With all due respect to the students, we should not count on them to guide us. Would we want to live in a student apartment, or even spend an hour there? No. We’d like to drop off some Pledge and bleach and wait for them in the car so we can take them to the best college bar in town to get something to eat. That’s not the place with the cheapest drink specials, permanently sticky countertops and ketchup on bread served like pizza slices. Such places can be found in every student town.
The list that follows tends towards history dives, little gems that suit a wider range of ages and offer more to the palate than cheap beer. These are the places where students can take their parents, grandparents and younger siblings. These are the places they stop by for a drink before lining up to cram into a meat market with 500 other kids and trying to talk over the thumping bass that’s giving them a headache. These are the places they go the next morning to ease the headache.
You could create 10 lists this way, each with 10 completely different bars, and it would be just as correct. You could do a few just for Madison, Wisconsin, and have great pub crawl companions. The list that follows started with staff voting, so each bar that appears was introduced by someone from the university’s sports team. And don’t worry if you’re more of a clingy person: there’s a few for you here too.
Agree or disagree with our list? Do you have your own recommendations and reviews? Tell us in the comments.
The Airplane, Iowa City, Iowa (University of Iowa)
Many of the bars that follow attract celebrities. The plane makes them.
(Or at least let them discover, as Ashton Kutcher was visited by a modeling agent while hanging out at “The ‘Liner’” as a college student in Iowa in 1997. In 1998, he appeared on “That ’70s Show.”)
Founded by Joe Rinella in 1944, the ‘Liner didn’t need that story to be the must-see attraction for any bartender visiting Iowa City. The University of Iowa was a Navy pre-flight site during World War II, so many real pilots had a beer there after a long day of training in the early days. It remains a fun place to eat and drink for an eclectic crowd, known for its pizza and a famous drink – “The Hammer” – with a secret recipe. One of the aviation-themed burgers is The Stealth Bomber, with Cajun seasoning and blue cheese.
The Iowa “Beer Band” parades through town the night before home games. The plane is of course always the final stop.
The Boot, New Orleans (Tulane University)
Here we quickly deviate from the idea of a cozy table with a Bloody Mary and a French Dip sandwich and head straight for a packed room of students consuming copious amounts of cheap alcohol until the place closes at 6am. But you can’t have any bar list without a mention from New Orleans, right?
To be clear, The Boot – named the No. 1 college bar by USA Today in 2013 – has charm, character and history. And it’s in a part of the city that French Quarter tourists must see. Originally a convenience store opened in the 1960s by the former Tulane and New York Giants with Eddie Price, it became a bar in the 1970s. On Tuesday it costs 50 cents, which suggests that there will be little or no inflation for that item in half a century.
Crunchy’s, East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State University)
A few blocks from the main bar scene on Grand River Avenue, Crunchy’s is easy to miss — and that’s how the regulars like it. The students who discover it share a karaoke microphone with experienced vocalists and beer from large buckets.
Day or night at this delicious dive, founded in 1982, the Crunchy’s burger is essential. Tom Izzo and other Michigan celebrities have been known to devour it. The eternal citizen debate in East Lansing is Crunchy’s vs. Peanut Barrel, another bar that fits this list. Mike Krueger, owner of both places, refuses to declare a winner. But the pressed, herb-infused Crunchy’s burger sells more, so…
The Esso Club, Clemson, SC (Clemson University)
ESPN the Magazine wrote in the late 1990s about this former Gulf gas station that has become a beloved watering hole: “If they had a national championship for college sports bars, the Esso Club would be our pick to win it all.”
Around the same time, Sports Illustrated gave it a No. 2 national ranking. Much has changed since the first beer was consumed locally in 1933, and it has grown considerably since its national attention a quarter century ago. Esso can pack them in on game days and offers a large outdoor space and panoramic views of Death Valley. And they come over every day for dinner; the chicken wings were voted #1 in the Clemson community by the student newspaper, as they are most years.
He’s Not Here, Chapel Hill, NC (University of North Carolina)
Somewhere along the way, the story of this iconic bar’s name went like this: Michael Jordan was a regular, people kept calling for him, and the standard telephone greeting became, “He’s not here.”
The problem: the place has been open for 10 years for a freshman Jordan introduced himself to the nation with a chance to win the 1982 national championship. Manager Gavin Olivieri says the real story behind ‘he’s not here’ is that the original owners both went through divorce in the early days and often expressed it when their spouses called.
The result: a memorable name for a place known for Blue Cups — 32 ounces of beer, cider or seltzer for $5 each. No drinks, no food, just a huge outdoor patio full of Carolina Blue, popular bands, students, alumni and celebrities. Jordan is included from time to time.
Jack and Dan’s, Spokane, Washington. (Gozaga University)
This isn’t just any football list. If you go to a Gonzaga basketball game at ‘The Kennel’ this is where you’ll play pre-game. It’s a few blocks away, and you never know who you’ll meet.
“I’ll walk in and Karl Malone will be sitting there and I’ll think, ‘What’s Karl Malone doing here?’” says general manager “Big” Ed Eschenbacher. “He’s waiting for John (Stockton) to go fishing.”
Stockton’s late father is the ‘Jack’ in the bar’s name, having bought it with Dan Crowley in 1961. It’s been the go-to place for students and alumni for decades, offering creative shots to the former, fancy food to the latter, and hot-selling hoodies to both. A lot has changed since the place was built in 1909, and since it was “Louie’s Snappie Service” during Prohibition, delivering buckets of beer by motorcycle to trusted customers.
Jack and Dan’s in Spokane, Washington. (Photo courtesy of Jack and Dan’s)
The Library, Oxford, Miss. (University of Mississippi)
Former football players coming up with bars that have lasting power near their alma mater is one of the themes of this list, and former Ole Miss defensive end Johnny Desler started right after graduating in 1997. A space that was previously a Ford dealer’s showroom became The Library, eventually acquiring the billiards room next door.
The result is the largest bar of the bunch, part sports bar, part concert hall – with a mechanical bull, of course. It’s so popular with both current and former Ole Miss football players that Desler says Eli Manning once called it “the locker room, with alcohol.”
This has not done any harm to the business community.
Linebacker Lounge, South Bend, Ind. (University of Notre Dame)
You better believe this legendary establishment was founded by a Notre Dame linebacker, and a smart one at that. Mo Pottios was a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1961 and he used his future salary to borrow $5,000 from owner Art Rooney. ‘The Backer’, as it is popularly known, opened its doors in 1962.
It embodies the spirit of this ranking. Students, alumni, great burgers and other food, familiar faces like Chris Zorich and Shane Gillis dropping by, and too much memorabilia to get through in a few visits.
“Our thing is a clientele that is so diverse compared to a lot of other places,” says general manager Chantal Porter. “We have 21-year-olds and we have 80-year-olds.”
Nick’s English Hut, Bloomington, Ind. (Indiana University)
Nick’s doesn’t need any boost to land squarely in the top 10, but just in case, co-owner Gregg “Rags” Rago was a walk-on Indiana receiver in the 1970s for college football’s man of the hour, Lee Corso, whom he calls “a great man.” Rago’s bar is primarily identified with Indiana basketball — like the night it stayed dry after Bob Knight’s Hoosiers won the 1981 NCAA title — but discovered last season how fun it can be when a quality football team plays a few blocks away.
Opened in 1927 as a sandwich shop, Nick’s is a two-level tribute to the past and a gathering place for the game of the moment. At one table you might find a local family dining on pork tenderloin sandwiches, and next to it a group of IU students playing “Sink the Bismarck.”
Yes, Nick’s has its own drinking game. Also sells a home version.
Wando’s, Madison, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin)
Judging the bar scenes, Madison sets the standard: Jordan’s Big 10 Pub and The Old Fashioned also earned votes, and The Great Dane and several others probably should have, too. The cheese curds at The Old Fashioned alone deserve an honorable mention.
But Wando’s is the one.
You’re talking about three stories about a sports bar, each with a different atmosphere. This place is filled with treats for the students, like the Fishbowl (a huge mix of liquors), while an older crowd shows up for the Friday fish fry. And the history is rich for a place that opened in 1994.
Former Wisconsin walk-on punter Jay “Wando” Wanserski couldn’t stick with the football team — a GPA below 1.5 wouldn’t fly — but off the top of his head he can rattle off a monster roster of Badgers who bounced ahead of him, including JJ Watt and Zack Baun.
“I have to hold the record for most bouncers called up,” he says.
Oh, and it was his jukebox that was used to select “Jump Around” as the song at Camp Randall Stadium in 1998, starting an epic tradition.
Still not convinced? Wando’s has a free bacon night.
(Illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletics; Photos: Joe Rexrode / The Athletics)
#Iowa #Orleans #Athletics #Top #College #Bars