So it’s Saturday night around dinner time in Newark, Delaware. You’ve got friends from home visiting and you can’t wait to give them a dose of the way University of Delaware students party. You know, show them why you wake up nine times out of 10 with seven different stamps and numbers on your hand and a camera trail of evidence of what you did the night before. Where are you going to take them? Klondike Kate’s Restaurant and Saloon, of course!
See, if it were Tuesday, you’d have the option of going to Kildare’s for karaoke or the Deer Park for Jefe’s acoustic performance of your favorite songs, but it’s not Tuesday. Wednesday, you’d go to Iron Hill for a dance party, and for the same reason on Friday you’d go to Timothy’s.
But everyone over the age of 21 in Delaware knows that Thursdays and Saturdays there is only one place to be, and that’s Kate’s.
Kate’s is right on Main Street, the one little street home to everything that is UD. When walking in, you’ll notice there’s a coat check and restaurant area with a bar. But the real place to be is bar number 2, located upstairs with the dance floor. It’s open until the very late hour of 1am (I know, whack) since most places in Delaware close at this time.
When the weather is nicer, there is an outside deck which also gets pretty crowded, and the bar hosts themed nights like ‘Luau,’ ‘Jersey Shore Party’ and other things like that.
But every Saturday night, Mr. DJ Hugh comes at 10 p.m. and stays until closing, playing a huge variety of hit songs. You know, those songs where the drunk girls yell, “Oh my God, I forgot I love this song!” as they slosh beer and vodka and whatever else they may be drinking to the floor.
There was one night I went where I couldn’t really drink because I had something important to do the next morning, so I decided to people watch. Let me tell you, I got there around 10 (which was a tad early), so I got to see all the stumbling people pretend like they were sober walking into the bar. I watched one girl fall to her knees laughing hysterically for like three minutes for no apparent reason.
People I recognized started coming in, and I witnessed one of my guy friends try to make moves on a girl who was definitely there with another guy. I saw one of my friends who – at the early hour of 11 – had no idea where he even was, because “weekends don’t count.”
On the bathroom line, people from my roommate’s study abroad trip (who she wasn’t really friends with) acted like they were both of our best friends, and I’ve never even seen them before in my life. People from MY study abroad trip started to dance so close to me that I was afraid I’d be wearing their drinks within minutes. And, watching people try to take “MySpace” pictures for Facebook is a hobby in itself, but sometimes you have to help them out and take the picture for them.
Oh, Kate’s.
The staff is friendly, you start to recognize each other (especially if you’re a Tuesday afternoon regular for their half-price nachos), and you tend to get served fairly quickly even though it’s always super crowded. I’d still say pre-game a lot first because of how crowded the bar areas get, but that should be common college bar knowledge at this point anyway.
But what makes Kate’s so special? Maybe it’s the rustic appearance of an old western film, where the lighting is never fully turned on and all furniture is made from wood planks – literally.
Or maybe it’s the drink specials…Saturdays you can get certain beer bottles for $2.25 each, and red bull vodka drinks for $4. Plus, all vodka drinks all night are only $3. I’m sure there’s a drink special in there for everyone. Personally, I go with the Arnold Palmer (sweet tea vodka with lemonade…yum).
Anyway, Saturdays at Kate’s is also Ladies Night. That absolutely does not mean there are only girls there, which if you’re a guy, you probably wouldn’t mind, but trust me, Kate’s gives you a little gender mix of party animals, and the best part is, most actually go to the university.
What I mean by that is a lot of the other Delaware bars attract local citizens, or as we like to call them, Townies. They’re not the most comfortable people to be around, and as terrible as it sounds, you can always tell when somebody is a student at UD, and when they’re a Townie. Kate’s attracts a lot less Townies than the other bars on Main Street do, which makes the environment much more like a college bar with a lot – sometimes too many, to be honest – familiar faces.
Because each night pretty much has a different go-to place, you begin to see and know more and more people. You begin to make a fool out of yourself in front of the same people each week. But, it’s not like you’re the only one dancing like Elaine on Seinfeld. You’re not the only one who ripped off the toilet cover when you went in the bathroom to throw up on your 21st birthday and I guarantee you aren’t the only one who flipped a table during the beer pong tournament Kate’s holds in the spring. But you will be remembered for these things, and you’ll laugh when you remember “…that happened at Kate’s,” and then Saturday you’ll go back and add another feat to your list of accomplishments.
So, Delaware students, don’t take your visitors anywhere but Kate’s if they’re here on a Saturday. And visitors, follow the aggressive lead of my friends from home: don’t let the person you’re visiting take you anywhere but Kate’s. You won’t regret it.
