Wonder Bar

No Longer In Business

Visited on a Saturday afternoon. We walked into a fairly typical Western dive bar, but with some character, with a stamped metal celing and an vintage bar. We took seats at the bar flanked by patrons with packs of Marlboros and cigarette lighters proudly displayed on the bar in front of them. Thankfully they took their smoke breaks outside. It took maybe 10 minutes for the bartender to ask "Do you want something?", as if maybe I had just stopped in to admire the ornate bar. As other reviewers have noted, their beers are pretty mediocre, and based on my experience the service sucks. If you are dead set on visiting every brewery in Wyoming, you must stop here. Otherwise, don’t go out of your way.

Ms. phaleslu and I stopped in here after 12 hours of driving from Iowa City on a trip out to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We just needed a good place to get some food and beers. It seemed to be the only place with much activity in the downtown Casper area, so we did it. Music was blasting out of the doors from an absolutely horrible band that plays there every weekend and seems to have a following of morons. I mean, just the worst covers you’ve ever heard. Indescribably bad band. Otherwise, I liked the space- kind of an extra-wide bar with two storefront sides, one more of a restaurant with a shitty salad bar, and one more of the main bar. It’s apparently so wide because back in the day you could ride your horse right up to the bar. it also houses Casper’s only brewery, the Wyoming State Brewery, and it seems to be a trend (law?) here that the breweries and places they inhabit have different names. The beers are mediocre, from my small sampling, but the prices are fantastic and they have 6 or so other Wyoming-brewed beers on tap. You can make a sampler of any beers on tap, including guests, for $5. And the guests weren’t just standards, but really interesting seasonals or one-offs. The bartender was a good dude who knew everyone and the beers and whatnot. The food was below average, but whatever. For some unique - if not particularly great - beers and a lively atmosphere, this is a worthwhile stop. There’s a lot to criticize, but it’s not without its charms.

Huge place with big bar area, games room and restaraunt. Bit tacky though. Service was pretty good, although they don’t know much about beer. Selection was their stuff and macros. Beer was sub par as was the food. Prices were pretty good but still I would avoid it.

Visited 4/11/06 apparently not long after this "world famous" old-timer bar in downtown Casper started brewing. The bartender knew zippo about beer in general, let alone about the 5 house brews. There was no info on the beers available, other than their names chalked onto the chalk board. I guess you can stop by if you happen to be in te area, but don’t expect much.