Separate scenes with college themes

Jami Nitti
Campus Compass

It isn’t hard finding a bar in Brown County. Bars line the streets of Green Bay and De Pere, both college towns. Although bars in these areas don’t compare with bars and clubs in cities like New York or Los Angeles, they still are fun getaways for college students.
Main Avenue in De Pere and Washington Street in downtown Green Bay are where you’ll find the  best-known hot spots for college students. Both areas attract many people, but which area ensures an enjoyable and eventful night out on the town?

DE PERE

Baba Louie’s
419 Main Ave., De Pere

At Baba Louie’s on Main Avenue in downtown De Pere, there’s a little something for everyone. A younger crowd usually goes there. Although Baba Louie’s is not big, the crowd can get fairly large, especially after midnight on weekends.
Baba Louie’s is a dual-purpose bar, hosting bands and DJs regularly. It is a great place to dance and listen to live music. Drink specials are promoted daily, and new specials are featured frequently.
Baba Louie’s is a great place to let loose and get a little crazy, were you can enjoy music, dancing and meeting new people.

The Abbey
303 Reid St., De Pere

The Abbey on Reid Street is a short block away from Baba Louie’s. It offers more than 30 tap beer selections and a wide array of weekly drink specials.
The sports-themed bar also has a full menu and is open for lunch. It is a perfect walk from St. Norbert students to grab  a quick lunch or go for a casual, laid-back night out.
The Abbey has an upper bar, lower bar, seasonal patio, dining room and banquet room.
The Abbey seems to attract an older crowd. It is quieter and less crowded than Baba Louie’s and a good place to start the night.
The De Pere bars attract many St. Norbert students, mainly because of the convenience of its location. Most of the them are a short distance from on-campus housing, which means students do not have to worry about transportation.
Dave Jilot, a St. Norbert graduate, said the closeness of Main Avenue to campus and knowing many of the people who go to the bars is what kept him from going to other bars.
“The bars are much cleaner and safer than those on Washington Street,” Jilot said.
Good food and ambience are just a few reasons St. Norbert students and people living in De Pere stay close to home when they think about where to go at night.

GREEN BAY

Washington Street is another area that attracts college students. Its many bars and its closeness to the UW-Green Bay campus makes the bars on this street more accessible to UWGB students than bars in De Pere.
“Main Avenue is more of a St. Norbert territory,” said Sara Junion, a UWGB student. “I know more people downtown.”  

Kittners
129 S. Washinton St., Green Bay

Kittners is a great place to find many UWGB students on a regular basis.
“The friendliest bartenders at Kittners are students at Green Bay,” said Amanda Margelofsky, a UWGB student. “There’s always someone you know there.”
The bar itself has a laid-back feel with many places to sit with friends or play a game of pool. The bartenders are friendly and play a wide variety of music. This appeals to the varied crowd that populates the bar.

Fox Harbor
348 S. Washington St., Green Bay

Fox Harbor is another bar on Washington Street that is comparable to The Abbey. It  offers a downstairs bar, outdoor patio, outdoor balcony and private party room.
“Fox Harbor has a more upscale and nice atmosphere,” Jilot said. “It’s is really the only place I go when I travel downtown,”
Fox Harbor has a casual atmosphere and attracts a varied crowd age-wise. The bar also doubles as a full-service restaurant, serving from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.
Fox Harbor also features live bands occasionally and has various specials during Packers football games. The calm mood at Fox Harbor makes for a good place to watch the game or catch up with friends without the loud, party-like tendencies of other bars.
Both the De Pere and downtown Green Bay bars have pluses and minuses. Different people like them for different reasons.
These bars’ locations play a big role in who travels where. It’s safe to say each bar offers its own brand of fun.
The only question that remains is which area to experience first?
 

Kittners on Washington Street in Green Bay offers a laid back atmosphere with friendly bartenders who specialize in catering to the college crowd.

Shake your groove thing, make your hips swing

Calley VanKirk
Campus Compass
Commentary

Cell phones are ringing and friends are gathering. The weekend has finally arrived. Students, eager to take on the night, ask the inevitable question:
Where can we go dancing?
Home to the nation’s highest number of bars per capita, Wisconsin has no shortage of watering holes. But what about those students who are looking for more than the hole-in-the-wall cocktail bar with jukebox tunes?
For students who want to dance the night away in Green Bay’s popular Washington Street district, the Campus Compass is  them a guide on the top three places to go dancing in Green Bay.
Read on, drink on and groove on.
One hot spot that made the top-three list is Skyy Club, located on the upper level of Knuckles Sports Bar & Grill at 219 N. Washington St.
This place packs people on the dance floor all weekend, but it’s especially popular on Thursday nights. Patrons are ready and waiting for the doors to open at 9 p.m. The rectangular club floor has two bars, a disc jockey booth, table seating, a corner chill spot with couches, a pool table and, of course, a dance floor.
The cut-out center of the rectangular dance floor is the windowed ceiling of the sports bar below. It’s flanked by classy wrought-iron railings and flickering lampposts. Although the dance floor is smaller than some other locations—a mere 350 square feet—no one seemed to mind as they danced their way into the areas near the bars and railings. In the warmer months, the Skyy Club lives up to its name when its retractable roof opens overhead, allowing patrons to dance under the stars.
On Thursday nights resident disc jockeys Rick and DJ Bus play Top 40 jams mixed with hip hop and techno beats. The high-quality sound system, Red-and-green strobe lights and all-you-can-drink-all-night cup special can’t be beat. By 11 p.m., the entire club floor is full of people dancing wherever they can find space, cramming into corners and doorways to dance to their favorite song. Strobe lights illuminate and ricochet off the brick walls, creating the clubbing atmosphere patrons want.
“They play good music, and there’s always somewhere to dance,” said Amanda Margelofsky, a UW-Green Bay senior.
The lack of dance space is a common complaint about bars on Washington Street. Many play good music, but few allow dancing.
For those seeking a hot dance spot that plays music beyond Top 40 remixes, Stirrups Parlor & Saloon may be the place to check out. This lively bar at 123 S. Washington St., claims to be Green Bay’s one and only bar where it’s country music all the time. However, while the disc jockeys do focus on playing current country tunes, a few rock and alternative songs are mixed in with its regular repertoire.
The large main bar features a glass fish tank. The adjacent room that has pool tables and its own bar area. Further back is a decent-sized dance floor, generally full of people Friday and Saturday.
“I come here for the music,” said Andy Worm, a technician. “Country music fits me. I also like the crowd. People are friendly and not rowdy like other places I’ve been.”
Up a few stairs from the main dance floor is a small open area with yet another bar. Wooden railings line the sides of the upper area, allowing onlookers to scope the scene.
From the main bar to the dance floor, it is hard to find someone who is not at least tapping a foot to the music. Unlike other bars with resident disc jockeys, Stirrups mixes up who is in the booth each night. Patrons of Stirrups are not at the mercy of whatever a resident disc jockey feels like playing that evening. They can give their requests and get them played.
“The disc jockey mainly bases the music line-up on the requests from the clientele,” said Chris Nachtwey, general manager of Stirrups.
Nachtwey said that sometimes bouncers are asked to disc jockey simply because they know the clientele better than anyone and know what they want to hear.
“People enjoy coming here because everyone is friendly,” Nachtwey said. “We play music requests, and we are in touch with what our customers like.”
A large banner in Stirrups advertises that it is a boot stompin’ good time, and Campus Compass agrees completely. So, get out there and cowboy up.
People who crave a more urban atmosphere should head to Vicenzi’s on Friday and Saturday nights. It is no secret that Vicenzi’s has had less than stellar coverage in the media lately. Despite this, it’s a great dance venue.
The bar, located at 301 N. Adams St. in Green Bay, may well be the most club-like bar in the Washington Street area. The main dance area is large, but the bar’s popularity results in a crowded dance floor. Fortunately, the big size of the club allows patrons to take their dance moves to other areas in the bar. The heavy security—approximately 10 on staff each evening—is necessary, as the clientele is known to be on the rowdy side. Altercations are common at Vicenzi’s, management takes them seriously, and those involved are permanently banned from the bar.
The music is mainly hip-hop and urban contemporary, which keeps the crowd lively until closing time.
“The music is good, the place is big  and the crowd is a diverse mix of people,” said Trish Outlaw, a Friday-night regular.
Vicenzi’s definitely deserves its spot in our top-three places to dance in Green Bay.
For those who want a night out beyond the an evening at common bar joint, get off that bar stool and hit that dance floor. Whether it’s a night of shakin’ to Top 40 remixes at Skyy Bar, boot stompin’ country at Stirrups Parlor & Saloon or hip-hop jams at Vicenzi’s, these top three hot spots have a dance floor waiting.

Stirrups presents a great dancing experience for everyone, even dance enthusiast who are not apt to country music. The loud music and rowdy crowd gets everyone out on the dance floor.

Here’s what’s on tap in Green Bay

Tracey Jenkins
Campus Compass

Water, hops, barley and yeast. These four ingredients come together to make the smooth, delicious taste of beer.
In the 19th century, Green Bay had many breweries. Today its has a few nationally recognized breweries, and guests can get a first-hand look at how the process is done. Titletown Brewery brews its own beer while Hinterland offers a tour of its brewery.
 The Titletown Brewing Company, located on Dousman Street downtown, doesn’t offer a tour, but guests are encouraged to walk around the restaurant, an old railroad depot.
Downstairs visitors can enjoy appetizers, pizza, burgers and steaks. People at the downstairs bar are mostly in their 40s, but a pool table, dart board and shuffle board make upstairs a great spot for college students to hang out.
But most people go to Titletown for it wide variety of ales and lagers, which are brewed in the building.
In the past two years, Titletown has won two awards at the Great American Beerfest—silver for its Railyard Ale and bronze for its Dark Helmet Schwarzbier.
Its most popular beers are Johnny “Blood” Red, named after legendary Packers player Johnny “Blood” McNally, and its 400 Honey Ale, which is constantly challenging Johnny. It’s special ales and lagers can also be found on tap at Old Chicago. Its famous homemade Sno-Cap root beer can be found at Zesty’s and Jake’s Pizza, in Green Bay.
Hinterland Brewery and Restaurant, across the street from Titletown, is a sophisticated restaurant that serves steak and fresh fish. It also has happy-hour deals and snack food in the lounge area.
Every Saturday, Hinterland offers tours for $5 per person. This includes two free beers in the lounge after the tour for those who are 21 or older. This is the perfect way to see first-hand how beer is made.
 “Brewing beer is almost like making bread, except you use more water,” said Brent Weycke, president of Titletown.
Brewing ales take about 10 to 15 days to ferment while lagers take at least a month.
For wine drinkers, Captain’s Walk Winery in downtown Green Bay offers daily wine tasting. Guests can sample up to seven different wines for  $3.
Guests at Captains Walk are also able to see the tanks that hold the grapes and juice when they walk through the door. Captain’s Walk uses mostly local-grown red grapes from Door County.
 White and rosé wines take three to four months to ferment while reds take longer. Throughout the process, winemakers take two lab samples daily to taste and smell how the wine is doing.
Once the wine is done fermenting, it is held for two to four months to age. The perfect time to wait to bottle the wine is two and a half years.
Captain’s Walk has 10 varieties of wine, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Merlot and many others. Its Maiden Voyage and Disappearing Treasure are also available at local Festival Foods and restaurants.
Captain’s Walk also has a nice room to enjoy downstairs. For a little added cost, guests can rent a lounge that fits up to 12 people. The third level of the house is where Captain’s Walk got its name.
“The captain would survey the waterway,” said PJ Koehler, manager and assistant winemaker. “We’re about a block and a half away from the river
Titletown, Hinterland and Captain’s Walk all have great history, and there’s something students cam learn about the famous college pastime. They are all conveniently located in downtown Green Bay, close to UWGB.