For students that live locally and are of legal age to drink, their social lives depend on two bars. These two bars are called Jack’s Goal Line Stand and Draft House. The dueling sport bars are the first considered stop for college locals.
Jack’s Goal Line Stand and Draft House are conveniently located right down the street from one other. On any given weeknight, it can be promised that Brighton Avenue will be flooded with stumbling students. Cops sit on every side streets surrounding the bars, waiting for the next drunken brawl to break out or to stop a drunk driver.
These aren’t the only two bars in the area, but they might as well be with the lack of attention students give the other bars. Occasionally, a group will go to the Brighton Bar to see a band playing there, or someone will want to go to Otto’s Bar and Grill for Wasted Wednesdays and beer pong tournaments, but these are all rare suggestions. Many other bars are less welcoming to students and are more for adults who live in the area; I like to call them townies.
So which will it be? Draft or Jack’s? Jack’s or Draft? Each bar has their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the components of what makes a good bar. Deciding which one is for you depends on personal preference.
Draft House is a swanky sports bar, which is sort of an oxymoron. At night, there is sometimes a line of half-clothed girls in heels followed by guys in button down shirts looking freezing while waiting to go inside to dance. Draft has an enforced dress code demanding casual chic, a.k.a. don’t come here looking like a slob. That means no Ugg boots, black yoga pants, fitted hats, and so on and so forth. With a large bar and attractive bartenders, the bar gives off more of a club feel rather than a sports bar. And that would be great, if they had a real dance floor. Draft’s excuse for a dance floor looks like it was built for ants.
Draft House is known for the Tuesday night promotion of two-dollar refillable mugs of Miller Lite. Guests may bring whatever size mug they would like to the bar and get delicious cheap beer until close. Many students have been smart enough to bring Big Gulp cups from 7/11 to get more beer for their buck.
On other days, drink prices can get kind of high and the music is played way too loud for any conversation to take place. This can make Draft House get old quick. Down the street, a crowd of smokers stand outside of the little blue shack we call Jack’s, engulfing the entrance in a cloud of smoke. The bouncers are much friendlier looking than the intimidating guys standing outside the Draft House.
Jack’s can have a variety of different vibes when you walk in depending on the day of the week. Thursday is hip-hop night, which is a completely different feel from Saturday when Chris Morrisy and his band plays classic rock tunes.
Jack’s is known to be very busy on Tuesday for karaoke night. Jack’s has taught me that karaoke is only fun once you have consumed enough alcohol to enjoy or partake in bad singing. A few personal rules of karaoke etiquette are to never sing something serious or difficult where showing off could take place. If you are a good singer, that is great but you will be making everybody else look bad. Sing upbeat, happy songs and not songs that will make a bunch of drunks depressed. And lastly, don’t sign up to do multiple songs in a row…that’s just inconsiderate.
Although the Monmouth bar scene lacks variety, we thirsty students keep coming back for more. There is nothing like finishing a busy day of class and work to finally meet your friends for a drink on Brighton Ave to go to one of the University’s two hot spots. When you walk into a morning class to find a bunch of miserable, hung over pouts on fellow classmates faces, you can guarantee someone will have a story from Jack’s or Draft.
