by Debbi | Jan 19, 2010 | Events, Newsworthy, People, Pub Crawl
Longtime Sandbar regular and once-upon-a-time bartender Scotty Mac was in the news yesterday, along with his lovely wife Jen. Read the LJW article, Trivial Matters: Live Games at Lawrence Bars, Restaurants Gain Momentum.
Scott created a quiz show game at Kaspar's Bar & Grill way back in 1999 with Peach's brother, Tom, who later bought the place and renamed it Conroy's Pub. (The article refers to him as "the godfather of Lawrence's trivia scene- I sense a new nickname.)
These days, Scott and Jen host Brainville Trivia at both Johnny's locations in Lawrence. On the second and fourth Wednesday of every month, they're at the original Johnny's, north of the river. Game starts at 7 p.m.
On the first and third Tuesday of the month, they host Brainville at Johnny's West, the new location out at 6th and Wakarusa. Game time is 8 p.m.
There's no limit on team size at either game, and they are free! Winners receive $25 cash.
If you love trivia and want to try out a live action game instead of Buzztime that we have available all the time, check out Brainville with Scotty & Jen! You might see some Sandbar folks in the crowd, too.
Congrats to Scott & Jen on a great article and publicity!
You can also become a fan of Brainville Trivia on Facebook.
by Debbi | Jan 18, 2010 | Around the World
We've talked about our thoughts on Sixth Street vs. Mass Street and shared some fun pictures from our evening there, but Sixth Street isn't the only place we went in Austin.
Before the trip, I searched online for tropical bars and restaurants we could visit for ideas about drinks and decor. We've borrowed lots of ideas from other places, like the Shark Attack and the Dirty Banana, and we're always on the lookout for another great idea.
We met up with friends at Kahuna's Tiki Bar & Grill. It was about a 10-15 minute drive from our hotel downtown and easy to find.
For a restaurant in a strip mall, this place was tiki-d out! Bamboo poles criss-crossed the ceiling, surfboards and tiki heads were everywhere, and there was a full menu of tropical drinks. The waitress kindly let us "borrow" a drink menu. I was in no mood for alcohol, but Dave ordered the girliest sounding drink on the menu: the Wiki Waki Woo.
Now, that name might sound familiar if you've been in the Sandbar recently. He loved the name so much he wanted to use it- but we didn't love the actual drink so much. He made up his own recipe for our drink machine.
The food was good, and the decor was outstanding and fun to look at. If you're in Austin and love all things tropical, it's worth checking out.
by Debbi | Jan 14, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Web/Tech
Peach surprised me with some very special mail the other day.
Google Maps (yes that Google!) sent us a letter congratulating us on being named a "Favorite Place on Google." According to the letter, their users found our business listing on Google 3731 times and requested driving directions or other information 269 times- all between July 1 and September 30 last year!
And, they included a super cool window decal that we can hang up! The tech-savvy sticker even includes a special bar code that people can scan with cameras on their phones, which apparently allows them to see our business listing on Google. I'm not really sure how that works, but maybe one of you will enlighten me.
(Perhaps Google sends letters and stickers to every business in an effort to encourage them to create/update their Google business listing, I don't know. But if that's the case, I don't want to know. I'd like to keep thinking we were popular enough to catch their attention. So don't burst my bubble, okay?)
by Debbi | Jan 12, 2010 | Random Questions, St. Patrick's Day
One thing that excites us every time a new year rolls around is the fact that St. Patrick's Day– our favorite holiday!- is near. March 17 may not seem near to you, but trust me, this part of the year flies by for us.
The decision-makers met for lunch yesterday and this year's float theme was unveiled. Of course it's still a secret, so don't expect me to spill the beans here, but it's a good one. Of course.
This year's theme was inspired during a random impromptu pool party last summer. We've got the float, the music, and even the costumes nearly figured out. And honestly, we can't believe we've never come up with this one before.
What do you think our best float ever was? A few years ago we asked this question, and the readers chose the Love Shack float from 2003.
Here's another poll, with some more recent float selections. Vote for your favorite, and if it's not one of the choices leave us a comment! If you can't remember some of them, check out our St. Patrick's Day archives for stories and pictures.
by Debbi | Jan 10, 2010 | Around the World, Cool Stuff, Stories
Yesterday I wrote a little bit about our visit to Sixth Street in Austin, Texas. Today, some fun stories and pictures.
First up, Daddy's Grill and Bar. We didn't actually go inside this place, but we had to take a picture of the sign. Ken, long time bartender at The Sandbar who fills in occasionally these days, was nicknamed "Daddy" by the guys. There's a story there, but I won't go into it here.
On to the Thirsty Nickel. We stumbled into this place with some other KU football fans from Lawrence that we ran into at another bar. The place was pretty empty- it was late afternoon, after all- but we enjoyed a few drinks and shots with the bartender.
We were delighted to see this little sign hanging behind the bar:
Of course that sparked a conversation. Their bar is much longer and much wider than ours. The bartender said they don't love for people to dance on their bar, because there's nothing for wobbly dancers to grab onto. Dave described the metal awning that he built over our bar, and explained how it's great for dancers to lean against or grab if they need a helping hand. The ceilings in the Thirsty Nickel were way high, but it could still be done.
We also found this sign in the Thirsty Nickel. Perhaps we'll hang a similar one underneath our bar?!? Of course we posed with it, but the picture's on someone else's camera and I don't have a copy.
Check THIS out! I can't remember the name of this bar, and I can't find it online, but it was something tropical-like. However, when we went inside, this was about the closest thing to tropical about the place. Look familiar?
These were some of our favorite sights on Sixth Street. I've still got a few more things to share about Austin and the bars and restaurants and other interesting things we encountered there. Stay tuned.
