While you stand astonished at my clairvoyance, let me tell you that you are looking for AKA Lounge at 68 E. Pine Street in Orlando. Just above the Pine Street Bar & Grill, AKA Lounge is just artsy enough to feel upscale, but sensible enough to know that a dollar beer can be classy, too.
Décor: The layout is what makes AKA so great. It's located on the second floor of what looks to have been an old grain warehouse, complete with aged brick walls, fantastic arched doorways and high ceilings that absolutely beg for a ghost to be haunting the place. I must report, sadly, that I experienced no ghouls. The spirits, however, are top notch, but more on those later.
The walls are covered with a rotating selection of local (and naturally, expensive) art. The current collection has answered the eternal question: "How many paintings of flowers can you put up before it's sinister?" Answer: quite a few, actually. Scattered throughout the place you'll find all manner of goofy furniture, my favorite being the couches shaped like feet. If you're a fan of looking at, well, things, then AKA is your promised land.
The Bar: There's a cover almost every night, so you'd better believe that they have specials. AKA unloads Bud Light every night of the week for $2 or less, like they're trying to get rid of it or something. So that's always a given. Mondays will net you $2 Newcastles and $3 wells; Tuesdays toss $2 shots and $4 Long Island Ice Teas down your gullet; Wednesdays have $3 Coronas; Thirsty Thursday is just dollar Bud Lights (what's up with that?); Fridays and Saturdays the Bud Light special goes 'til just midnight. The service is warm and quick, and the beers frosty and unhurried, natch.
Sounds: Remember that cover I mentioned? That's because there's local musical talent from DJ's to bands to breakdancing every night. The DJ was playing a lot of Tenacious D when I was there, which shows that he at least has a sense of humor.
The Crowd: AKA attracts anyone who breathes, and has a hankering for a groovy, feel-good place to drink. Looking from barstool to dance floor, you'll find a fairly young crowd that knows how to chill the right way (on foot-shaped couches).
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