The layout of the establishment is straightforward. Enter through a glass door, the bar (small - seats about 6 people) is on your left, tiny cafe tables line the wall on the right and at the very back of the room is where the DJ resides. Towards the middle of the room, on the left are the bathrooms; they're only worth mentioning because they are so inconspicuous. There are two separate doors with 3 steps leading up to them; behind the doors are the restrooms. If I didn't have to go to the bathroom so badly, I would have never even thought to give one of these doors a shove. As far as I could tell, the bathrooms were unisex - so regardless of which door you choose, you're good-to-go. Maybe this is a French thing.

Speaking of which, Bar Noir has a French theme to it. Plastered all over its walls are French movie posters. In some instances, the movie posters are of American/British films but the credits & title are written in the French Translation. For instance, they have a movie poster from the James Bond movie Thunderball, but the title Thunderball is somehow written in French. I didn't even know that Thunderball was a word, let alone the French had a word for it. Loosely translated it appeared to me that the French version of Thunderball meant "Guy with brass nuts." It was really just an intro to French class that I took, so I might be wrong.

Regardless, Bar Noir likes their posters and pictures. They even threw up a few picts of the construction workers putting the finishing touches on the bar. What got me and the other people in my party was a big-assed, Nell Carter- sized picture of Elvis Costello sandwiched between the two lavatory doors. Elvis was British, not French.  It's sort of like going to Hooters and you wind up getting a guy for your waiter, rather than the cute blonde with the 36C cups.

Bar Noir provides a DJ for entertainment. When we entered the bar he was playing some Sinatra and soft jazz, but an hour later he was spinning 1980's dance tunes from groups like Erasure. Go figure?

There were a lot of college age couples hanging out. It seems like a popular "date place" not too loud, small cozy tables, the French influence promoting romance in the air.  Some of the clientele were workin' the French look: black pants, black turtleneck & avant garde eyeglasses. The only thing missing was the beret.

All bottled brews at Bar Noir, no taps so don't get your hopes up. Some of the highlights include: Pilsner Urquell (bottle), Guinness, and Bass.

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