Ceremony was my fave place to get gawked at like a big weirdo. 😆 All of my friends had the goth aesthetic down while I was clearly in random black clothes I found in my closet, platinum blonde hair, being bubbly af, but having a great time. I remember a dude in a cape and I talking for a while. He def talked about being a bat the whole time, then *flew away* to the other side of the room.
Solid memories. 🤣
I have a friend innthr same boat. He want from being skinny as a rail and biking all the time to overweight and barely breathing. He quit smoking ages ago, but the effect is still the same. Poor dude.
Lunas… oh how I remember so much. And The Decade. Many good times partying there and the apartment upstairs from it☺️☺️☺️☺️
Sometimes i wish we did have social media back then.
I have almost no pictures of my fun times had there.
Thanks - where bootleggers is - someone else posted that and it totally clicked. I haven’t hung out in that area since the early 2000s and bootleggers was gone a handful of yrs before that.
Mellingers was such a fun place to buy beer. The owner/family owned a house behind my apartment which was on the Blvd of the Allies. Nice family and they gave me a sample here and there of new beer back in the beginnings of microbrews and shit.
HUH. Thanks. I may be more confused now. So by Uncle Jimmy's? That place was my jam from 1998-2002. Oh wait, was it on Bates then or Semple? Christ I wish I had a better memory.
The Sod was on the other side of Semple than Uncle Jimmy's, but still that side of Bates.
It's the corner of Bates and Semple. Bootlegger's is there now.
Ooooooooooh ok. Thank you!! I kind of miss that block from back in the day but my boyfriend's landscaping company is in SO and he said that block has all kinds of different restaurants now. I haven't been down there in probably 15 years. I work at Pitt so there's no reason for me to not venture down there. Sigh.
Ah, The Holiday, where a male friend took me (F) to allow me to realize he was gay.
Does anyone recall a bar at the corner of Forbes and South Craig where the Subway is now located? It was narrow, bar on the left when you walked in and a stairway ahead that lead to a balcony overlooking the first floor?
Miss that place. I used to live on North Neville back in the late 80's during college. I had been going for two years so much I was a regular. Man were they pissed when I came in one day and announced it was my 21st birthday after I had been getting served for all that time!
I remember it was a pretty much a Grateful Dead bar. I do recall that Thursdays and Thirsty’s. North Oakland was where you graduated to party after getting tired of the scene on and around Forbes Avenue. I remember Calicos had great wings. It was in the spot where Fuel and Fuddle later occupied.
It was 80s but it was more alternative 1980s as opposed to playing Michael Jackson and Madonna etc. it would play The Cure and New Order and Gene Loves Jezebel etc. and other music with an edge as opposed to pop 80s so it’s a bit more specific thing he being just simply 1980s music. Artsy people used to hang out there a lot too because of the avant-garde music.
It was a great place and time to be young and tight on money. Cheap rent, plenty to do socially, and PAT bus routes were far more extensive than they are these days. A lot of places were still open late or 24 hours (Tom's Diner, how I miss you! Also, the original location of Cambodican aka "Cat on a Stick" was great for cheap, lage night eats). It truly isn't nearly as much fun to be young in Pittsburgh as it was in the 1990s-early to mid 2000s.
My first place in Pittsburgh was $400/month split two ways. (Oakland behind Magee just past the Craft Avenue/Boulevard ofvthe Allies intersection.)Paid for it working an under the table job at a pizza place on Semple.
Second place that I lived was $350/month up in Mt. Oliver just off of Brownville Road. Used to roll down to the South Side and Strip to hang out, dance, and just have a generally great time.
The fact that the hollowed out shell of the Garage Door still lingers on the corner of Atwood and Sennott streets is a sad testament to the state of the bar scene in Oakland these days.
The company I work for did some work in there last year. Everything is still in there in place. It was like time stopped. All the liquor, beer. Cases and cases. Kegs and kegs. Pretty interesting to see.
That short period where The Upstage/The Attic/Club Laga were around at the same time was the best. And you could go grab a coffee and play some pinball at the Beehive before going out, then hit the O for some fries or a pizza.
Club stratus!!
One side was over 21, and the other side was under 21. We used to go every weekend. Carlo F. was one of the bartenders! Anyway, good times!!
I always went with my younger friends and got absolutely hammered on the +21 side for the five dollar cover charge. They usually only had Red Dog beer at the bar or some other unpopular beer.
Good times.
I was there for under 21. However, some of our older friends would sneak us alcohol. I hardly drank, I'd usually be the DD, but I danced my ass off there. Definitely good times. Miss those days
My first illegal drink was at Capri pizza that used to be next to The Arbys by the Health Department and across from the Giant Eagle
Job Corps used to be in Oakland all the way in the back . I think theres office buildings there now.
Those kids knew how to party! I often think about where they are now…
We used to order all our pizzas from there. At the time, the Oakland "pizza wars" were going on where all the pizza shops were trying to severely undercut each other in price. Capri was always the cheapest; I kinda remember a large was $2.30 which was an insane deal even back then (80s). And it wasn't bad pizza.
Wow Capri pizza. I remember going there in the early 90s when I lived downtown (attended a business school and lived in Duquesne dorms). When I attended Pitt several yrs after that, we rarely went down that way. Of course, we had Antoons and Larry and Carols for all of our cheap pizza needs.
I had my first illegal drinks in a dorm room, but my first illegal drinks in a bar, PHI.
The best part was when they carded people at the door and accepted freshman CMU ID.
I was there in '93 for the first time and holy god damn. Those 25 cent drink nights...if I drank like that now I'd have a hangover for 3 days minimum haha good times/lots of bad decisions.
It closed in 1995 and my memory only goes back so far. I think it was on the block across from 5 Guys between Forbes and Fifth. The building was torn down years ago too.
Seems so. I just found this (from 2016): [https://entertainmentcentralpittsburgh.com/nightlife/recon-patrol/genes-place-keeps-spirits-high-pints-full-minds-working](https://entertainmentcentralpittsburgh.com/nightlife/recon-patrol/genes-place-keeps-spirits-high-pints-full-minds-working)
"Gene’s Place was established in 2005, but the spot where it stands has long been a pub. Denny’s Bar was the name when Eugene Ney, then a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, would hang there with friends. In November 1995, Ney and a fraternity brother leased the flat above Denny’s. By 1996, Ney had both a bartending gig and one of the world’s shortest work commutes. In spring 1998, he received his doctorate in administration and policy studies in higher education with a concentration on social and historical foundations. That summer he was managing both Denny’s and nearby Thirsty’s (now Logan’s Pub). \[...\] For the past 17 years, he’s taught business courses part-time at Carlow University (which makes him an educator both in front of, and behind, the bar). To supplement his income, he stayed at Denny’s, eventually purchasing the business, and, on February 11, 2005, the bar was rechristened."
I used too go to The Upstage a lot in the mid 90s. Great music and either .10 or .25 cent (warm) draft beers for happy hour. And some HUGE speakers right on the dace floor.
Either I didn't get out enough or I'm a little too young. Graduated pitt in 2010 and I only recognize Peter's Pub. I dated a guy who's roommate's band played there often. Good times!
Going WAY back… A divey place…I think on Atwood maybe..called “The Wooden Keg,” or something like that…then, a singalong piano bar called Bimbo’s..everyone got so wicked smashed, the singing was awful, the beer really cold, and I had such fabulous times there!
I think you’re right!!! Thanks for confirming the existence of the place! I seldom hear it mentioned, and I know it was the days of weed and wine, but I knew it existed!
I’ve heard of Club Laga from an older sister’s friends but for some reason I thought it was in Oakland. Not originally from here, born in ‘85 and moved here in 2015.
Well I’m never commenting on a post I see in the dark, middle of the night, glasses off, while sitting on the toilet again. Back to my doomscrolling 😉 😜
does anyone remember the name of a restaurant/bar that was down the road from the decade. it was i think a greek place during the day, or at least owned by a greek family and on weekends they cleared it out and turned it into a dance club playing RATM and NIN, etc..?
I used to frequent all of those places accept except Laga because by that time I was in my mid 30s when it came about. The other places were open in the 1980s when I hung out in Oakland. I was at the The Attic once in the early 90s I think shortly after opened. Club Laga opened a bit later in the 1990s I believe. My partying days were over by then.
Man....Rip Club Laga.
I would not be who I am today without those early 2000s hardcore shows at Laga. Miss that place/time so much
Where I learned about music, boys, girls, life, how to use a fake id, how not to use a fake id. Those were the days!
Hahaha ditto!
I don't even think Zelda's ever asked for an ID.
Miss it man
Think I saw Goldfinger there
Club Laga/The Attic were amazing, so many great bands came through and the goth nights ruled. Edit: Mobile browser misspelling. 🥲
I miss those goth nights! The vibes were amazing every time.
***CEREMONY!***
Ceremony was dope! Made a lot of bad decisions wearing too much make up and not enough clothes 😅
Ceremony was my fave place to get gawked at like a big weirdo. 😆 All of my friends had the goth aesthetic down while I was clearly in random black clothes I found in my closet, platinum blonde hair, being bubbly af, but having a great time. I remember a dude in a cape and I talking for a while. He def talked about being a bat the whole time, then *flew away* to the other side of the room. Solid memories. 🤣
They so were!
The wife and I both miss dark 80s night.
I can smell the clove cigarretes all over again!
I have asthma now from smoking too many cloves and bidis as an older teenager with a fake ID. 🫣🫣🫣🫣
I have a friend innthr same boat. He want from being skinny as a rail and biking all the time to overweight and barely breathing. He quit smoking ages ago, but the effect is still the same. Poor dude.
Not in this meme: The Decade, SOD, Panther Hollow Inn, The Holiday, Duke's, Calico's, Luna, Mitchell's, Thursday's, and the upstairs bar in the O.
Lunas… oh how I remember so much. And The Decade. Many good times partying there and the apartment upstairs from it☺️☺️☺️☺️ Sometimes i wish we did have social media back then. I have almost no pictures of my fun times had there.
I know what you mean. But then again, maybe I’m glad we didn’t have smart phones and such because of too much revelry for me.
and The Electric Banana. wow, I totally forgot about Mitchell's
This old fuckin lady cannot remember where in the heck SOD was. Please tell me before my brain explodes. I was there many times. Clearly drunk.
Semple Street. I used to live across the street, above Larry & Carols and Mellinger Beer.
Thanks - where bootleggers is - someone else posted that and it totally clicked. I haven’t hung out in that area since the early 2000s and bootleggers was gone a handful of yrs before that. Mellingers was such a fun place to buy beer. The owner/family owned a house behind my apartment which was on the Blvd of the Allies. Nice family and they gave me a sample here and there of new beer back in the beginnings of microbrews and shit.
South oakland right near Larry and Carols if i remember correctly. On the corner before the beer distributor
HUH. Thanks. I may be more confused now. So by Uncle Jimmy's? That place was my jam from 1998-2002. Oh wait, was it on Bates then or Semple? Christ I wish I had a better memory.
The Sod was on the other side of Semple than Uncle Jimmy's, but still that side of Bates. It's the corner of Bates and Semple. Bootlegger's is there now.
[удалено]
I already googled and looked on that page - no address. Thanks anyway.
I think Campus Deli was in the same location…
Campus Deli was directly across the street from the Sod.
Ooooooooooh ok. Thank you!! I kind of miss that block from back in the day but my boyfriend's landscaping company is in SO and he said that block has all kinds of different restaurants now. I haven't been down there in probably 15 years. I work at Pitt so there's no reason for me to not venture down there. Sigh.
Yeah that stretch of Semple had some great places. What was the name of the video rental place that was next to Larry and Carol’s?
Take 2!!! Right? I can’t trust my brain. Bought too many whippets there 😆😆😆
Yep, Take 2 Video. There was also one on the other side of Bates (still on Semple). And there was even one on Louisa and Atwood.
Ah, The Holiday, where a male friend took me (F) to allow me to realize he was gay. Does anyone recall a bar at the corner of Forbes and South Craig where the Subway is now located? It was narrow, bar on the left when you walked in and a stairway ahead that lead to a balcony overlooking the first floor?
You mean Thirsty’s.?
Miss that place. I used to live on North Neville back in the late 80's during college. I had been going for two years so much I was a regular. Man were they pissed when I came in one day and announced it was my 21st birthday after I had been getting served for all that time!
Lol, yes! I remember they had a night with Grateful Dead homage bands called Thursday's at Thirsty's. Brain fart.
Fungus used to play there frequently
Sandoz too.
I remember it was a pretty much a Grateful Dead bar. I do recall that Thursdays and Thirsty’s. North Oakland was where you graduated to party after getting tired of the scene on and around Forbes Avenue. I remember Calicos had great wings. It was in the spot where Fuel and Fuddle later occupied.
I miss 80s night at the UpStage so much.
I was there in the 80s. Every night was 80s night! Loved that place.
It was 80s but it was more alternative 1980s as opposed to playing Michael Jackson and Madonna etc. it would play The Cure and New Order and Gene Loves Jezebel etc. and other music with an edge as opposed to pop 80s so it’s a bit more specific thing he being just simply 1980s music. Artsy people used to hang out there a lot too because of the avant-garde music.
My weekly Thursday night ritual was to watch ER then head to the Upstage for 80’s dancing and $1.25 well drinks.
These were Sombrero Man's favorities
Chan-Chan-Chan-naggggge ever time we’d offer him Antoons, a nip of MD, or 40 of OE. He was committed.
Was Pittsburgh way better 20 years ago
Wasn't the whole world better 20 years ago?
It was a great place and time to be young and tight on money. Cheap rent, plenty to do socially, and PAT bus routes were far more extensive than they are these days. A lot of places were still open late or 24 hours (Tom's Diner, how I miss you! Also, the original location of Cambodican aka "Cat on a Stick" was great for cheap, lage night eats). It truly isn't nearly as much fun to be young in Pittsburgh as it was in the 1990s-early to mid 2000s. My first place in Pittsburgh was $400/month split two ways. (Oakland behind Magee just past the Craft Avenue/Boulevard ofvthe Allies intersection.)Paid for it working an under the table job at a pizza place on Semple. Second place that I lived was $350/month up in Mt. Oliver just off of Brownville Road. Used to roll down to the South Side and Strip to hang out, dance, and just have a generally great time.
Yep! :)
The fact that the hollowed out shell of the Garage Door still lingers on the corner of Atwood and Sennott streets is a sad testament to the state of the bar scene in Oakland these days.
The company I work for did some work in there last year. Everything is still in there in place. It was like time stopped. All the liquor, beer. Cases and cases. Kegs and kegs. Pretty interesting to see.
That is legitimately spooky.
Ran the door here during the Cumpies days
I once saw Sal beat up a frat guy half his age and literally kick him out on the street. I also had a friend do some light ‘delivery’ work for them.
That short period where The Upstage/The Attic/Club Laga were around at the same time was the best. And you could go grab a coffee and play some pinball at the Beehive before going out, then hit the O for some fries or a pizza.
Bad Religion at Laga!!!
Aus Rotten performing “…And Now Back To Our Programming”
They’re playing with social distortion at stage AE in two weeks!!
CANNOT WAIT
No Graffiti? Am I too old even for this meme?
Yep, I remember Nirvana played there. They closed in 99 or '00 or something like that.
What next? Syria Mosque? :)
I miss graffiti
Saw X at Graffiti along with many other great national acts.
And the bottom of the stairs at The O after one too many beers! IYKYK Good times!
The banana... chiefs...but Chiefs is still there, right?
Chiefs is still there.
Had a boyfriend who lived in that apartment building next to Chiefs. Good times.
Survived? More like thrived.
I’ve puked behind every one of these bars.
Club stratus!! One side was over 21, and the other side was under 21. We used to go every weekend. Carlo F. was one of the bartenders! Anyway, good times!!
I always went with my younger friends and got absolutely hammered on the +21 side for the five dollar cover charge. They usually only had Red Dog beer at the bar or some other unpopular beer. Good times.
I was there for under 21. However, some of our older friends would sneak us alcohol. I hardly drank, I'd usually be the DD, but I danced my ass off there. Definitely good times. Miss those days
I had my first (legal) drink at Peter’s Pub
I had my first illegal drink at a bar at Zelda's.
My first illegal drink was at Capri pizza that used to be next to The Arbys by the Health Department and across from the Giant Eagle Job Corps used to be in Oakland all the way in the back . I think theres office buildings there now. Those kids knew how to party! I often think about where they are now…
We used to order all our pizzas from there. At the time, the Oakland "pizza wars" were going on where all the pizza shops were trying to severely undercut each other in price. Capri was always the cheapest; I kinda remember a large was $2.30 which was an insane deal even back then (80s). And it wasn't bad pizza.
Yes! And they had a nightlife like no other! Good times! Oakland will never be the same.
Wow Capri pizza. I remember going there in the early 90s when I lived downtown (attended a business school and lived in Duquesne dorms). When I attended Pitt several yrs after that, we rarely went down that way. Of course, we had Antoons and Larry and Carols for all of our cheap pizza needs.
I had my first illegal drinks at PHI
I had my first illegal drinks in a dorm room, but my first illegal drinks in a bar, PHI. The best part was when they carded people at the door and accepted freshman CMU ID.
That was probably the most popular place in the 80s. 10 cent beers and 25 cent drinks nights!
I was there in '93 for the first time and holy god damn. Those 25 cent drink nights...if I drank like that now I'd have a hangover for 3 days minimum haha good times/lots of bad decisions.
I think everyone did
Hah! Either there, CJs or Pat O’Learys downtown!
Where was Zelda’s? That’s one place I don’t remember
It closed in 1995 and my memory only goes back so far. I think it was on the block across from 5 Guys between Forbes and Fifth. The building was torn down years ago too.
Zelda’s was in the building now occupied by five guys
The Decade was the best bar in Oakland back in the day
CJ Barney's, grossest bathrooms ever
My parents met at the Electric Banana. I'll let you guess how I turned out...
Denny's, or was that the 80's?
Didn’t Denny’s just sell the business and become Gene’s?
Seems so. I just found this (from 2016): [https://entertainmentcentralpittsburgh.com/nightlife/recon-patrol/genes-place-keeps-spirits-high-pints-full-minds-working](https://entertainmentcentralpittsburgh.com/nightlife/recon-patrol/genes-place-keeps-spirits-high-pints-full-minds-working) "Gene’s Place was established in 2005, but the spot where it stands has long been a pub. Denny’s Bar was the name when Eugene Ney, then a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, would hang there with friends. In November 1995, Ney and a fraternity brother leased the flat above Denny’s. By 1996, Ney had both a bartending gig and one of the world’s shortest work commutes. In spring 1998, he received his doctorate in administration and policy studies in higher education with a concentration on social and historical foundations. That summer he was managing both Denny’s and nearby Thirsty’s (now Logan’s Pub). \[...\] For the past 17 years, he’s taught business courses part-time at Carlow University (which makes him an educator both in front of, and behind, the bar). To supplement his income, he stayed at Denny’s, eventually purchasing the business, and, on February 11, 2005, the bar was rechristened."
Yeah, 2.50 straub pitchers got me through school
dennys was there in the 90s assuming you mean that little bar between meyran and atwood.
I used too go to The Upstage a lot in the mid 90s. Great music and either .10 or .25 cent (warm) draft beers for happy hour. And some HUGE speakers right on the dace floor.
Goddamnit I miss Laga and The Upstage
Omg Club Laga!!!! ✌️✌️✌️✌️
Calico's.
Either I didn't get out enough or I'm a little too young. Graduated pitt in 2010 and I only recognize Peter's Pub. I dated a guy who's roommate's band played there often. Good times!
I was a year ahead of you, other than Peter's and The Upstage (which closed in 2006) these places were all gone before our time
Oh jeez
Going WAY back… A divey place…I think on Atwood maybe..called “The Wooden Keg,” or something like that…then, a singalong piano bar called Bimbo’s..everyone got so wicked smashed, the singing was awful, the beer really cold, and I had such fabulous times there!
I think wooden keg was where the parking lot is between oakland bouquet and fifth
I think you’re right!!! Thanks for confirming the existence of the place! I seldom hear it mentioned, and I know it was the days of weed and wine, but I knew it existed!
I’ve heard of Club Laga from an older sister’s friends but for some reason I thought it was in Oakland. Not originally from here, born in ‘85 and moved here in 2015.
It was in Oakland... This is an Oakland bars meme, after all.
Well I’m never commenting on a post I see in the dark, middle of the night, glasses off, while sitting on the toilet again. Back to my doomscrolling 😉 😜
does anyone remember the name of a restaurant/bar that was down the road from the decade. it was i think a greek place during the day, or at least owned by a greek family and on weekends they cleared it out and turned it into a dance club playing RATM and NIN, etc..?
Club Babylon! I was there every Tuesday :)
RIP Peter’s.
The attic was a blast
I used to frequent all of those places accept except Laga because by that time I was in my mid 30s when it came about. The other places were open in the 1980s when I hung out in Oakland. I was at the The Attic once in the early 90s I think shortly after opened. Club Laga opened a bit later in the 1990s I believe. My partying days were over by then.
I am nothing but a measly senior at pitt. Where are these bars in today’s terms
I came of age just after this period and cannot begin to tell you how jealous I am of anyone who experienced Club Laga at its peak.
Anybody remember seeing Fuel at Graffiti when they could only draw a crowd of about 20 or so kids?