the friends we made along the way Photos by Maggie More ‘20 have people that are regular customers.” Because Amber Ox, which opened in 2017, is a brewery first and foremost, most of their menu is beer. Prices range from $3.50 to $14 for regular beers, while growlers (called “crowlers” at Amber Ox) range from $3.50 to $9. They switch out the beer options frequently enough that they stick to paper menus, and there are also a few mixed drinks and ciders for those who don’t enjoy beer at all. Whatever drink you order, the names are fantastic. Beers available for purchase Sept. 20 included “We Duel at Dawn” and “Matt’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.” There were a few bar-snack type food items available, but not many. Glutenfree items were labelled, and while there were no vegetarian or vegan labels, there was at least one vegan option on the menu. It also played excellent music. During the hour and a half that we were in Amber Ox, they played “Jessie’s Girl,” multiple Queen songs and “Take On Me.” “I used to make fun of them for coming to Amber Ox all the time,” Quinn said of now-graduated seniors he was friends with last year. “But honestly? I get it.”
After enjoying our drinks — even my “The Dishes Are Done, Man” beer, which was the first time in my life I didn’t faintly regret ordering a beer over a mixed drink — we tipped Sherie, our absolutely fantastic waitress, and moved on. Paul’s Deli Our final stop of the night was Paul’s Deli. Paul’s at 11 p.m. was significantly more crowded and louder than either of the bars we had been to previously, and much more chaotic. If Dog Street Pub is where you go with your family, and Amber Ox is where you meet up with the high school friends you want to keep after graduation, Paul’s is where you go to get the wild stories you wouldn’t tell at either of the other places. “This is a place for sinners,” Clara said, as we found a table to the sounds of “No Scrubs” by TLC and many, many screaming adult men. We found out later that some law students were undertaking a pub crawl that night. There was one TV with some kind of sport playing, but I wouldn’t qualify it as a sports bar. Flat Hat staff members have used it as a chill background for planning meetings in the afternoons, and just as a place to hang out for fun.
Even with the football jerseys and photos of coaches on the walls, Paul’s attracts students regardless of their interest in the Tribe’s record. Chelsea Gibrill doesn’t really have an official title, but the role she fills is basically that of administrative general manager for Paul’s Deli, College Delly and Green Leafe Cafe. For the most part, people just call her “the boss.” “At Paul’s, [we’re looking to attract] probably undergrad and locals, where Green Leafe is more graduate students,” Gibrill said. “It’s like a family atmosphere; we want people to come in and feel like they’re home.” Gibrill described Paul’s as “very much a Bud Light kind of place,” where people tend to order pitchers, but her personal favorite drink there is “Chelsea’s Cherry Coke” — moonshine, a maraschino cherry soaked in moonshine, and CocaCola. But for her, the best part of having worked at the bars in the area for five years is that everybody knows her name. “My favorite part is really getting the locals and the students that come in continuously, because you really do get to know everybody by name,” Gibrill said. “And it really does create that small-town, family environment that is
“This is a place for sinners,” Clara said, as we found a table to the sounds of “No Scrubs” by TLC and many screaming adult men. Fall 2019 | 38