Friends and I are hitting Athens this weekend for the 'Dawgs/Vols game. We get into town mid-day Thursday, and I'm looking for recommendations on places to go. I'm specifically looking for places to damage my liver and/or double my cholesterol level - preferably while listening to some damn fine music.

Help me, Obner-Wan. You're my only hope...

Wait a minute.........are you a Vols fan?

Nope...'Dawgs. None of us went to UGA, but we hit the 'Dawgs/Gators game in J-ville last year and decided to do a trip to Athens this year. While J-ville was definitely worth the trip, it was just too damn overwhelming and crawling with Gator fans.

We've been doing an annual college football road trip for about 5 years now (the wives give us the weekend pass once/year), and UGA games have become the norm b/c it's close (we're in Richmond), SEC football is as good as it gets, and UGA fans rock.

Well my friend you have come to the right place. I've spent time in just about every bar in Athens at one point or another and you can't go wrong with most. I can point you in a good direction though.

I'm leaving for lunch right now but I'll post some stuff for you when I get back. I'm sure Bloor, Loog, Cap'N, TinyE, and many others will weigh in as well.

Have you ever been down to Athens? Great place to begin with but on gameday it gets nuts.

Do you guys have tix to the game?

Never been to Athens, and we do have tix. We're staying at some Comfort Suites joint in town.

Things to do while you're in Athens:

1. Drinks: Lunch Paper, Manhattan Room, Tasty World
2. Eat: The Varsity, The Grit
3. Shop: Schoolkids, Wuxtry.

Cool. I'm jealous of you getting to do Athens for the first time ever.

A couple logistical things first:

The place you're staying is a couple miles from the downtown area which could be stumbled home from but it's not recommended in that area unless in a group. Thursday and Friday you should be okay getting a cab but I'd make arrangements on Saturday because there will be about 70,000 drunk asses looking for one when the bars close and there aren't that many in town. Usually less than $5 to get anywhere in town.

The downtown area is where most of the action is in town. It consists of several blocks of bars, clubs, cafe's, stores, and restaurants. The campus runs up to broad st, one of the main arteries in the city. From there the streets are broad, clayton, and washington streets. The cross streets are hull, lumpkin, college, and jackson streets. Most of the bars are on broad, clayton, and washington streets.

Parking can be a bitch, especially on Saturday after the game. I recommend you park your car where you want to leave it for the game so you can just walk downtown after the game is over.

The open container law is pretty much lifted on game day but only on campus. I doubt they will let you get away with walking around with a beer downtown.


Bars and restaurants in the next post........

I'm following your action here Derris and will contribute anything you miss.

So far, so gar though, Gar. Carry on.

Shoegaze named a couple good places although I think Lunch Paper just closed their doors. Downtown Athens has massive turnover with bars/restaurants. More than anywhere I've ever been. I guess due to the college kids being poor and fickle with their loyalty to a bar.

In college I could distinguish between townie bars and frat bars, etc but when I go back now I could care less. I usually only go to the Roadhouse on Lumpkin. Great dive with good music. I will be there after the game is over hopefully celebrating victory with an inspired air guitar performance of "Brown Sugar".

I digress:

Bars:

Manhattan: down Washingtown st near the 40 Watt. You may have to ask where it is. Very inconspicuos. A hipster hang out with cheap beer. Michael Stipe has been known to frequent here.

Tasty World: This was fairly new when I left but has since really become a staple of downtown. Good bands and music with 3 different floors and a pretty good deck. This would be a good place to hang out Friday afternoon on the deck to people watch. (read: Co-ed's)

Roadhouse: see above. I used to live here in college.

Georgia Bar: Roadhouse's counterpart on Clayton. The sign simply says "BAR". Pretty much a dive. Widespread Panic used to play shows here when they were just getting started and I'm told some of the members still hang there.

The Globe: the best import/micro brew place in town. Very good beers can be found. On Lumpkin across from the Georgia Theater.

Allgood: Not sure what the make up of the clientele is here but it has a nice little outdoor area upstairs to hang out on and have a beer.

Boars' Head: I can't confirm this but it may have closed or changed names. Great outdoor area on Washinton st.

The Winery: Cigars, wine, cheese. Pretty cool place to chill.

There are so many. The good thing is that you can walk the whole area and check em all out. I forgot how many there were until I started to list them. Those are just a few.

I'm a big fan of Bar Code on Clayton St. as well. Decent music, decent prices, eye candy.

I'd also skip the Athens version of The Varsity--I've always thought that it was Hot Trash compared to the ATL. The Grit is good if you like the vegetarian fare.

No trip to Athens is complete withoout a trip to The Taco Stand (on Broad St. Downtown across from campus); they have ginormous burritos and really good grilled quesadillas as well as a decent selection of beer.

As far as soul food goes there is Weaver D's and there used to be a place that I liked even better near the Manhattan but I'm not sure if its still there or not.

Restaurants:

So many......Athens has some fine eateries. There aren't as upscale as Atlanta fine dining but that's why they're great. They are just as good and don't cost you an arm and a leg.


Nicer places:

The Last Resort: One of my faves in town. Locally owned and critics fave. If you want to do a nice dinner one night I'd do it on Thursday night because Friday and Saturday everyone will be in town for the game and it could be hard to get a reservation. I ate here for the Colorado game on Friday and I couldn't get seated for an hour and a half. Meal and 2 glasses of wine will run you around $25. Try the famous Grilled Salmon and grits. On Clayton.

Harry Bissett's New Orleans Cafe and Oyster Bar: Unfuckwithable Oyster's Rockefeller and Lobster Bisque. On Broad St. Great cajun food. Roughly the same price range as Last Resort. Most of the nicer joints aren't going to cost you more than 15-17$ for the meal.

Depalma's: One of the older restaurants in town. Great Italian place that won't break the wallet.

Porterhouse grill: Nice Steak place downtown. I've only eaten here once but it was pretty good.


Eateries:

The $5-$7 eatery/cafe is Athens bread butter because college kids are broke.

Mayflower Restaurant: I recommend getting up early one morning and getting breakfast here. It's like you walked into the 50's and they're serving southern comfort food. Meat and 3 type place.

Taco Stand: downtown staple. Cheap mexican food. A college kids dream. Tacos and a pitcher will run you less than $10.

The Grill: This place is also a staple on College ave in the heart of downtown. Don't try to get a table after 1am but I'd check this place out for at least one meal. TinyE works here.

Amici: pizza place that took over Rocky's pizza. Went there a couple weeks ago and it was pretty damn good.

Little Italy: Calzones and pizza. Next to Roadhouse.

Hot Dog Man: This guy has been bringing his hot dog stand downtown for as long as I can remember. A chili dog with onions will run you about $2. He has saved me many times during some serious debauchery.

You can't go wrong most places you go. There are countless others.

Pick up The Flagpole when you get down there. It's in most bars/restaurants down there. It's the local entertainment rag that tells you about bands, beer specials, art openings, etc.

You can also check out their website, it's updated every wednesday. http://flagpole.com

After the game, walk downtown, eat at Taco Stand on Broad. Go around the corner to Bar Code for a few Jaeger Bombs and a good what-what to Chad.

Between 11 and Midnite, head to Roadhouse. Look for Dr. Trey or Biker Lee and continue on into the night.

I forgot to add band venues.

40 Watt Club: Obviously. Every indie band that had any modicum of success has played here at one point or another along with some of the biggest bands in the world.

Georgia Theater: Tends to play to the Jam band and country crowd but I've seen some great shows there, Drive By Truckers, Leftover Salmon, Flaming Lips, Ween, etc. Great supporter of local bands as well.

Tasty World: mentioned above

Caledonia lounge: just came around in the last 5-6 years and has been getting great bands for a long time now. Pretty sure it's run by some local musicians who have been around forever.

Can't remember any others right this second. Basically any place that has a small 5 x 5 space will probably have a band or at the very least a singer/songwriter. Athens is crawling with musicians and bands.


Records stores:

School Kids Records: a small southeastern chaing with a few stores. I think they're out of Chapel Hill. Indie rock oriented.

Wuxtury: the world famous Wuxtury. The place where Peter Buck met Michael Stipe. Still there and with a great selection. Great vinyl selection as well. Be sure to go upstairs to the bizarro pop artifact comic book store upstairs for some random weird shit.

Lo Yo Yo stuff: Just outside the 40 Watt Club. Super small but they know their shit and the guy in there can get the most obscure releases ever within 3 days.

Bloor?

Anything to add?

Derris, you forgot 5 Star Day, which is a fine Hippie Soul Food joint that serves Kool Aid...

No, you pretty well got it. If they are coming in on Thursday, I would suggest walking around North Campus (directly across Broad St. from Downtown) on Friday when school is in to see the scenery (old ass buildings) and the uh hmm scenery.

By the way, this shit is just fucking COOL dude and I hope you guys have a damn ball. I will be whooping it up at a fine wedding but I'll keep you all in my prayers.

No shit. I'd love to organize something like this but my time is so tied up with going to UGA games already. I actually wouldn't mind doing this for some major league baseball games.

You should find Athens much more managable than J-Ville. It's all centrally located and it's a college town. UGA dominates the culture of Athens.

I should also recommend a nice, SLOOOOOOOW drive down Milledge Ave. sometime around 3-4pm on Friday. This is pretty much Fraternity/Sorority row save a few frats. I don't need to tell you why.

"Manhattan: down Washingtown st near the 40 Watt. You may have to ask where it is. Very inconspicuos. A hipster hang out with cheap beer. Michael Stipe has been known to frequent here. "

-Derris

I agree. I hate people, pretty much, and none more so than drunk frat boys. So the Manhattan is just hidden enough and quiet enough to do the trick, without being scary.

God damn, gents. This is exactly what I was looking for. I'll be printing 2 or 3 copies of this thread for the trip and have one in my back pocket at all times.

I can damn near guarantee we'll be drinking just about any hour of the day, beginning Thursday around noon'ish.

PM me if you'll be around and think you'll get a hankerin' to hoist a few. First round's on me...

Looks like most of it has been covered...

No matter what you do, on a gameday downtown Athens is a zoo. It is going to take longer to do everything- walk down the street, get food, get a beer, etc so don't be in a hurry to do anything...

All the bars listed are ok. I tend to stay far away from the frat-bars, but they can be entertaining. Just this past weekend some girl (hehe, pre-law major) thought the bartender at Flanigan's rolled her eyes her, so she grabbed her by her hair, whacked her head into the bar, and then smashed her in the face with a 16 oz glass mug.

Lunch Paper is gone. Lo Yo Yo Stuff is gone.

Drinks at the Georgia Theatre are ridiculously too expensive. They want $3 for a 12oz can of PBR. Hell no. And don't drink anything on tap either, because they haven't cleaned the lines in years and years.

If you want to eat at a restaurant and not be waiting forever due to the crowds, go to Clocked! on Washington St. It's a few doors up from the 40 Watt, and since it's more in townieville, the gameday masses don't know it's there. It similar to the Grill, burgers, sandwiches, vegetarian food. They have good tater tots. That side of town is generally way less crowded than the College square/Clayton Street area.

Yes. I work at the Grill. I will be there from 3pm until 11pm. Then I will be drunk somewhere else.

Can't think of anything else.

Duuude. Those taps lines were green and funky in fuckin 98... they're stillll not cleaning their shit?

Itll kind of put a damper on things when the Vols destroy the Dawgs though, wont it?

I'll be in town this weeked, but will be taking a disco party bus from and back to Atlanta, so it's just tailgaiting and the game for me. Glad to see another Dawg fan on the board.

Food:
Clocked (There is also a new bar or something behind it now)
Big City Bread
Five Star Day
Transmetropolitan

Bars (in the West Downtown area):
Caledonia Lounge (and the new bar right next to it)
The Globe
GO Bar
Roadhouse

What!

Nooooo!!!!

god I'll miss Lo Yo Yo, and their ultra snobby staff, it was almost endearing.

several members of macha worked there.