Friday, January 18, 2013
Issue 8, Volume 122
‘Free Beer Friday’ revives Rumorz R.J. Vogt
of last year, and for some employees the “Free Beer Friday” has been revolutionary. The rain that has been blowing over Morton chuckled as he recounted wild UT’s campus for the past week is com- stories from Fridays past. Last week ing to an end. Tonight’s forecast predicts alone, the bar lost a big screen T.V. due a drier sky for the popular “Free Beer an off-balanced group of sorority girls Friday” event at Rumorz. and a large banner behind the stage Allen Morton, the owner of Rumorz, explained that his bar decided to maximize an otherwise unexplored opportunity: beer busts. “Nobody was doing anything like it,” he said. “It seemed like they just didn’t know how to have a good time anymore.” The event features plenty of deals, like 35 cent wings and $5 liquor pitchers, but the main draw is the promise of free draft beer until the tap runs dry. Morton said that a typical Friday night will bring 1,500 people through the door, mostly students. They go through 10-12 kegs and roughly 80 gallons of liquor pitchers. He also estimated that people eat 20-30 pounds of wings and use, on average, 1200 pounds of ice. “I would say that 75-80 percent of my friends go to Rumorz on most Fridays,” said Camille Marsden, a sophomore in therapeutic recreation. “You can hardly walk because it’s so crowded. If you need to go to the bathroom you need to be prepared to wait at least 45 minutes in line.” Morton admitted that he himself would like a little more room at Rumorz. because of some overzealous dancing. “It’s almost a little … well, I wish “There was a frat boy that just walked this place was bigger sometimes,” he off the stage, he didn’t step down but laughed. literally walked off it and landed on his The tradition started at the beginning face,” Morton said. “Then there was the News Editor
one we caught peeing in the trashcan the other night.” The madness ends at 3 a.m., when Morton and his bartenders shut the doors and assess the night’s damage. Oftentimes, it takes five to seven people to clean the building. Morton said they stay until 6 a.m. “The downside of liquor pitchers is all the puking and stuff like that,” he said, wryly. Recently, Knoxville area bars have struggled against convincing fake IDs. Rumorz policy allows 18-21 year-olds in with a $10 covers (girls get in free), but only the 21 and up crowd receives wristbands. Those without wristbands cannot be served alcohol. “They have to have a really good fake to get past our bouncers,” Morton said. “We’ve got be strict about it, I mean they sent in cadets this past weekend. Alcoholic Beverage Commission sends in these guys, always underage, and they try to get served at the bar. They bust our chops a lot just because of our location. All the bars down here, they do the same thing to them. ... But they like to bust our chops a little bit more than everyone else because we let in under 21-yearolds.” Regardless of the fake IDs, Rumorz is looking to expand its beer busts, with Morton going as far as hinting that the bar will soon start offering one on Saturday. “Once the beer’s gone, people still stick around. They’re having a good time, so we figured ‘Hey, let’s do it again on Saturdays, see what happens,’” he said.
Around Rocky Top
Emily Delanzo • The Daily Beacon
Snowflakes gently lick the Torchbearer’s nose during Thursday’s southern version of a snowstorm.
UC’s Field of Greens becomes popular eating destination Anthony Elias Staff Writer The secret’s out on Field of Greens and it’s growing as quickly as the snow is falling outside the UC. Like Marvin Gaye, it was all heard through the grapevine. “My friends told me about it,” Cristen Perry, undecided freshman, said. “It’s been really good. I like it here so far.” Some marketing has also helped to spread the word. “When it first opened, we really pushed it and it got to the point where word-of-mouth was getting around,” Matthew Perry, Aramark marketing coordinator, said. “We have a really tight-knit group of students. ... Of the students that we polled, we found were frequent diners with us here at Field of Greens. I think the average (was around) two or three times a week. The group we do have is getting here, you know; they’re frequent diners with us. It got to the point where it’s almost like a ‘best-kept secret’ in a way.” Although Perry is undecided on her major, when it comes to her lunch stop on the third floor of the UC, the freshman and her friend, Meghan Herod, sophomore in interior design, are sold. “It’s great,” Herod said. “I love it here. I love the chips.” But students have plenty to love other than the chips, whether it’s the Buffalo Chicken Ranch Wrap or Greek-A-licious salad. Or maybe even the results of showing off culinary secrets of their own with the “Create-Your-Own Salad/ Wrap” special. Employees say that the popular choice has been the Summertime Strawberry wrap, which comes with spinach, lettuce, strawberries, craisins, oranges, onions, Feta cheese, bacon and all drenched in raspberry vignette; guests can choose to leave out any of the ingredients. “Tell me where you can
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get that,” employee Bridgett Graham said. “You can’t.” According to cashier Larry Noe, since the spring semester began, 1,375 customers have lined up to get in on the third floor secret; nearly 300 customers were on record for a three-hour day in the opening five-day span. “I love it,” Noe said. “I’ve adopted all the kids and they’ve adopted me.” “Everyone works great together and even after work it’s a great atmosphere,” manager Pam McGee said. “(Students) get to come up here and get together and study. They can make themselves feel like they’re at home because they can come in somewhere like this and sit down better.” That turnout is even more impressive considering Field of Greens was supposed to be, what Perry called, a “short-fix.” “Back in 2011, we divided the dining rotation here,” Perry said, “and it was really to address the seating issue downstairs.” Though the Greens’ rapid growth does present challenges, student seating hasn’t been one of them. “Last semester we were at a point where we were having a line going out down the hallway,” Perry said. “This semester, we’ve been able to produce a second line; we were able to move people through the line faster so our goal this semester is to really start getting the word out now.” Herod mentioned a few suggestions for Field of Greens, some of which the UC’s third-floor stop has managed to meet. “Only thing would be the line,” Herod said, “but they’ve already improved the line by adding (one). Usually it’s one line going down but then it’s two; it’s a little faster.” The other would be possibly building another Field of Greens. “They should (build another location), maybe another building across campus,” Herod said.
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