Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Gainesville Bar report:
Before I left on this trip, I sent a PM through Flyertalk to someone that had gone to law school at University of Florida (UF). I asked about the nightlife there and he told me that it basically changes like every six months and he graduated three years ago. I promised him that I'd give him a report on what I learned as he's going there in March. I figure that I might as well post this info here.
The nightlife in Gainesville is similar to that of Maui in that you have to know which bar is the happening place for that day. For example, this place called Rue Bar (downtown) is packed on Thursdays, but it seemed dead on Friday. I had heard that the happening places usually attract a crowd through drink specials. I didn't really ask about drink specials as I didn't drink much on this trip. The bars all close at 2Am. What's interesting is that some places didn't get kicking until midnight, which is weird considering the closing time.
The "eye candy" is great. As it's a college town, there are a lot of young girls. There are way more good looking girls here than in Chicago as there seem to be an abundance of thin girls. Here in Chicago, it seeems like there are more overweight women. Men's Fitness did rate Chicago as the most obese city for the year so I shouldn' be surprised.
Mondays:
The Grog was the happening place on Monday. It's located on University Ave across from campus. It's located on the second floor. There was a good drink special. The one I remember was you got two bottled beers for the price of one. There were other specials, but I only bought beers so I don't remember what they were.
Swamp, which is down the street, was also packed. We didn't have time to check it out, though.
Tuesdays:
I didn't go out on Tuesday so I don't know what's hot on this night. I had heard from several people that this is a very slow day.
Wednesday:
Downtown was dead on Wednesday. Seamas had wanted to go downtown on Wednesday, but we quickly realized it wasn't happening. The few people we saw told us where the action was: Gator City. Gator city is located on University Ave, near Grog house. From a conversation with a bouncer, apparently, Gator City and the club next to it (the name is "Ex" or something) are really one bar. On Wednesdays, the club is split into two bars by closing the inner down that connects them. The line for both clubs is the same, and then splits off near the entrances. Apprentely, Gator City was already packed to capacity when we got there as we were only able to get into the club next to it.
Atlantis:
This had fewer college students and was a totally different atmosphere than any of the clubs we went to in Gainesville. It's located across the street from "The Top" retaurant downtown. It was packed when we got there at 1am. I didn't really like it as it was small, and it was so loud that I couldn't do any sarging.
Thursday:
We ended up going to Rue Bar downtown. :08 (A country music place downtown) also looked good as it had a line. I think the Grog area bars were also busy as we saw a lot of people walking around the area when we drove by at closing time.
Friday:
Most of the places seemed to be busy. If you want to be adventurous, you can just go into any place that has a line. Fat Tuesday's was dead the first Friday I was there. It was also dead the 2nd Friday and everyday we walked past it. Maybe it's busy on Tuesdays? Also, as I mentioned above, Rue Bar seemed slow on Fridays as well.
Market Street:
During a Starbucks sarge, a girl recommended Market Street to me. Seamas and I almost went in there the first Friday. Market Street is the biggest bar we went to during this trip. When you walk in, there's a dart and pool table area to the right. Straight ahead is a bar on the left. Right after that is a smaller bar to the right. In the back is a good sized dance floor. There's the main floor, and it is surrounded by a slightly higher balcony that is also a dance floor. If you walk to your left when you walk in, you find a large bar area. Music is played a lot softer here, so you can have a conversation. Fridays is 80's night so you don't like that music, then don't go.
Here is where I noticed the strange trend that I mentioned above: the place didn't get really packed until midnight. In the Chicago area, if a bar closes at 1-2am, it gets packed around 10:30PM. The only places that don't get busy until 12-1am are after hours places that close at 4am. Maybe people were treating Market Place as an "after hours" place. Even though it closes at 2am, people might be hitting other bars first and then hitting this at midnight. Honestly, I don't have enough data to know what's up as this was the only night that we actually got out early.
Saturday:
I didn't get to go out either Saturday that I was there. Some people had told me Market Street was also packed on Saturday. Saturday is a busy day so I'm sure most places that have a line are good.
Sunday:
No idea except that it's supposed to be a slow day.
Before I left on this trip, I sent a PM through Flyertalk to someone that had gone to law school at University of Florida (UF). I asked about the nightlife there and he told me that it basically changes like every six months and he graduated three years ago. I promised him that I'd give him a report on what I learned as he's going there in March. I figure that I might as well post this info here.
The nightlife in Gainesville is similar to that of Maui in that you have to know which bar is the happening place for that day. For example, this place called Rue Bar (downtown) is packed on Thursdays, but it seemed dead on Friday. I had heard that the happening places usually attract a crowd through drink specials. I didn't really ask about drink specials as I didn't drink much on this trip. The bars all close at 2Am. What's interesting is that some places didn't get kicking until midnight, which is weird considering the closing time.
The "eye candy" is great. As it's a college town, there are a lot of young girls. There are way more good looking girls here than in Chicago as there seem to be an abundance of thin girls. Here in Chicago, it seeems like there are more overweight women. Men's Fitness did rate Chicago as the most obese city for the year so I shouldn' be surprised.
Mondays:
The Grog was the happening place on Monday. It's located on University Ave across from campus. It's located on the second floor. There was a good drink special. The one I remember was you got two bottled beers for the price of one. There were other specials, but I only bought beers so I don't remember what they were.
Swamp, which is down the street, was also packed. We didn't have time to check it out, though.
Tuesdays:
I didn't go out on Tuesday so I don't know what's hot on this night. I had heard from several people that this is a very slow day.
Wednesday:
Downtown was dead on Wednesday. Seamas had wanted to go downtown on Wednesday, but we quickly realized it wasn't happening. The few people we saw told us where the action was: Gator City. Gator city is located on University Ave, near Grog house. From a conversation with a bouncer, apparently, Gator City and the club next to it (the name is "Ex" or something) are really one bar. On Wednesdays, the club is split into two bars by closing the inner down that connects them. The line for both clubs is the same, and then splits off near the entrances. Apprentely, Gator City was already packed to capacity when we got there as we were only able to get into the club next to it.
Atlantis:
This had fewer college students and was a totally different atmosphere than any of the clubs we went to in Gainesville. It's located across the street from "The Top" retaurant downtown. It was packed when we got there at 1am. I didn't really like it as it was small, and it was so loud that I couldn't do any sarging.
Thursday:
We ended up going to Rue Bar downtown. :08 (A country music place downtown) also looked good as it had a line. I think the Grog area bars were also busy as we saw a lot of people walking around the area when we drove by at closing time.
Friday:
Most of the places seemed to be busy. If you want to be adventurous, you can just go into any place that has a line. Fat Tuesday's was dead the first Friday I was there. It was also dead the 2nd Friday and everyday we walked past it. Maybe it's busy on Tuesdays? Also, as I mentioned above, Rue Bar seemed slow on Fridays as well.
Market Street:
During a Starbucks sarge, a girl recommended Market Street to me. Seamas and I almost went in there the first Friday. Market Street is the biggest bar we went to during this trip. When you walk in, there's a dart and pool table area to the right. Straight ahead is a bar on the left. Right after that is a smaller bar to the right. In the back is a good sized dance floor. There's the main floor, and it is surrounded by a slightly higher balcony that is also a dance floor. If you walk to your left when you walk in, you find a large bar area. Music is played a lot softer here, so you can have a conversation. Fridays is 80's night so you don't like that music, then don't go.
Here is where I noticed the strange trend that I mentioned above: the place didn't get really packed until midnight. In the Chicago area, if a bar closes at 1-2am, it gets packed around 10:30PM. The only places that don't get busy until 12-1am are after hours places that close at 4am. Maybe people were treating Market Place as an "after hours" place. Even though it closes at 2am, people might be hitting other bars first and then hitting this at midnight. Honestly, I don't have enough data to know what's up as this was the only night that we actually got out early.
Saturday:
I didn't get to go out either Saturday that I was there. Some people had told me Market Street was also packed on Saturday. Saturday is a busy day so I'm sure most places that have a line are good.
Sunday:
No idea except that it's supposed to be a slow day.
