I love my Georgia Bulldogs. However, technically, I’m not one. I graduated GA Sate in 1988. Of course, at that time, GA State had no major sports programs so, I still followed and rooted for the Dawgs. But, I never had the pleasure of spending much time in Athens. My favorite hangouts in Atlanta while I was in college was Little Five Points, Wax N Facts, Criminal Records and Wuxtry Records in Decatur (Atlanta CD was another, still have a t-shirt from there that says “Garth Brooks can kiss my…”) I’ve always been heavy into music so, I gravitated towards those places. We didn’t have any stores like that in SOWEGA when I was growing up, best music store we had was Fantasy Records (IYKYK). I don’t really recall hanging out much of anywhere else, I didn’t really visit bars very much, or never really found one I wanted to attend regularly. I had jobs most of my time in Atlanta so, I spent most of my days at work or in class or both.
So, I didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy any of the legendary places in Athens. But, what I’m looking for today is… did you attend UGA? When was your final year? What were your go-to hangouts? How many of those hangouts are still around today? Are they the same as then or have they evolved into something less-than like a lot of places have over the years?
Yes – Double Dawg. Last year ‘91 (the 1990 football season sucked). Hangouts were Papa Joe’s, The Odyssey, and The Hangar (all of which don’t exist anymore). Restaurants were Shrimp Boat, Steverino’s, Guthrie’s, The Grill, the Mayflower, DaVinci’s, and DePalma’s (for an elevated experience). The Grill is the only one that exists after the recent closure of the downtown DePalma’s.
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to The Grill, and I live here.
The Globe was around then, how did you not hang there?
DePalma Dave still has 2 other spots open – Timothy and the Eastside.
1998 graduate, have been back for certification work since but no other degrees. Only got a BAJ in Advertising but spent a lot of time on South Campus because I was an environmental health science major until I ran into Inorganic Chemistry and Dr. Atwell and decided to change up. Plus, the sudden realization that the major mostly translated into waste water management and not being in a canoe with a Grizzly Bear named Ben that I had envisioned.
Our hangouts were Nowhere Bar, Georgia Theater, the Globe (when we felt uppity), and Washington Street Tavern. Go to was The Grill on late nights for feta cheese and fries, or Little Italy. Compadres and Mexicali as well as Peking when we weren’t out for an evening on the town. Harry Bissett’s when mom and dad came to town to foot the bill. The last three are gone now.
The Grill and Nowhere Bar look the same, smell the same, and I swear nearly have the same prices at Nowhere Bar. Not sure if Washington Street is still around but I have an aversion to tight places now and when I went out on the town in Athens on a Friday night in 2023 before the Kentucky game, I wondered what the appeal was way back when. Kind of nasty, warm beer, and higher prices. Except at Nowhere. Still the same as it ever was. Haven’t been to the Theater since they renovated it up but would like to go. We would hit the 40 Watt from time to time. A lot of the other satellite bars we would visit have changed multiple times and are now themed bars with high prices. No thanks.
Anyone else besides me remember when The Grill was on Broad St before it moved to where it is now on College? The current location was a Schlotzkys when I was there in early 80’s.
I remember both.
Yep, I remember both Grill locations and when there was a Schlotzky’s.
Yep.
Also Otis, when I would come home for the summer or breaks from Athens I frequented Five Points, as it was the only place that felt a little like Athens when I was missing it.
You must mean Little Five Points. Five Points is downtown where the old skyscrapers are.
’96; Papa Joes, Nowhere, Sons of Italy, Gus Garcia’s, Ga Theatre.
2004. Boars Head. Ended about 90% of my nights there. I frequented plenty of other places downtown but that’s the only one that ever felt like “mine.”
I’m not sure the exact number I’d spend (though it would be shockingly high) to have some more spring Friday afternoons at Sons of Italy prior to a big weekend baseball series.
Speaking of which…kudzu hill. Watched more than my share of games out there. What an atmosphere when it was rocking.
Also, do y’all think the wife would get suspicious if I told her I need to run down to Athens on this 80 degree afternoon and just ride up and down Milledge Avenue?
Riding down Milledge on a day like this would be dangerous…..just park and watch!
I remember Milledge being the site of an inordinate number of rear-end fender benders in Spring quarter.
’85 and saw Herschel live! Some great years and places, all gone now. O’Malley’s, Odyssey, Steverino’s (the greatest sub sammich ever), Little Italy, TK Hartys, Memorial Hall for bumper pool post dining hall dinner, pre “oh shit I have to study for that test tomorrow but then I’ll play spades for another 2 hours”.
Student @ UGA ‘98-‘02. Weekday afternoon pitchers & pies @ Sons. Beers & burgers @ Allen’s. Downtown- pool @ Nowhere, Roadhouse played the best music. Whiskey Bar had the best bathrooms… Finished the night @ Boars Head with a burger. Line was too long @ The Grill
Roadhouse was a late find for me there when I discovered it near graduation. I remember they had some really, really great rock bands that played there. No college town indy stuff, just hard rock. Or maybe those were just the nights I went.
Double Dawg here, ’73 & ’78 and was married and working for all but the first two years. So not much in the way of hang outs, but when I was a freshman my RA at Russell took us to The Last Resort when it was just a beer joint with music. Back then you could legally drink at 18. That and the old Stegeman at the corner of Baxter and Lumpkin. Got a brick when they tore it down, but I don’t know where it is now or if I still have it.
Were you Lumpkin School of Law 1978 or some other degree? I am a Little Lumpkin from 1979. I got a piece of the gym floor when they tore Stegeman Hall down. My wife thought I was the only crazy sonofabitch to take debris from Stegeman Hall. Thank you for letting me know I am not alone!
Graduated Lumpkin Law in 1978. You are not alone about the old Stegeman.
I also graduated Lumpkin Law in 1978. Still have nightmares about Ron Ellington.
Wow. I wonder how many of us are still alive and where we are. Mack Player was my nightmare but mostly because I had him for nine months first year.
1986 Grady School Grad. O’Malley’s, The Mad Hatter, and Odyssey were the best hangouts. Steverino’s, DaVinci’s, Guthrie’s were awesome. My biggest mistake……never went summer semester until my last one there. Didn’t have a clue what I had been missing. 10 to 1 ratio, girls to boys. Had an afternoon class on north campus. All the girls would lay out during lunch, then slide on shorts and flip flops over their bikinis before coming to class. Ah….that coconut oil smell during class made it really hard to concentrate on the instructor. Should’ve gone EVERY summer!
Sounds about right!! But there has not been one mention of Coopers that I have seen. Best ice cold fishbowls in town, and a fabulous place to play pool!
1971. Tony’s, Brass Rail, Ireland’s,Rockwood Inn, Last Resort, Mayflower. Varsity downtown,Boar’s Head. Some l don’t remember but they tell me l had a great time!!!
Fun topic! Graduated in 2000 from Grady School of Journalism with Advertising degree. Hangouts were all over the board, depended on what kind of day/night it was and what season we were in. Friday afternoons were Uptown for Happy Hour…no exceptions. For afternoon drinking on a nice day, I was a Sons guy…still have a few mugs! Sunday evening WWE/WCW PPV’s were spent at the original Blind Pig location (think it was Abilene Icehouse before that?). Tuesday night trivia sponsored by Budweiser at Allen’s. Downtown nights were all over the place…Theatre, Between the Hedges, Boar’s Head, Washington Street for “the red drink” if we needed a good night ender, Gus’s, East-West…wasn’t dedicated to any one spot. Aside from the Theatre, I think all of my staples are something different today. Food…wherever I had enough money left over. I ate a lot of Gumby’s pizza.
“wax n facts in ‘88”. Gorman wrote about working there, stocking his own record the day ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ dropped, Feb1990
Transferred to UGA in ’90 from a school in ATL where I spent more time in Buckhead bars than class. Figured I could go to UGA and spend less of dad’s money doing the same. Said I wanted to go to a football school, but I went to UGA instead (thanks Ray Goff). Graduated on time in ’92. Hung out at Globe, GA Bar, Roadhouse, GA Theater (Braves worst-to-first year was incredible), Flying Buffalo, and Sugar Bowl. Ate entirely too many times at Taco Stand, Peking, Sons & Steverino’s.
When I was in ATL I went to Atlanta CD a ton. One day there was this small older (I thought at the time) gentleman piling up stacks and stacks of random CD’s to buy. Must have left with 50+. As he was leaving the store he turned around and I saw it was Elton John. The guy working there said he did that every week.
Class of ’91, will go sweet tooth since nobody else has. Hodgson’s Pharmacy in Five Points for 25 cent ice cream and Flamingo near top of Baxter Hill for late night desserts
I got a degree in Advertising from Grady in 1991. I started in the Fall of 1986. Early on in school we went Papa Joes, O’Malleys, TK Harty’s, Sky’s and The Odyssey.
Saw a lot of bands at the 40 Watt and the Uptown before the GA Theater. I also remember seeing bands at The Rockfish. We also went to the Colorbox too. I remember when the Uptown closed it became The Hangar (i think.)
I remember when the Grill was on Broad Street and then it moved to College. We lived in apartments between Baxter and Broad so we ate our fair share of Guthries. We loved the taste but the smell got to us so the rule was we had to eat it on the deck of our apartment. I ate at Stricklands a couple of times a week. I would grab a bag of tacos from the Taco Stand on Milledge to cure a hangover on a Sunday. Shipfeifer and Mayflower were weekly occurrences too.
I stayed in Athens for a couple of summers and we had a buddy that was a bartender at The Foundry so that is where we spent a lot of those summers. GA Bar was a big hangout in the summer too.
The Globe opened one month before my 21st birthday on 9/29/1989. I was there when it opened and I didn’t get carded. I went at least once or twice week minimum for the remainder of my time in Athens. It was just Guinness, Bass, and Harp on tap. No bottled beer, no food, no liquor. They may have had wine. I saw my accounting professor at there on a Thursday night in December 1989 after the Athens Christmas parade. He was sitting with Mills and Berry and it was packed. I made it to our final review the next morning. He did not. We had 20-30 students in our class and we sat for about 15/20 minutes before we left. When he showed up on Tuesday for the final, he implied the cold from the parade was the reason he didn’t make it. He let us we go open book AND take it home if needed since he missed the review. We had 24 hours to finish, I did the best I could for an hour, then wrote – “How was The Globe on Thursday” at the top of final. I got an A on the final and in the class.
The Globe It is still one of my favorite bars of all time, it warms my heart that it is still open and connects with people still 30+ years later. When I get up to Athens a few times every year, I make a point to leave time to go. I always order 2 pints one for me and one for a buddy who lives in Boston. I take a picture and text it to him. I drink both of them though.
1994 Graduate. Drinking: Allens/Foxz, Uptown Lounge, Gus Garcias, Harry Bissets. Eating: Compadres, Mayflower, Peppino’s, Mom’s Kitchen. They are all gone.
‘05 – little Italy, gyro wrap, blind pig, boars head, not sure if any are there anymore
Graduated 1974. Hangouts: Allen’s, Between the Hedges, TK Harty’s, B&L Warehouse. Good times to the extent I can remember them.