The Banque Country Western

1849 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA 23518, USA

Address:	1849 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA 23518, USA
Phone:	+1 757-480-3600
Site:	thebanque.com
Rating:	3.7
Working:	Closed Closed 6PM–1:30AM 6PM–1:30AM 6PM–1:30AM 6PM–1:30AM Closed

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

A Private User

Ordered 4 shots (red-grenadine white-mikes hard lemonade and cherry vodka and blue-blue curacao). Gave detailed directions to the waitress. Came back with 8 shots and a bottle of mikes hard lemonade. All of the ingredients were there, but it was all separate and they charged us for each thing. These shots should have been $8 each, max. The bill came to $54 for 4 shots. Keep in mind, this place is a dive. The waitress even said, "I dont think this is what you wanted, and I dont think you are going to want it after you see how much it came to." I said, "This is not what I wanted, and it is way overpriced." She said "ok, what do you want?" I ordered 4 lemon drops because those are easy. They never came. Next thing I know, some old man comes up to me and asks to see my ID (I am a 23 year old female sitting with my older brother and some friends). He asks me to come with him and my brother comes to follow. He told my brother to stay where he was and that he just needed to talk to me. To make a long story short, he took me to a police officer who was waiting outside. The police officer told me that I had to pay for the shots because I ordered them and they brought me exactly what I ordered. I said that they werent what I ordered and I did not plan on paying for them and I did not drink them. He proceeded with "If you dont pay for the shots I will give you a summons to go to court." After about a 10 minute argument and the police officer running my id, I decide I will ask my friends (who are all outside at this point) and my bother (who was basically kicked out for watching the conversation) if I should pay for the shots and if they want to take them. My male friend goes in there and explains we will never come back again and he plans to pay for the shots, but we will not be drinking them. The manager then says he will have to eat the cost of the shots if we arent having them. Meanwhile, I am outside talking to another cop who rolled his eyes at the ridiculous situation and said that they cannot charge us for something we didnt drink. I will never go back to this bar. I felt bullied because it was the end of the night and I am a young girl. They must have thought we were more drunk than we were. And lets be honest, the real cost of these drinks to the bar was under $10. RIDICULOUS!!!

Meghan Cole

Since they want to try to silence people here we are yet again. When I first came to the Banque I loved the atmosphere. It was a great environment and I always enjoyed coming until they started going downhill. They began firing long time employees and allowing people to act trashy and get away with anything and everything in their bar. It turned from a family friendly environment into another trashy pitstop bar. I was a regular at the Banque and once I found out they fired a favorite bartender to many of us (Charleen) I became very irriated and decided to write a review this morning which went from my origional 5 star to a 1 review. Charleen was always there for many of us on our roughest days when we would just come to the bar to get away and be with friends. She was especially there for me after my mother and sister in law died this January. Never has a staff member ever gone above and beyond like that for me and I know she has been there for many others. Well after I wrote my review several others (22 regulars to be exact) followed and posted their reviews as well. Aparently the new manager didnt like this as removed their "write a review" section from facebook. Well here I will post it again. Business leaders who adopt the attitude that anyone is replaceable, thinking they can simply hire someone with a greater skillset or someone with a more prestigious pedigree, are fooling themselves. When a company has a truly great employee, that employee carries value that simply cannot be replaced. They have extensive product, systems, and process knowledge. They hold client relationships that have been built over many years or could take years to duplicate. And great employees have camaraderie and influence with their coworkers, which when lost, has an impact on the corporate/companys culture within. I will no longer be coming to the Banque when I visit VB and I emplore others to avoid this establishment as well.

A Private User

I used to go there all the time. I was what one would refer to as a regular, but after a few years of going and getting to know the people who work there, I saw the place for what it really is. They have no loyalty to patrons of long tenure. Ray Barret is not the owner of this bar but rather the hired help. If it werent for this being the only bar left in Norfolk that lets in 18 year old sailors for free, he would have ran this place into the ground. I used to go to dance and mingle, but like others have said, all they do is single line dances and no one can just dance on the floor anymore. The alcohol is expensive and the food is crap. I suggest saving your money and time and going somewhere else. Also like Brittney said, they have alot of the pulling people outside stuff going on as of late. They have a very shaddy way of making people do things, also 90% of the time, the officer is off duty and working for the banque directly, that is why they bully you also. Most of the time, its all bark no bite, if you arent doing anything wrong, then dont let them convince you that you are.

Kate Craig

I love the Banque. Ive been a regular patron for five years now. The pros: incredibly safe (at age 20 I felt 100% safe going there by myself and still do!), military/police friendly, large dance floor, and lots of people who would love to teach you how to dance. Its just an incredibly fun atmosphere that cannot be replicated. The cons: they are growing, expanding, and changing. Which means the rules change overnight all the time. The staff is either incredible, or EXCEPTIONALLY RUDE, even to their most loyal, high-paying customers. They also charge for water. If you serve alcohol, you should provide free water for your patrons. Just sayin. If I have a $100 bar tab, and then when I ask for water you say: "you have to pay for it," then I get really irritated. Show some interest in the general well being of your patrons, and stop charging for water!

A Private User

Not sure whats up with all these reviews. I thought the place was pretty damn cool. The beers were $3.95 and a Captain & coke was $5.25, yeah a little pricey & somewhat weak, but your at a Night club. There was a good mix of people of all ages, but mostly younger, again its a night club. Everyone was very nice & they didnt even charge me a cover charge because it was my first time there, works for me, although the cover was $8.00, yikes. They played mostly country music with a couple of dance songs in there. There was a smoking room for us smokers, but it was a little claustrophobic. I guess thats the price I pay for my bad habit. Overall it wasnt as bad as others have written on here though. Its worth checking out if you like country music, even if its only once, youll still have fun.