A Night on the Town

Dear Syracuseans,

Talk about bar diversity! Last night was my first night “on the town” in downtown Syracuse’s Armory Square. After going to see Bruno, several of my friends and I went downtown to find a place to have a drink and hang out for a bit. While walking around, we realized that literally every bar was packed to the hilt. Agreeing that none of us wanted to 1) yell at each other to have a conversation and 2) pay a cover fee, we headed toward The Blue Tusk, a place known for its large selection of beers on tap and mostly low-key environment….which we soon realized was impossible to even enter for the number of people inside the establishment. In a moment of frustration, someone said “Let’s just go to the place across the street.” And so we did….

This “pub and grill” (still confused as to how it is considered a pub) was PJ’s Pub and Grill. Upon entry we all realized that this was not the place we wanted to be. With hip hop/pop music remixes blaring, very muscular men ogling every woman in sight, and women who enjoyed being ogled by creepy steroid riddled men, my groups of friends and I realized that we were WAY out of our element. This was much more akin to the types of bars one tries to sneak their way into when they’re 19 and desperate for a night of fun rather than renting a movie once again. After having a couple rounds of drinks (why we even stayed that long, I do not know) we finally left.

Then, we headed about half a block away to a bar (lounge?) called OHM. I had been skeptical of entering this place at first because it looked swanky, which to me translates into “I have a cover fee and expensive drinks.” But after the PJ’s debacle, I was up for anything. Once we entered, we realized that this was definitely more our scene. Although it wasn’t devoid of the machismo and scantily clad women, it was at least low-key, had an indoor and outdoor bar, and a funky little cover band playing. Needless to say, once we finally stumbled (some of us literally) upon this place, we knew that we were in for a great time.

So, word to those who don’t want to attend, for lack of a better word, a frat party: avoid PJ’s…

Sincerely,
Bethany