Every reason why The U is the best bar at Iowa

Any Hawkeye can list off the best bars in Iowa City with ease. Summit, Sport’s Column, Pints, The Airliner, Eden, they’re all IC favorites. No doubt these are the top bars in town to grab drinks and have a memorable night with friends at, maybe even do a little dancing. But when it comes to the bar that has the full package, The Union Bar reigns supreme. Here are some of the reasons why “The U” is an Iowa City classic.

Union stays packed

Weekends at Union are beyond insane. Make sure you take an early lap around town collecting entry wristbands, because the bar is already packed at 9pm with a line to get in stretching down the city block. Walking in, keep a tight grip on your friends, you might lose them in the crowd. Go deeper into Union and you’ll find packed dance floors, loud music and flashing light shows.

A typically sized crowd waiting to get inside Union on a weekend night

It’s a bar crawl hot spot

Let’s be honest, Union is always a favorite venue when it comes to bar crawls. No matter what you’re celebrating or who you’re with, whether it be your sports team hosting a fundraiser, your job’s annual staff party or remembering Harambe with hundreds of strangers, Union is always a must visit toward the end of the night.

Shirts from the wildly popular Harambe bar crawl that took over Iowa CIty bars on Saturday, September 24th

Greeks love The U

Geeds aren’t the only ones who know Union is a good time. This bar is crazy popular among the University of Iowa fraternities, who race to rent out the upstairs dance floors every week for Thursday night socials with sororities. Throw a social at The U and the night is sure to be a blast.

Drink it up

Union has a total of five bars located throughout the entire building, each fully stocked with bottle upon bottle of everyone’s favorite liquors. Cheap drinks are served regularly during nightly specials, including $1 U-Call-It’s on Thursdays, $2 wells on Fridays, $3 vodka mixers on Saturdays and $3 shots every weekend night. With tons of space to serve and regular specials, it’s easy for bartenders to sling drinks fast so bar-goers can party hard.

A Union bartender pouring drinks on a Thursday night for their $1 U-Call-It special

Dance the night away

The U has a reputation for being the best bar in IC where you can show off some moves. The dance floors are packed every weekend, thanks to hot DJ’s and featured concerts. Why go to the gym when you can get in a workout at Union? But be sure to use that makeup setting spray ladies, you’re bound to get sweaty.

DJ Paimon–The king of the city

Union is well known for its regularly featured local artist, DJ Paimon, who throws down every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Crowds go wild for him and his original tracks are just as hot as his remixes. Paimon is so popular, he even has his own Snapchat geofilter, available to snap pics with every night he performs. It’s no doubt that DJ Paimon is one of the main reasons why Union is the place to be for good music and a night of getting down.

DJ Paimon on the main dance floor mixing beats for bar-goers on a weekend night

Big artists ALWAYS stop by

Union is also known for hosting concerts for big name music artists. Artists that have made trips to the venue this past year include Travis Porter, Ty Dolla $ign, Kid Ink and Sammy Adams. All of these artists completely tore it up at their shows, driving their fans wild and discovering what IC is all about.

A tweet from Kid Ink the day after he performed a show at Union

What are you waiting for?

So this upcoming weekend as you’re getting all of your closest friends together for a night out in Iowa City, don’t settle for just another night at the bars. Instead, head over to The Union Bar for a crazy night you may–or may not–remember.