(Page 2 of 2) Previous

Jamie Fritz, manager of Nevin’s Pub, 1450 Sherman Ave., echoed Migon’s sentiments on the importance of the new, city-sponsored classes.

“The course has been really effective for our bouncers, and pretty much all the bars in town participate,” Fritz said. “Once you get a reputation as a bar that only lets in legal drinkers, the problem begins to solve itself and underage kids don’t even try to come in. And I think we’ve been successful in achieving that. There are other bars in Evanston that are known for being more lenient, so I think the underage go to those places first.”

And, to the bars’ credit, bouncers do reject people at the doors. Almost every Monday and Thursday night (leave it to NU students to pick Monday as an “out” night) the same scene repeats itself: A dejected male gets into a cab and heads back to his dorm or frat, flask in hand, as he waves goodbye to friends who were lucky enough to “fool” the bouncer with their fake IDs. Or, a girl can be found walking home after being negged from Evanston’s 1800 Club. She’s confused. Her best friend, a 5’4” brunette, walked right in after showing the bouncer her ID: that of a 5’8” blonde on an Iowa state resident card.

DIFFERENT CROWDS, DIFFERENT METHODS

Students cite various reasons for the mostly easy access to bars. Primarily, NU students’ five most-frequented bars each boast a different crowd and, for students, a different approach to getting in.

Two examples sit two blocks away from each other. Prairie Moon, 1502 Sherman Ave., is a large, midscale restaurant and bar, and has a mostly graduate-school clientele. Its bouncers tend to be strict when it comes to letting in underage drinkers. The Keg, on the other hand, provides a more rowdy, Spring Break-like experience. With girls dancing on a bar and around poles, spotting someone who’s actually of legal drinking age may prove difficult.

Then there are the cab-ride-away Deuce (aka the Mark II Lounge, 7436 N. Western Ave.) and the cramped-but-close-to-home 1800 Club (at 1800 Sherman Ave.). Nevin’s – the haven of the theater crowd and a 2002 Playboy “college bar of the month” – rounds out the bunch. An unscientific survey of students shows that Prairie Moon is the hardest for underage drinkers to get into, followed by the 1800 Club, Nevin’s, the Deuce and finally, The Keg.

FAKE IDs AND THE SEX FACTOR

Of course, students try to stay a step ahead of bouncers – and federal laws – with phony IDs and other means of getting in.

Some work, but others are dead give-aways.  Most experienced underage drinkers say it’s better to have a real ID (from your older sibling or that senior down the hall who you kinda look like) than an obvious fake.

Students say the other determining factor in who gets served and who gets sent home is sex.

“It’s definitely easier for girls to get into bars than guys,” Broude said. “Freshman year, each guy used to hold a girl’s hand and pretend they were dating, thinking it would reduce the guy’s chances of getting rejected.”

Whether its hand-holding, fake IDs or some other trick, one thing’s certain: NU students – of age or not – keep coming back for more.

Some even credit the local bar scene for the better chunk of their social existence.

“The Deuce on a Thursday is the epitome of the Northwestern experience,” junior Kate Lazarus said. “There’s just something wonderfully comforting about the fact that you drank too much before you came, you spent too much money to get there, you showed a way-too obviously fake ID to get in – but so did every single one of your friends. And you leave secure with the knowledge that next Thursday afternoon, when someone asks you what you’re doing that night, you’ll give the same answer all over again: ‘Deuce,’ with a slight shrug of the shoulders and raise of the eyebrows, as if you were really upset that there was nothing else to do.”

Want to chat up Rachel over a Deuce frozen pizza and a Long Beach iced tea? E-mail her at r-bertsche@northwestern.edu.