Saturday, March 21, 2009

Winner's Circle Sports Grille: Edgemont, PA

Name: Winner's Circle Sports Grille
Website: http://www.winnerscirclesportsgrille.com/
Type: Restaurant
Location: Edgemont, PA
Occupancy: Multiple
Porcelain: Two toilets, two urinals

The Circ is a pantheon of suburban culture in West Philly. Stuck halfway between a bar and a restaurant, the Circ hosts trivia every week and has a giant projection screen for your favorite team's game. They also provide little audio boxes so you can hear the commentary from either the "main game" or any one of 5-10 smaller screens. The food is pretty good, and the staff is friendly. So, does the toilet match the drapes?

Cleanliness
As a long time Circ patron, I was expecting it to be sort of messy when I went in last night. I was pleasantly surprised to find no puddles, odors, or trash. For an average place like this to pull off cleanliness is quite a feat.
Result: PASS (1 point)

Privacy
Good news: the bathrooms are in a separate hallway! Bad news: if you sit on a toilet, you can see the entire bathroom unobstructed (and vice versa!) I really like the hidden-away approach here, but it's insane that you can barely hide yourself while dropping the kids off at the pool. I don't know what to say.
Result: NO DECISION (0.5 points)

Flushing
Standard, normal, and worked as expected. You're not going to come out feeling like a new man, but it gets the job done.
Result: PASS (1 point)

Dryers
Yikes, big problem here. They avoid the death trap of air dryers, but there is a terrible pump towel system that forces you to touch the same wet lever that everyone before you had used. Also, forget about using the door handle with towel still in hand, because the two are about 8 feet away from each other.
Result: FAIL (no points)

Mirrors
Not full-length, but definitely full-width. You can see yourself well if you only start existing 4 feet off of the ground. Also, the mirror directly points at the door, so anyone walking in catches a full glimpse. I hope you like everyone at the bar watching you scrub your fingernails.
Result: FAIL (no points)

Music
Overhead music! Unbelievable! As an extra bonus, if there is trivia or a sports game on the big screen, you get that audio instead of lame muzak. It isn't loud enough to cover the worst deposit, but for the most part it's very servicable.
Result: PASS (1 point)

Reviewer Tilt
I definitely have to give a shout-out to one very cool bonus here: the urinals have a corkboard above them, and the staff posts that day's Sports section from the Philly Inquirer. No one wants to be looking around (or looked at) when they're peeing, and distracting them with columns about the Eagles is a perfect solution. I can't give the highest Tilt marks here, but a half-point is well-earned.
Result: .5 points

Score: 4.0 out of 7 (57.1%)


What This Means For You:
Somehow, the fine folks at Winner's Circle managed to impress me. The bathroom is quite standard on the surface, but the Sports page posting and overhead music go a long way. Also, the hallway leading to the bathrooms is big enough to accomodate long lines, even if it doesn't come up very often. I have no pause in recommending this bathroom, and would advise to NOT wait for the comfort of your own home.

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