Big Bar is a big bar and the new big addition to Erie’s thriving bar scene. On Friday and Saturday, Big Bar had a big crowd and even bigger prices. Even the actual bar at Big Bar is big.
Big Bar is located on 10th Street about a block away from the Erie Insurance Arena and replaces Sluggers, a former sports bar known to have hosted many Erie sports enthusiasts over the past nine years. But Big Bar is not where you go to watch the big game, but rather to bust out your big dance moves.
After a local country music cover band kicked off the night on Friday, D-D-D-DJ Danny Diggz took to the turntables to scratch the wax and lay down some beats. Erieites young and old got down to celebrate the unveiling of the new large locale.
Arguably the No. 1 feature that sets Big Bar apart from other Erie bars is its massive margarita fishbowl. For $20, you can buy a fishbowl filled with blue margarita and quite literally “drink like a fish.” Weighing in at nearly a gallon, it’s perfect for not sharing.
Maureen Grady, a senior physician assistant major, said that she thought the fishbowls were “completely impractical, but also completely practical at the same time.”
“How are you supposed to go to the bathroom with a big fishbowl in your hands?” Grady asked.
Logistically, the fishbowls scream “big mess” just thinking of how many of them will inevitably crash and explode onto Big Bar’s big dance floor, but there were no obvious accidents over opening weekend.
While both nights were undoubtedly a big success, the colossal club was not able to please everybody.
Ryan Micsky, a senior mathematics major who likes to frequent the Erie bar scene, expressed his disappointment after feeling misled by all the hype leading up to the bar’s grand opening.
“Could’ve been bigger,” Micsky said. “A disgrace to all actually-big things.”
Others felt that Big Bar exceeded their big expectations. Mitch Vogatsky, a senior mechanical engineering major and an already self-proclaimed “big Big Bar guy,” said that he believes the hot spot will become “the new Docksider’s.”
“It’s aptly named and managed to bring in a BIG crowd on opening weekend,” Vogatsky said. “I enjoyed myself and can definitely say that I’ll be ‘going Big’ frequently for the remainder of the semester.”
As you can see, students have already taken to sayings like, “Go Big or go home,” and simply, “I’m going Big tonight.”
The only glaring downside to Big Bar was that the coat check could’ve been bigger. The coat check is, in fact, just a staircase with a bunch of coats on it, but the fact that they even have a place to put customers’ coats is more than most Erie bars can say.
While it remains to be seen how Big Bar will attempt to compete with rival establishments like Park Place and the Plymouth Tavern on Thursday nights, their weekend happy hour specials included 36-ounce drafts of select beers for $6. In case you still haven’t caught on, everything at Big Bar is big.
So, is Big Bar the new “big bar on campus?” Possibly. Big Bar got its big break in a big way over the weekend and showed that bigger really is better. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
KYLE JOSEPH
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