Why Kip’s is the best thing about going to UC Berkeley
Why are we here again?
It’s 2AM on what was formerly a Thursday night, and you’re stumbling out of what has to be the worst bar in your college town. So why is this the third time you ended up there this week? The answer is, no one really knows.
It could be that it’s the last open watering hole for miles that won’t break the bank, or it could be that after being at a few different places, nothing beats coming home to old faithful.
Every school has one, and ours is Kip’s. Home to the most ridiculous traditions and the most inappropriate dancing, it’s the bar you never mean to go to. Shout out to you, Kip’s – you keep every night interesting.
Here are some of your “best” qualities.
Tuesday night is trivia night
The contestants, waiting to win their glory.
Pub Quiz is everyone’s favorite bar activity. It’s the one place you get to show off your obscure knowledge on Greek Mythology and potential significant others will respond with, “wow, he’s so cute,” rather than, “why do you know so much about Hades?” It’s also the one and only place you can get trashed while taking a test.
Plus, if you’re lucky, you can meet other people as passionate about small facts as you are (this happened to my Dad’s friend post-college, and they are now married with a perfect child. Tell me that’s not the dream.)
They give you a ~free~ birthday shot on your birthday
Granted, it’s a liquidy-sweet liquor, there’s enough whip cream on top to satisfy a four year old with a passion for hot chocolate AND you can’t use your hands, but… that’s the charm, right?
The best part is arguably not going to Kip’s but then watching all the Snapchats of someone’s birthday shot from every angle and feeling like you were there. Less work.
It’s also delightfully inappropriate, which is probably an added bonus.
The music has the perfect mix of nostalgia and up-to-datedness
Everybody knows the best places to dance have a wide variety of music playing. Essentially, if the Chainsmokers come on, Cyclone also has to play because the 2007 version of everyone wants to get down in Kip’s, okay?
Nobody can fight me on this one, since I’ve seen all of you dancing like it’s a middle school formal without chaperones when anything pre-2010 comes on.
Alcohol is cheap… cheaper than almost anywhere else
When the vodka is $3 and you consider doing vodka shots for the first time in your life.
There are three dollar shots all day long. Need I say more?
No one knows what goes in them, and you’ll undoubtedly go with a squad who thinks its a smart idea for each person to buy a round, because then it, like, evens out or something. Even better, happy hour is until 9PM and every beverage you could’ve ever wanted is on discount.
Sometimes I wonder how their credit card transaction machines don’t overload from the constant swiping.
Last call is at 1:45
More time to make more bad decisions!
Everywhere else in town closes at either 10 or 12, so you can’t beat a place that will let you stay up 2 extra hours.
Need I say more?
It’s the bar you love to hate
Mistakes, regrets, etc.
No one starts a night at Kip’s, but somehow it’s where everyone ends up.
That’s something, right?