Best Of 2008… The Best Partying

Best Bar: Peter’s Pub Loud music, beer and drunken students are a typical sight at Peter’s Pub… Best Bar: Peter’s Pub Loud music, beer and drunken students are a typical sight at Peter’s Pub on a Friday night. Located at 116 Oakland Ave., it’s a place to watch the game during the week or to get rowdy on the weekend. The students and locals alike can get a taste of Oakland’s bar scene by drinking or dancing to the disc jockey upstairs. Why would you ever go anywhere else? -By Brian Honigman Editors’ Pick: Brillobox Bar to smoke in:’ Boomerang’s Boomerang’s is a bar where one can not only dance the night away, but also light up a cigarette and not be forced to take it outside. With drink specials from 10 to midnight every day, students can enjoy their beverages while jamming out to popular music in the dance area. If you don’t like dancing, no problem. Anyone can hang at the bar or play pool in the back. -By Laura Powers Editors’ Pick: Uncle Jimmy’s Best Happy Hour: Mad Mex Every weekday evening from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., during its ‘Happy Hora,’ Mad Mex offers discounts on its infamous Big Azz Margarita, wings and draft beers. In addition to the standard strawberry, raspberry, mango, kiwi and original lime margaritas, the restaurant offers seasonal flavors such as cranberry and pumpkin. Mex’s original Gobblerito has also made its return in full force. ‘It’s basically everything from Thanksgiving dinner rolled up into a burrito,’ which includes turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing and gravy, said manager Nicolette Chilton.’ -By Tamara Braunstein Editors’ Pick: Mardi Gras Best drink special: Hemingway’s Cafe Every day, Hemingway’s Cafe offers a different beer for $1.50, making it the place with the best drink special. Some of the beers it uses are from local breweries like Iron City. Every night from 10 p.m. to midnight, all drafts are available for $2. Current owner John Elavsky began offering the drink special in 2001, when he bought the place from its previous owner. Elavsky said his goal is to ‘give good beer at low prices,’ and he tries his best to do that. -By Mike Macagnone Editors’ Pick: Gene’s Place Best Place to Celebrate a Birthday: Peter’s Pub It’s all about the party ‘mdash; the birthday party, that is ‘mdash; at Peter’s Pub. Located on Oakland Avenue, just off of Forbes Avenue, Peter’s Pub is Pitt students’ favorite place to celebrate a birthday. Employees at Peter’s Pub present people celebrating their birthday with a complimentary Viking hat and a shot to get the party started, and to keep it there. -By Alie Gensheimer Editors’ Pick: Pittsburgh Zoo Best Street to Party On: Atwood Street Atwood Street took the one-way road right into the student partygoer’s heart with its open signs and open doors this year. After putting in extra hours at the Hillman Library and working hard on projects all week long (or maybe not so much), the weekend gives promise of redemption. Whether you’re interested in some food or dancing, Atwood Street, with its variety of local bars, house parties and restaurants, has something to offer you. It also conveniently hosts Wines and Spirits, Dave and Andy’s, five-dollar pizza shops and Rite Aid for everything else you might need in order to party right. -By Mary Hancock Editors’ Pick: Semple Street Best Karaoke: Spice Cafe Spice Cafe is one of the best places to be on a Thursday night. Its karaoke atmosphere is perfect if you want to belt out some tunes, or at least watch your gutsy friends do so. The disc jockey plays almost every song a person can think of. The standard favorites, such as Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ are always crowd pleasers. Spice Cafe is where it’s at if you want to sing, listen or laugh along as friends and fellow Pitt students croon for the crowd. -By Angela Reno Editors’ Pick: Garage Door Saloon Best GLBT-friendly Bar: Pegasus Whether you’re gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, into drag or just simply curious, Pegasus will meet all of your sexual orientation and club-going needs. Located Downtown on Liberty Avenue, Pegasus features fabulous theme nights, giant TV screens showing seductive videos, and drink specials. Clubbers can let built-up steam loose and shake off the day on a multi-level dance floor where techno beats are constantly blasting. This party scene would make Gianni Versace proud.’ -By Christine Black Editors’ Pick: 5801 Best place to wake up: Bed No matter which year they’re in, Pitt students seem to agree: After a long night of partying in South Oakland, the best place to wake up is in bed. Hanging out until 2 a.m. can be exhausting. ‘There is nothing like waking up in your own bed,’ said sophomore Tyler Rankin. ‘You feel refreshed.’ Some people do not care which bed they wake up in, as long as it’s comfortable. However, sophomore Arielle Spivey disagrees. ‘Your bed is your comfort zone,’ said Spivey. ‘If you wake up anywhere else, you wonder what’s going on.’ ‘ -By Johanna Ojo Editors’ Pick: Class Neighborhood bar crawl: South Side Where there’s beer, there are normally college students. And East Carson Street, in the South Side, might be one of the best places to find both, outside of Pitt’s campus. East Carson Street is often hailed as having more bars per capita than any other street in the country. Pittsburgh groups of all sorts have played off of the street’s popularity to host bar crawls that, in addition to getting people drunk, raise money for charity or promote voter registration. -By Liz Navratil Editors’ Pick: Oakland Best Club: Matrix Club Matrix, located in Station Square, is a raver’s dream and an indecisive person’s nightmare. This nightclub is really four clubs in one, and each room has a different theme and style of music. Top-40 hits pump through the white-themed Goddess club. Exit is where partiers go when they want to sing and dance to famed songs of the ’80s. Club Liquid gets people moving with techno and trance music that infuses a Miami club feel, according to its Web site. Club Velvet is the most intimate room that can morph into a salsa club or a sports bar when the time is right. -By Estelle Tran Editors’ Pick: Barroom Beer distributor: Mellinger’s Beer Distributor Located on Semple Street, just a short walk from a dorm or a South Oakland apartment, Mellinger’s Beer Distributor is a favorite for college students. The store, which is open seven days a week to serve the always thirsty Pitt students, sells beer from 27 foreign countries and 36 American microbreweries. Whether you like it bottled or in a keg, odds are Mellinger’s has something to please your taste buds. -By Liz Navratil Editors’ Pick: Save-Mor Beer and Pop Best Draft: Coors The Coors Beer Company claims that it doesn’t compromise on anything ‘mdash; quality, taste or ingredients ‘mdash; and Pitt students seem to agree. The 130-year-old brewery uses 100 percent Rocky Mountain water, a special strain of barley that yields more kernel and less husk, top-of-the-line equipment and a single site close to its water source to bring you the best beer possible. The company even malts most of its own barley to make sure it gets the taste just right. ‘ -By Kelly Thomas Editors’ Pick: Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale Best Bottle: Blue Moon The Belgian-style Blue Moon is a Molson Coors Brewing Company favorite. A delectable combination of coriander, orange peel and hops, Blue Moon is a citrusy, dream-like, white beer that will fill you up while still leaving you with an insatiable thirst for more. Many Oakland bars carry this delicious brew by the bottle and pint. Hemingway’s Cafe has Blue Moon on special Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to midnight for $1.50 each. Boomerang’s Bar ‘amp; Grill’s Texas Tuesdays sells Blue Moon for $1.50 a pint all day until midnight. Beer lovers will not want to miss out on these Blue Moon specials. -By Christine Black Editors’ Pick: Lionshead Best Keg: Natural Light Natural Light, also known as ‘Natty,’ won Pitt students’ hearts. It is known for being one of the cheapest kegs you can get to quench your alcohol craving. At Mellinger’s Beer Distributor on Semple Street, a keg of Natural Light costs $32 less than one full of Bud Light. ‘It’s just trendy right now,’ said Jaime Hively, who works at Mellinger’s. It’s certainly one of the most popular on campus. -By Jayson Myers Editors’ Pick: Pabst Blue Ribbon