You read it here first…
A year ago KC Confidential cast its aspersions on the alcohol policies of The Cave, a four level nightclub buried in the bowels of the fancy-schmancy new Oread hotel on the KU campus in Lawrence.
After staying there a year ago this past New Year’s Eve, it seemed all too obvious that the club appeared to be a haven for some of the wide open, college party bar excesses described by Maria Juarez here three years ago in her column, “Open Letter to Hawk Whores.”
“What absolutely nauseates me is the downright shameful behavior displayed every Wednesday night within the five labyrinthine rooms of the most famous dive bar in Lawrence,” Juarez wrote. “I’m talking about Dollar Night at The Hawk.
“Of course, you have to tackle the lines first. These sloppy queues are as infamous as The Hawk itself, playing home to a parade of tenderfooted drinkers. 94% of you have a questionable form of identification, and those who don’t are too old to be there. Oh, and 89% of you are already blacked out. That’s fine. I’ve been among these statistics. What’s not fine is getting openly finger-banged, photographed, then voted out of your sorority like some nobody contestant on Survivor. Now your reputation is forever shit because you’ll always be known as that-girl-who-got-fingered-in-line-at-Dollar-Night. Is this reallyworth having some fingers shoved up your cooch? Absolutely not.”
Which brings us back to The Cave – which was busted this past week on suspicion that it broke liquor laws by giving away free drinks to women and cited for advertising as much. The bar was also called on the carpet for allowing a photo on its Twitter feed of a man who appeared to have passed out and wet his pants and sundry disturbances, including one last month that required police to send eight units to the club and use pepper spray to disperse an unruly crowd.
In a KC Confidential column that ran under the headline, “Unintended Mediocrity & Hedonism Collide on KU Campus at The Oread,” I reported one Lawrence nightclub owner’s concerns about evacuating the club were there to be an emergency, saying that, “They must have made a deal with the fire marshall to get that thing approved.”
That The Cave’s $45 New Year’s Eve package came with a whopping 15 drink tickets per person also struck me as extreme.
KCC music man Matt Donnelly characterized the club “as a bro hangout. They usually have dance-type music being played by lower level DJs with laptops.”
So that the club may have crossed some rather obvious liquor law taboo lines such promoting free drinks for women frankly comes as little surprise.
Because Lawrence is a college town and it’s hardly a secret that there’s a tendency to treat matters such as underage drinking with a lighter touch given given the university’s overwhelming contribution to the local economy.
The flip side of that turning of a blind eye:
“It’s tragic. It really is,” Juarez opined. “Especially when you scantily-clad ladies stumble out to the street in the middle of December and lie spread-eagle on the pavement.”
Then again, from a bar owner’s point of view lax ID checking and free drinks for women are just part of the cost of doing business.
“You can’t advertise it, but everybody gives free drinks to women at a bar,” says one tavern owner who asked not to be named. “It gets done all the time – the house buys a girl a drink. This is the reality of what happens. If you want to get some business and some girls come in, you give them free drinks so they’ll stay there. That’s what you need to do if you want to get a bunch of guys to come in.”
OH NO!! Underage college coeds drink to excess at bars that cater to them!!!
Call in the EFFFF BEEEEEEE EEEEEEEYEEEEEEE!!!
That last sentence was just said in my best Hans Gruber imitation voice.
I’m sorry, but what’s the point of the article? To point out that there is a bar in a college town overserving underage patrons, and that girls who drink too much act like wanton who-ares? Oh, someone call 60 Minutes, quick! Hell my first drink in a bar was when I was 17 years old, and was swilling brew at the old Heidelberg in Columbia MO.
Next story from Hearne Christopher… The golf course at Alvamar is giving out free rounds of golf to certain rich patrons! Call the USGA! It’s an affront to golfers everywhere!
The point? He is desperately trying to find a Lawrence angle that people will give a hoot about. Nobody cares about the Self rumors. Those have been around for years. Nobody cares about a bad Italian restaurant. Lawrence has never had a great Italian restaurant. Nobody cares about the KU bashing in Lawrence because the LJ World has been bashing KU forever. If he wants some Lawrence dirt, he should dig into the developers that run the city. And there is always the outhouse story about one of the city councilmen/restaurant owner.
“You read it here first…”
Questions revolving around The Cave regarding its adherence to alcohol laws have been around since the place first opened.
Nice to see there are still whores hanging out at the Hawk. One fine evening in the fall of 1985 a comely young lass fellated me just a few feet from the entrance. Man, that’s the type of thing I miss about college and dollar barrels at the Hawk!
LOL! +1
Honestly, 15 drinks isn’t unusual. Around 2000 when I was at KU, we used to go to third party hosted events (rent a facility out, hire a caterer to bring in and serve the alcohol) and it was $12 all you can drink. I know that probably seems extreme when you’re paying about $10/drink at the Plaza or Power & Light, but alcohol and mass quantities of it are very cheap in college towns. I’m sure you can still get into keg parties for $5 (all you can drink). I went out to the bars a ton and seldom spent more than $10-15/night because there were so many great drink specials around town. Honestly, this article comes across as someone that’s a little naive about college life.
“Honestly, this article comes across as someone that’s a little naive about college life.”
I think he is just mad his wife made him move from Kansas City. He is used to the big city. I’m not really sure what he expected to find in Lawrence by moving there, but he sure hasn’t found it yet.
No kidding, BORING MUCH in Arwence of Kanslabia Hearne?!?!?
Whoever you are Maria Juarez, lighten up, Francis. Stop the presses: college kids binge drinking and having fun. As long as nobody gets hurt what’s the problem. If anything college students probably drink less now than before. Fake ID’s are very hard to get . They may be more wasted from mixing booze and all their prescriptions for ADD that every kid has now. The poor kids are going to graduate with massive student loans and shitty jobs that can never pay off those loans awaiting them. Let them get wasted and have fun. Anyways, you sound too old to be there yourself.
Wow, newbaum…
That is a new bomb; the concept that binge drinking by college kids is cool because nobody is getting hurt. How about the kids that fall off buildings and die? That never awaken from comas? Those that begin their journey down the road to alcoholism?
Just curious.
Boo hoo. My heart bleeds for them. Wait, not really.
C’mon, Hearne, the percentage of kids who fall off buildings or even begin a journey to alcoholism because of binge drinking in college has got to be miniscule. Newbaum wins this round. Let them have their fun.
Not everyones wife is FOB bait, hearne
I heard at the nice club in Manhattan they play flippy cup with their pinkys up.
old foggies maria and hearne….for gods sake its a college town…
FREE DRINKS FOR WOMEN ON THE HOUSE? omg…that never happens
in any bar….maybe the women are attractive!!!!! or maybe its thanks for
spending money with the bar….OMG…HEARNE AND MARIA…what is happening
to the world.
Thenthere’s drunk men and women. IN A BAR? no way!!!!! People drink
alcohol in a bar? Maria…that’s absolutely insane!…And they pass out in a college
bar? and sex outside the bar? Bring in the Mormons to clean up this
haven of Sodom and gomora!!!!!
SCantily clothed women? seriously…in public..in a bar? I can only remember
the pic of glaze reaching over and giving you a big kiss….its etched in my
mind maria….and you hated it.
All this is lawrnece? maria….this can’t be. It’s Kansas…the university that
once was so proud of their “party” top ten designation!!!!!!
and hearne….how bad has kcc gotten. Send glaze up there and clear out
the “scantily clothed” women and handle all those “wild drunk women”…he’ll
handle the situation!!!!!
And hearne…just think about this dude….soon those daughters of yours
will be chugging the juice…dancing to the hip hop dj’s…..passing out…
taking advantage of those free drinks from the male wolves in the bars…
and who knows whatelse after hours.
For gods sake its college….not a convent!!!!
and as far as maria….grow up honey….the world has changed….people like
to entertain themselves….and have fun!!!!!!!!
what a waste of ink hearne……by the way where the jewelry thieves….
what happened in mu…..how bout those hawks and losing to Stanford….
you’re cracking me up everyday with these articles. hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s illegal, H Man.
Illegal to advertise and questionable in terms of getting a bunch of young girls – hey, like my daughters in two years – to drink too much so they can fall prey to loser frat boys or as Matt Donnelly puts it, “bros”
again hearne…you look like a darn fool.
this is news?
itsobvious this has been going on for decades!
and now youbring it up.
illegal…so is pot…and a whole host of other activities
in Kansas
screwing a horse in Kansas is illegal too!
and whoa…..stop putting down all frat boys as losers….
your daughters will be hanging with them in 2 years…
you need to get into reality….I’m betting those
girls (like all fathers feel) aren’t the innocent
little ones you thinkthey are.
come on hearne…stop acting like an old angry white
guy.
kids have fun…lighten up for gbods sake.
what are you gonna do? lock your daughters in the basement
til they’re 25 and some virgin dude comes to marry them????
get real boss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This article hit with BULLET FORCE!
You know it girlfriend.
Can’t wait for the next revealing KC Confidential expose…college students smoke pot!!!!!!!!!
I’m actually delighted to see that in this world of constant change, some things really do stay the same. This piece has me longing for 1982, only where’s the blow?
Water still wet!!!