(03-27-2022 10:24 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote: (03-27-2022 08:16 AM)thxjoenovak Wrote: (03-26-2022 11:01 PM)acolbert Wrote: Going back to late 70s on this one, but was it the Jungle or Red Lion first?
Used to enjoy listening to the Real Rick McDowell band there.
Red Lion.
Great venue for bands with two levels.
Not sure what year it was renamed The Jungle.
Man, sounds like you guys had cooler bars back then
It's quite possible.
I was there mid- to late 90s and it was probably a transitional time for bars and drinking in DeKalb.
The afortmentioned Jungle was on it's last legs while I was there and I think close before I graduated.
The two main college/close to campus staples were Molly's and Amnesia. Amnesia was a dance club in the building that is now Molly's. Molly's was where the CVS is located on the corner of Annie Glidden and Lincoln Hwy. There was a strip mall that was torn down that housed Molly's, The Bottle Store (a liquor store that was attached to Molly's and actually had a door that led between the two, and a pizza place for a while (probably Pizza Pros or something like that).
Then there was a downtown contingency where, in my time at NIU, I saw McCabe's die....get resurrected...and then die again. It was a dance club on the weekends and on a particular night of the week (I wanna say Wednesdays) and probably just a regular bar the rest of the time.
There was also Otto's which is, to this day, one of the best small live music/dive bar combo establishments I've ever been to. So many great memories in that place.
Then there was the "townie" selection of Andy's, Lord Stanley's and the Annex (I think I'm remembering that one correctly).
There was also Eduardo's which was a Mexican restaurant but was a great place for Monday Night Football as they ran margarita specials and you could sit and eat chips and salsa that whole night.
Later on, a place in the north section of Greek Row opened called Fat Boys. It was short lived but, I think, was supposed to be a sports bar but was also trying to capture up the Greek crowd after The Jungle shuttered it's doors. It was too small and they tried to do live music but it just never took off.
Another place that opened while I was there was Starbusters (on Pappas Drive) and that was an interestering place. It started as just a bar with pretty good food (it was a nice enough place to take your folks for dinner when they were in town). They started having live music and then expanded into the space next to them and really steered hard into being a live music venue. I mean...when Mike and Joe flip from playing at Otto's to playing at Starbusters on the regular, you're going to be packing them in.
Other than that, I'm sure I'm missing something.
Oh yeah...there was a short lived place on Lincoln Hwy called Arcade Dreams. I think they were trying to be a Dave n Busters before that concept really took off. They'd also have live music and karaoke some nights. They'd get crowds for big events but not much else. And I think I recall their food was barely mediocre.
Finally, there was, which was at the time the official NIU sports bar. I 100% cannot remember the name. It was real close to the stadium. It was a cool, laid back kind of place with old and dusty Huskie memorabilia hanging on the walls. It was the first bar in DeKalb I ever drank in. I was under age...didn't have a fake ID...and they didn't check. And it's been all downhill from there.
And if anyone recalls, there was a tiny little bar out around Courtland that had awesome burgers. My roommate was an athletic trainer and was working with Kaneland HS at the time so we'd meet up with all the trainers at this place after Friday night football games. I'm not sure I ever knew the name of the place (it was probably something like Courtland Tavern or something). Although, I do know that it is closed and has been for a long time.