At 4 p.m. on a Friday, seven middle-aged regulars gather on The Keg of Evanston’s barstools. They joke with bartender Kristen Leonard. They drink Bud Light, Miller Light, Heineken and the occasional shot of B&B. But as Northwestern students know, at night, the scene completely changes.
“It’s really like two bars,” carpenter Mark White said. “From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., there are construction guys, a real neighborhood crowd. And from 9 p.m. on, it’s a crazy college bar.”
And on those nights — usually Mondays and Thursdays — the drinks become cheap and quick at The Keg, 810 Grove St.
Weinberg sophomore Betz Graber prefers $3 cups of beer.
“They’re cheap, get the job done quickly and they don’t burn like liquor,” Graber said of the large plastic cups of brew.
At 1800 Club on Sherman Avenue variations on the classic martini are popular among students, said Loren Rattner, who opened the bar with the owner of Chicago’s Mark II Lounge — known by its legions of fans as The Deuce — in February 2000.
“People like our white chocolate martinis, cosmos and the Gretch,” Rattner said.
The “Gretch,” a mix of Absolut Citron, Grand Marnier, Razzmatazz, sour mix and a splash of Sprite, is named after NU graduate and former 1800 bartender Gretchen Fox.
At Prairie Moon, 1502 Sherman Ave., Long Island Ice Teas are popular, especially among students. The combination of vodka, gin, tequila, light rum, triple sec, sour mix and a splash of coke proves a potent mix.
“We go through about 150 Long Islands on a Thursday night,” bartender Carl Marcelin said. “As far as shots, people like Southern Comfort and lime juice and Kamikazes — vodka, lime juice and sour mix.”
At Bar Louie, 1520 Sherman Ave., students prefer mixed drinks and various beers, such as Harps, Sam Adams, vodka/tonic and Jack Daniels and Coke, according to a bar waitress.
If students prefer to make their own drinks, Osco Liquor, 1630 Sherman Ave., offers most of the necessary ingredients.
“We sell a lot of Busch Light, Miller Light, Bud Light, Coors Light — the diet beers,” store clerk Rihan B. said. “Also Smirnoff vodka, the Bacardis, Jagermeister, Jack (Daniels) and Jim (Beam), the cousins.”
Reach Elizabeth Sabrio at [email protected].
