B&R Tavern

(Quincy, IL)
Formerly Bob & Ray’s Tavern

Scooter’s 843rd bar, first visited in 2010.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any weirder than how our visit at Jimbo’s Place had ended, we went straight from that into how our visit at B&R Tavern began!

We had decided to stop this portion of the trip and head downtown to barhop on foot. But as we made a turn I noticed a bar in my rearview mirror and decided we ought to go ahead and stop. As I circled around the block to get to it, we found yet another bar! (I love this town!) We pulled up to what turned out to be the B&R Tavern.

We parked the van across the street from the bar, but just as we were about to get out, B’s phone rang. While he was on the call, I decided to pass time by taking pictures. But a man had just left the bar, and I didn’t want him to think I was taking pictures of him, so I waited, fumbling with my camera in the driver’s seat. After a moment B had got out of the passenger side and started pacing beside the van while on the phone.

The man who had stepped out of the bar would not stop looking at me, and I noticed him get on his phone. Thinking he’d never leave, I got out and walked around to the back of the van, pretending to rummage through our cargo just to pass the time until the guy would get out of my way.

FINALLY he got into his vehicle and drove away, slowly, talking on the phone the whole time. Meanwhile B’s phone conversation ended and he dashed on into the bar, entering the side door. I was still outside, and hadn’t taken any photos yet. I took one quick picture (which sadly turned out crappy as you can see above) and entered through the front door.

I stepped inside to see B seated at the bar, perfectly still, The female bartender, with her phone pressed to her ear, looked at me nervously, then seemed relieved. “Okay, the second one is in now,” she said into the phone. “I think it’s okay.”

As it turns out, this bar had recently been nearly robbed, and our arrival had set off so many red flags with the man who had just left that he called the bartender to warn her about us!

After she warmed up to us and learned about our travels, she had a good laugh with us about her worries. She then told us about the attempted robbery, and it’s a tale of criminal ineptness and stupidity with few rivals!

It seems that one of the B&R’s regulars came into the bar with a ski mask over his head, intent on robbing the place. The bartender, the same woman we were talking to now, immediately recognized him and assumed he was joking. She laughed in his face and told him he looked ridiculous. So he took off the mask, sat down and had a few drinks, paid his tab, and left. A few minutes later the Scrub-a-Dub Laundry across the street was robbed. The bartender was shocked when the police showed up and told her that she had been the original target of the robbery.

But it doesn’t end there. A few days later, out on bail, the robber had the cajones to show up back at B&R Tavern to shoot some pool! He seemed genuinely surprised when they kicked him out and banned him for life.

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So, back to the B&R Tavern. This is a rather big bar with unusually clean restrooms. It had started out as a smaller building, then later had an addition wrapped around its north and west sides which now served as space for pool tables and restaurant seating. There’s also a newer outdoor area.

This place has been the B&R Tavern for about 20 years. Prior to that it was known by the longer form of its name, Bob & Rays, for about 50-60 years.

I wonder what “other unhygienic acts” they had in mind?

339 Cedar Street
Quincy, IL 62301
US
[launch map]
(217) 222-7356