacket unless you want a free drink spilled on it. Past 11pm the bathroom resembles a slip and slide.
On the good side, expect cheap drinks… assuming you’re able to order them.

Hate this bar. The only good time to go is when it’s nearly empty. As soon as people start really piling in, the lines get too long, the bartenders turn into assholes who play favorites, and the douchiest douchebags fill Brothers shoulder-​to-​shoulder. I don’t get why people go here just for the wings.

I love Chambana because I can go out on a Saturday night and not blow all my money!
Seriously. Amazing specials on a Saturday night. Friendly bartenders that recommend new and exciting brews/​drinks even when the place is crowded. It’s hard not to love a place with that kind of attitude!

Can’t go wrong with Brothers. Large airy bar that seems to be a great place to catch a game. Not as good as the Iowa location, but worth checking out.

Been awhile since I’ve been here. But I had friends who used to go in undergrad for the dance floor in campustown. I don’t know how much it has changed since
It appears the same though: be prepared for the longest line ever, a bad dance floor, expensive drinks and bad music. I loathed this place.

Hands down my favorite bar on campus. Another ‘older’ crowd bar since it’s no cover for 21+. Though TWICE my underaged friend went and got the overage wristband. Hmm.
Love this place, the bartenders were super cute, drinks were cheap if you went on the right night. Wed nights were always crowded b/​c of 10cent wings (which I thought were pretty awful). You can dance anywhere if you wanted, they always had really good cheesy dancable music. Pool tables on the first level. Photo hunt games on the upstairs bar area.
Our favorite place to sit was on the 2^nd floor front balcony — we’d sit right where we could see the entry door, but people’s heads were cut off. We’d play this game if we thought guys had receding hairlines or not based on what their bodies looked like, it was awesome.
Watch the stairs though! There’s a long stair case on the way up to the bar, then inside there’s a couple of staircases to get up to the 2^nd balcony level. My friends and I have fallen many a time on our way down the stairs. Oops!

Oh holy crap. I didn’t goto this school, but I wish I did for this bar alone. I celebrated a bachelorette party here with my girls on a Saturday and basically ANY drink you can think of was $ 1…ONE DOLLAR!!! I was blown away. These same drinks in the same solo cup in Chicago would have been $ 5−7…
Cheers to $ 1 drinks and getting good and drunk for the cost of 2 drinks back home!

Brothers and I used to have a torrid love affair; I was just barely underage, enamored with the bright lights, loud music, dancing, and upperclassmen guys. Brothers didn’t always treat me well, with their long line and cover, but I didn’t care.
Then, one day I had a realization; Brothers, you think you’re way cooler than you are. In my opinion, your drinks are actually kind of expensive for weekend specials in Champaign. Going to other bars is nice because you can sit, hear yourself think, and get served in under 20 minutes. Sometimes, I’m pretty sure you have the same mix on loop, and it gets annoying. One of your few redeeming qualities is that you have Bass on tap. Brothers, you will always hold a place in my heart, but I don’t love you anymore.

Brothers:
It’s your run of the mill College Bar.
Cheap drinks
Good music
Crazy dancing
A couple of minor thoughs: The second floor of brothers looks down on the dance floor like a giant balcony, pretty unique. And the first floor bar spans across the entire left side of the room, I also enjoyed that. I did not enjoy how bright it was in there, I could actually see people’s faces, who wants to do that at a bar?

Loud. Large. Really cool space inside! Girls are pretty dressed up, guys notsomuch. Cheap drinks.
I’d never wait in line or pay cover to get inside though…

I havn’t had enough opportunities to write a thorough review, but I can review a couple aspects.
First, it was probably our fault for going to Brothers at 11 p.m. on the first Thursday of Spring semester. But seriously… a 2-​hr wait in line, no joke, is no fun.
What strikes me as fun about Brothers is that it occupies the 2^nd and 3^rd stories of a 3-​story building. Part of the third floor is removed so you get a great open bar space which feels pretty roomy. The décor is bar-​ish.
The bartenders were cute, and responsive to taking orders even though the room was pretty packed.
I agree with some of the other reviewers that the people here are kind what you’d expect at any frat party… but then again, this is a bar on Green St.
Drink selection is decent. Come for the unique bar setting, leave when you get sick of the people.

Basically just a sports bar with enough room for people to dance as well. Cover is free for 21+ and typically $ 3 — $ 5 for under 21. There’re two stories to this joint, but it still gets extremely packed on weekends which makes it very hard to get anywhere without several random people grinding up on you or getting spilled on/​spilling some of your drink because someone’s shoving past you. As they’ve sacrificed sitting space for their pseudo-​dance floor, there isn’t really anywhere to sit, especially if you don’t get there early to claim a table/​booth (on the first floor at least; they have more seating on the second level).
Note of caution: it takes forever just to get in since the line gets really long unless you go a little earlier in the night. Other than that though, it’s pretty fun. A lot less seedy than some other campus bars such as Kam’s or C.O.‘s, and they have pretty good specials here.

The line for this place SUCKS! It is really long. and it takes forever to get inside. This particularly matters when you’re in high heels and it’s freezing outside.
Free cover though for people over 21+. The scene is very UIUC college-​y. There is kind of a dance floor… it’s not really too big so it’s kind of crowded. But they do play good music. The mixed drinks are kind of weak here. And more often than not, somebody has knocked a drink out of my hands because they just pushed past me.
It’s one of the more popular bars definetely. so I think it’s worth a visit.