By Sasha Williams
You’re done with your homework and you’re ready to go have some fun. The problem is, it’s late at night and not so easy to find something to do in an apparently dead city. Luckily, there are always plenty of places for the over-21 crowd to have a good time: grab a couple of friends, find a bar and add alcohol for instant fun.
Good spots for the drinking crowd include Fourth Street Live, the Magnolia Bar and Grill at the corner of Second and Magnolia Streets (they have lots of punk rock on the jukebox), and of course, the endless number of dive bars around Bardstown Road and Frankfort Avenue.
A favorite of U of L students who are old enough to indulge is the Germantown bar Seidenfaden, located at 1134 E. Breckinridge St. U of L junior Blythe Shadburne said she can be found there Wednesday and Sunday nights singing karaoke until all hours of the night – and morning. This German pub serves up more than liquor and bad singing, however; they have a menu of frozen treats ranging from $1 to $2.25, so you hardworking college kids can save your money for more shots – um, I mean school supplies.
You can also test out your pipes at Akiko’s, located at 1123 Bardstown Rd. This tiny bar is packed from 1 a.m. until closing time, so be willing to share one of the big tables with some cute strangers. Who knows, by the end of the night you could be buying one another sake shots and singing “I want you to want me” on stage together. I’ve seen it happen.
General Manager Mele Patterson said that although they serve alcohol at the bar (and yes, kiddies, they do card) they are a restaurant first and foremost. Patterson stressed that the cafe is not a hang-out, but the place definitely seems to be popular with younger U of L students. I went on a Friday night and found a whole group of them seated at the table next to me.
Sophomore Sutton Adams came to try the hookahs. “It was a new and different experience,” she said. “It’s a lot different than regular tobacco.”
People all over the restaurant were choosing their favorite flavor of tobacco and puffing away happily.
“I’m really impressed with [Cafe 360],” said sophomore Dewayne Smith. “This place is completely different. And the food was great and really affordable.” The menu is also vegetarian- and vegan-friendly.
“A lot of them are college-age kids,” Berry said. “And a lot of them are intoxicated. We let ’em stay as long as they don’t puke everywhere.” Good to know. You should also know that the cheese fries are to die for, and you can usually find someone you know – or wish you didn’t know – lurking at a nearby table.
So what’s a U of L student to do if he’s not hungry or jones-ing for a hookah?
“I like to work on cars, hang out with car people,” said Dustin Letournean. “We usually hang out on Preston Highway in the parking lots. We kinda move around. We’re everywhere, pretty much. Best Buy and White Castle by Preston Highway, the Biggs on Hurstbourne Lane, and Tinseltown.”
I dropped by a few of those places, and ladies, there were a lot of guys, and a lot of cars.
Sophomore Amy Shadburne hangs out with her boyfriend’s band, In The Clear. Once or twice a month, you can catch them playing hard rock at Headliners or at the Bulldog Cafe in Fairdale.
Senior Jessie Haywood works from 4 p.m. to midnight, but when she has the night off, she likes to go to the Rudyard Kipling to hear her husband sing his political folk tunes. Affectionately known as “the Rud,” the bar is usually off-limits for those under 21, but has a less rowdy atmosphere than a typical bar. You can actually hear the people at your table, and non-smokers can generally still breathe at the end of the evening.
Now that you know where to go, I don’t want to hear any more whining about how Louisville is so boring. You’re college kids for God’s sake. Stop studying and go have fun!
