{"id":10538,"date":"2018-10-18T07:34:57","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T11:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10538"},"modified":"2018-10-18T07:35:46","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T11:35:46","slug":"10538","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10538","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: The 7 Greatest Short-Lived Bars of JMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pitz won last week’s prediction contest (with a perfect 37-0 prediction we might add) and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his look back on some bars of the ‘burg’s past.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"#7. Caesar\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n

Talk about a short-lived gem. If you didn\u2019t frequent faux-fine dining happy hours in Harrisonburg from 2006-2008, you probably missed this flash in the pan. Located off Neff Avenue near present-day Jalisco\u2019s, Caesar\u2019s Italian Restaurant truly was a pioneer of questionable business plans. Fancy white tablecloths amidst happy hours that featured $4 pitchers and actual tables of free food.<\/span><\/p>\n

Couple that with its vicinity to Highlawn (we\u2019ll get to that soon, don\u2019t you worry), and Caesar\u2019s was Thursday\u2019s perfect budget-conscious launching station on the Blackout Express.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#6. The Taratsa (a.k.a. Dave\u2019s Rooftop)<\/b><\/p>\n

Dave’s Taverna, a downtown mainstay from before the time of The State Normal and Industrial School for Women, flourished with the addition of The Taratsa, a massive rooftop area with tables and an open-air bar overlooking Court Square. \u00a0While it was always a center of gravity for the limited downtown scene, it ultimately struggled competitively against newcomers like Jack Brown’s, Billy Jack’s, and That Ethiopian Place\u2014all of whom practiced radical business strategies such as treating your employees and customers well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Toward the bitter end, The Taratsa was less a center of gravity than a black hole that left you feeling emptier than one of the many plastic pitchers of beer you could down in an evening. (But never more than two at a time, ugh.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#5. JM\u2019s Pub & Deli<\/b><\/p>\n

Alright, you olds. This one\u2019s for you. Long before Buffalo Wild Wings (and even longer before the current Brickhouse Tavern), that unseemly-but-glorious brick building on the corner of South Main Street and Warsaw Avenue was an alleged legendary watering hole known simply as \u201cJM\u2019s.\u201d It was shut down in 1998 because it \u201centiced patrons to purchase alcoholic beverages and allowed an illegal form of gambling on the premises.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sounds pretty awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#4. Jimdel\u2019s<\/b><\/p>\n

Alright, you youths. This one\u2019s for you. As an alumnus over the age of 22 at the one time I visited this actual legal drinking establishment, it was the first time I recall feeling old. This \u201cbar\u201d was quite literally a dark Four Loko dance party warehouse behind a laundromat on the south side of town.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the words of an anonymous friend, Jimdel\u2019s was a \u201cplace where the walls sweat and the alcohol came in tall boys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#3. The Corner<\/b><\/p>\n

With an honorable mention shoutout to the longer-lived Luigi\u2019s in the same downtown location, this list would not be complete without The Corner. Opening in 2012 (and promptly closing in 2013), this awkward two-story bar-like restaurant was the quintessential casual downtown hangout.<\/span><\/p>\n

I got free reign to start a trivia night, played a lot of Photo Hunt, and probably didn\u2019t help the financials with my comped bar tab on those trivia nights. But let\u2019s be honest, that location is cursed. Speaking of Trivia: Can you list all the locations that have been at 95 S Main Street since Luigi\u2019s closed? Bonus points if they\u2019re in chronological order.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#2. The Pub<\/b><\/p>\n

With a business strategy as creative as the name, The Pub was a bright beacon in the \u201cLet\u2019s open a large room and serve Natural Light\u201d line of thinking. It might have been open on other days than Tuesday, but honestly, no one can be sure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlights of The Pub included really, really cheap pitchers of beer, fantastic full-stage karaoke, and that one friend-of-a-friend who would buy a tray of J\u00e4ger shots you only remembered while puking in a Keezell Hall bathroom during your Wednesday 9:05. (You were smart enough not to schedule an 8 a.m.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"#1. Highlawn Pavilion<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much I can say about Highlawn that hasn\u2019t already been said by Marie A. in her <\/span>Pulitzer-worthy 2008 Yelp review<\/span><\/a>, so I\u2019ll keep this brief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Thursday nights as a JMU senior in the mid-2000\u2019s shared one common thread. You were at Highlawn, and you probably pregamed somewhere. (Maybe Caesar\u2019s?) You waited in line to get in, and you were not dressed for the weather. You waited eagerly for that true one-hour happy hour bell, and you purchased 17 Dirty Shirleys for $17. (And hoarded them at a table with 9 of your besties.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"After that? Only your earliest Facebook albums may know. Congrats on making it up into VIP that one time.<\/span><\/p>\n