University of South Carolina Libraries
"Trnnk, Brikerlei, Drink, Brot by Terry Dugas and Chuck Cromer During the summer months, when most students are taking a reduced course load, the foremost thought in their minds is what to do at nght. In its quest for in fnrmation vital to the student, The Gamecock sent out two of its best drunks to survey the local beer emporiums. The eleven establish ments we visited in the course of a week fall into three broad categories: "Joint", "Couples" bar, and "Singles" bar. All bars have their loyal following who enjoy certain surroundings, still, we must put several that we visited into the "Joint" category. They range from a "less than inviting " joint such as the Rosewood Lounge, to a high-class joint like the Warehouse. Both the Rosewood and the Tally-Ho Lounges are carry-overs from the small town bar tradition tiny and less than modern. The Rosewood caters to the over-40 blue collar worker, complete with pickled eggs and tiny American flaers. On the other hand, the Tally-Ho caters to the over-20 blue coilar worker, with a DARKROON S." Noon 8 pmn, .. " IS24 Was ndividual darkra available by VILLAG Romwood SIh Colemhl trink, 1, tank!" hers, Drink! miniature dance floor and slide projector entertainment. Places like these, with booths placed along each plaster wall, can be contrasted with the big-town joints such as the Twilight Lounge and the Warehouse. These larger places are little more than barns with tables in them. The Twilight, reputed home of Mackey Quave, waf rather crowded the night we went, but there was no overall atmosphere. The seemingly endless floor, broken only by tables, gave us a feeling of isolation. but not of privacy. The only asset we could see was that a pitcher of Old Milwaukee cost $1.75 a com parativly cheap drunk. The Warehouse shares many characteristics with the Twilight, it appears to be only a higher class joint. The wood-paneled walls and an attractive looking bar cannot offset the out of place dance floor and vast expanse of tables. Both the Twilight and the Warehouse fail to see that a flat floor with nothing to break the line of sight looks desolate unless crowded, andwhen crowded, it lacks privacy. S FOR RENT 'r month Mon. - Fri. Saturdays. )fie. inc. " >om instruction is appointment. TOG RivetsI Lo-rdse4 Chls aMs.4 asleek waIle 4 oTogs4 *pping Cent.er Night Life The "couples" bars we attended had all learned their lesson. They were either small or gave the illusion of smallness by using walls and pillars to break the floor space. ' wo of these bars, Downstairs Plaza and the Opus, are designed for small crowds and small talk. Both have background music at a reasonable level, and both are small enough to provide a sense of intimacy. Both bars strive for an atmosphere condusive to talk. The Downstairs Plaza , however, achieves little more than a feeling of gaudiness with its brilliant red carpet and seat covers, and its location under a poolhall. It does have in its favor 8 ounce Schlitz Dark in a chilledrmug for 40 cents. It is unbeatable for a quick lunch and beer, but we would not want to take a date there. The Opus was our favorite places for some quiet talk and cheap beer. The small, quiet, building, gave a feeling of coziness that makes up for serving only Busch and Budweiser beer. Do not be alarmed at the front door, just push the button and. go in. We were forced to classify Don's Lounge as a "couples" bar because there were no single girls there. CHINA GARDE At Boozer Shopp PRIVATE I We_Serve Mandarin, Carl We Serve Beer and Wine Now We Open 7 Days a Week Now June 25 - August 11 MYRTLE BEACH C( box office teli U1NIVES:ITY OF OnU Don's has long had a reputation for being a "redneck" hangout, but that -is an unfair lable. The distinction between hippie, red neck, and straight has become so blurred over the past few years that a sweeping gerneralization is impossible. We will say that Don's had the largest crowd of any place we visited and most of thepeople there were looking for a lively time. The dance floor was packed and the surrounding conversations animated Thus, Don's appears to be a place to go with a date who likes pushy crowds and noise. The final type of bar we went to . can be catagorized as a "singles" bar. This is a place where the male spends his time hunting a female, usually a girl. Once upon a time, the Campus Club had the reputation of a singles bar, but its day has passed. Because it has no dance floor, there is little to do there but play footsball and drink. The building is constructed so that the upstairs level is relatively quiet place to talk and drink, but 35 cents for an 8 ounce Blue Ribbon is steep. It appears that the Campus Club is definitely on the wane. From all our visits, we found that the Other Place has toe most unattached women. Although known as a high school hangout, the strict 1D cnecK at the door insures that tne women are over the age of consent. The Other Place has a recessedfootsball room, thus N RESTAURANT ng Center 798-1708 ARTY ROOMS onese & American Foods WEEKDAYS wEEKEND 10OAM toI10PM 11AM to)11PM Tues. - Sun. 8:30 p.m. NVENTION CENTER phone 448-3041 H CAROLINA THEATRE eliminates much of the congestion that used to take place at the door. The dance floor is partially isolated by an iron grating. This combines to make the bar the best of the lively places we went to.Footsball fans have their own little part of the house, the dance floor is available to work off some beer or strike up a conversation, and the split level floor affords some measure of privacy.An added feature is the positioning of the restrooms. The ladies must walk the length of the bar to use the facilities, thus providing an unequalled opportunity for girl watching. Despite the sweeping range of our three catagories, there are two bars that simply do not fit, the Golden Spur and Slagger's Saloon. The Golden Spur is caught in the untenable position of being a student bar bound by Unive sity regulations. Consequently, there are two separate Spurs. On an average night, there is no reason to go to the Spur unless you .like to play cards. There is always a Bridge or Spades game going on. The Spur offers nothing other than convenience. It is a good place to eat your lunch since they open at noon, but they can make no use of this advantage because the University prohibits them from advertising that they sell beer. On nights when there is live entertainment, however, the Spur is by far the best place in town to be. The entertainment is always above par, thr crowds big, and the atmospehere perfect for a good time. The rest of the week the Spur is occupied by its faithful "mug club" members. The final place we -,-isited Slagger's Saloon, is unique in Columbia. It is not a bar, but rather a cocktail lounge for the college-aged student. Most of the cocktail lounges in Columbia cater to the young married or young i executive, but Slagger's aims right at the student. Perfectly construc 'ted, it offers a gameroom far from :the drinking area, tables in out of the way places and tables right next to the house sound system. Serving cheap liquor at medium prices, it is the best cocktail lounge we found. Serving dark Bud. Michelob draft, and bottled Schlitz. it is an ideal place to take a youn~g lady to impress her. The drawback is that it is a membership-only club with a waiting list several hundred.long. If you are fortunate enough to know a member, go along as a guest. We think you will be impressed as we were.. Columbia is a strange dichott my between college town and state c apitol. It has its beer halls for the students and its lounges for the city. No one beer hall is truly better than another. Some just suit one person's 'ersonalty better than another. Only through bar hopping will the student find the one that he likes best.