The Best Partying

Cheap Beer: Natural Light It’s the cheapest and that’s why we buy it. A case of Natural… Cheap Beer: Natural Light It’s the cheapest and that’s why we buy it. A case of Natural Light – “Natty” to most – costs just a little more than that $10 bill you have left over from this week’s cash supply. In most cases, college students don’t drink it for the taste – though as college careers wear on, the slightly watery, yet comforting taste becomes one we find ourselves craving. And we have seen it evolve through the years. But even with its new, deeper-blue, chic can design, there’s no fooling us. It’s the same old Natty – the cheap beer favorite of Pitt students. Runner up: Lionshead. Its logo speaks for itself – it’s “The best head in town.” – Leigh Remizowski

Best Good Beer: Blue Moon Belgian White

If there’s one thing that characterizes the average Pitt student, it’s definitely a taste for good beer. Unlike the Pilsner-popping undergrads over at Point Park or the ersatz microbrew crew up the street at CMU, Panther pride demands a student body that demands body in their beer. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we, the students, have chosen Blue Moon Belgian White as the winner of the good beer category. This poor man’s Franziskaner feigns the refreshing taste of actual Belgian beers, and it is often served cold. Additionally, it has the dignity of being served for $1 at many an Oakland happy hour. Student brew connoisseurs advise the inexperienced to drink it with an orange slice; that is, if you want to taste it. But if you find this product of the Rockies too filling, maybe you’ll consider the students’ pick for second place – Miller Lite. This indispensable feature of every ritzy, SoOak house party is sure to provide the class you need. Drink up, bitches!

Runner up: Miller Lite – Henry Clay Webster

Best Beer Distributor: Mellinger’s Beer Distributor A college student who doesn’t drink is about as unheard of as a Michael Bay film devoid of explosions. So, it’s no surprise that students have picked Mellinger’s Beer Distributor as the top choice when it comes to whetting their whistles in mass quantities. It’s conveniently close to campus: A five-minute drive isall it takes. And its walls, decorated with various types of lager, is a great way to decide which ale fits your particular mood, be it dark and heavy or light and satisfying. Keg service doesn’t hurt, either, especially since you can reserve them and pick up your party favor on game day.

Runner up: Craig St. Beer – Anton Skerl

Street to Party on: Atwood The broken sidewalk slabs, the spotty construction, the drunk pizza joints. Atwood screams party. Lined with keg-loaded houses on either side of the uneven street surface, your whole night lives and dies on Atwood. You go to the party that’s entirely too crowded. You wait in line for cheep beer. You sit out on the front porch like you indeed are cool. And when the keg kicks and you decorate the Atwood pavement with your yellow or blue or red plastic cup, Antoon’s and Sorrento’s are anxiously waiting your patronage, which you inevitably provide them. Runner up: Meyran – Pat Mitsch

Best Place to Wake Up: In my bed

During the week, when students finally make it back into their room with back pain from lugging a 2,000-page anatomy book around, after almost jabbing their eyes out from spending 30 hours in the library, their own bed will be the place to wake up. On the weekends, however, waking up in your bed at 2 p.m. means that you can stretch out and relax for as long as you want. Finding yourself in your own bed means you can rejoice in the fact that no matter how much you don’t remember about the night before, things couldn’t have gotten that out of control, because you still made it back to your bed versus, say, on top of “Dippy,” the dinosaur outside of the Carnegie Museum. Waking up in Amos Hall, however, surrounded by 150 women (this is usually more popular with guys) after a crazy night out, is no weak consolation prize.

Runner up: Amos Hall – Laurie Zinberg

Best Place for Karaoke: Spice Cafe There’s nothing quite like belting out your own strained version of “The Wind Beneath My Wings” while your friends snap incriminating photos of you. But where’s the best place to get a much-needed Karaoke fix? At Spice Cafe, located at 328 Atwood St., you can show off the dance moves Soulja Boi taught you or demonstrate athletic prowess with your own choreographed take on Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting.” Testify in defense of your hips’ honesty by belting out some Shakira, or sing about Rihanna’s umbrella (ella, ella, eh). Karaoke sweeps through Spice every Thursday night at 10, and coincides brilliantly with $3 Bomb Thursdays: Either you’ll bomb, or you’ll rock that stage and be “da bomb.” To top it all off, Spice Cafe also accepts Panther Funds, so you can scarf down those voice-garbling mozzarella sticks on Daddy’s tab. Runner up: Garage Door Saloon – Meaghan Dorff

Best Dance Club: Matrix Not the kind you struggled with in ninth grade algebra class – Think strobe lights, think action, think patent leather pants and spoons disfigured by Keanu Reeves’ mind. There’s a reason Matrix, located at Station Square, got the readers’ vote for best dance club: It’s just plain cool. What’s best of all is you can choose your night experience by committing to one or floating through all of the four clubs Matrix encompasses. What are the fab four venues, you ask? Club Goddess is rife with radio pop and hip-hop hits. Then there’s Club Liquid, slick with “Miami trance” techno music. Add the ’80s-themed Club Exit and Club Velvet, the plush lounge area specializing in Latin music, and you’re ready to turn your night into a 4-dimensional extravaganza. Runner up: Pegasus – Meaghan Dorff

Best GLBT Club: Pegasus

For the GLBT crowd, there’s nowhere to be found as swingin’ as Pegasus, the home to not only some of the cities best dancing, but also many important events and happenings. On any average week, for example, Pegasus may feature a live show, several DJ sets, special Customer Appreciation nights and even events like Drag Showdowns or (next Thursday’s) Annual Miss Gay Pittsburgh Pageant. Located only a Downtown bus ride away from Oakland, Pegasus is a popular journey from many Pitt students, GLBT or otherwise, as the club is known for its bumpin’ music, friendly environment and promise of an always-good time.

Runner up: 5801 – Justin Jacobs

Best Neighborhood Bar Crawl: South Side

Walking down East Carson Street at night, there are a few things you’re certain to see in abundance – coffee shops, piercing joints and drunk 20-somethings to name a few. But what the South Side’s really loaded with is bars (hence the drunk 20-somethings). South Side’s bars range from music venue bars (Club Cafe, Diesel) to more traditional beer-guzzling establishments (Smiling Moose, Smokin’ Joe’s). The best part is, no matter how drunk you get, you’ll never get lost – every bar you could ever imagine can be found on the straight strip of pavement that is East Carson Street. Runner up: Oakland – Justin Jacobs

Best Drink Special: Mad Mex

‘iexcl;Ole! Proving once again that the best way to a girl’s heart is to bong tequila into her stomach, Pitt students have spoken, and the coveted Best Drink Special award goes to Mad Mex, located at the corner of Atwood and Bates streets in Oakland. For Happy Hora (4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays), Mad Mex offers $6 Big Azz Margaritas and half-off 12- and 16-ounce margaritas. And you can catch those $6 Big Azz Margaritas again every night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ‘iexcl;Ole! Hemingway’s Cafe at 3911 Forbes Ave. came in second place.

Runner up: Hemingway’s – Braque Hershberger

Best Bar: Hemingway’s Combining a wide selection of beers on tap, no-nonsense bartending and a plethora of college specials, Hemingway’s has again (for how many years straight now? Don’t even try counting.) won the immortal adulation of the drinking masses. Featuring $1 Miller Lite pint and $5 Amber Bock pitcher 24/7 specials, Hemingway’s provides for the economical partier. In addition, there are $1 pint specials for happy hour throughout the week. Runners up: Boomerang’s, Garage Door, Peter’s Pub – Dan Vetanovetz

Best Beer Selection: Fuel and Fuddle Featuring an intimidating selection of beers augmented by a delightful array of always-on-tap and rotating-on-tap beers, Fuel and Fuddle secures this year’s award for Best Beer Selection. In addition to the draft standbys like Yuengling and Guinness, Fuel even has their own craft brews: Fire Brick Brown Ale and Pumphouse Pale Ale. If you don’t dig what they have on draft, there’s an eye-popping array of beers by the bottle. The beer faithful can even attempt JC’s 100 Beers Cult, achieving commemoration in the Pantheon of medals behind the bar after drinking 100 selected beers from Rolling Rock to Franziskaner Hefe.

Runner up: Hemingway’s – Dan Vetanovetz

Best Happy Hour: Mad Mex The locally famous $6, 22-ounce Big Azz Margaritas carrying the flag, Mad Mex seizes this year’s Best Happy Hour. Also featuring half-off 12 and 16-ounce Margaritas, all drafts and wings, this happy hour aims to please. The only way it could get better is if it was longer than an hour. Oh, but it is. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., you can pre-game for the night class of your choice. Just don’t hold it against them when your participation grade takes a hit.

Runner up: Hemingway’s – Dan Vetanovetz