College is when the fresh babe
of a drinker goes through the alcohol gauntlet and either comes out alive and a
better boozehound, or beaten and dejected with no taste for the sauce. One of
the best examples of this binging battleground is Knight Library, at
Décor: Not as intellectual as an institute of learning but almost as large, Knight Library expands vastly into its strip mall corner. The high ceilings, long wooden tables and chairs, and overall length of the place give it the presence of a beer hall, except with a lot more pool tables and televisions. There’s tons of entertainment, including darts, an arcade-style basketball game, and a shuffleboard table that’s currently out of service but still useful as a really big beer coaster. Though it’s a self-dubbed “sports bar and grill”, Knight Library charges a cover like a dance club, but on the positive side this does seem to keep the drink prices down.
The Bar: The main bar stretches about half the length of Knight Library, but on a packed night it’s still difficult to wedge through the teeming patrons to get a drink. Opposite that is a smaller cubby hole dispensing cocktails, which is equally packed. The daily specials teach cash-strapped college kids the duality of excess and thriftiness. Mondays have free beer until 2 a.m., ladies get wells mixers for $1 until 12:30 am, and everyone else gets $3 wells, $4 you-call-its, and $5 premium drinks; Tuesdays have $2 pitchers all night and $2 wells drinks until midnight; Wednesdays have $1 drafts and $2 wells until midnight; Thursdays have free wells, you-call-its, and drafts until midnight; Fridays have $3 bombs drinks and $2 Three Olives until midnight, and $2 Jaeger all night; Saturdays have $3 pitchers and two-for-one everything until midnight; and Sundays have no cover and $2 for your first beer and 50-cent drafts after that.
Sounds: Some DJ or another spins whatever’s in his bag of tricks, though a random Saturday sample consisted of a lot of tracks that were kitschy several graduating classes ago.
Crowd: UCF rules this bar. Of note, however, is the male-to-female ratio, which appears to be pretty even.
Tips: You might want to memorize the specials and repeat the pertinent one to your bartender when you order since they, especially on a busy night, may not care if you want to save a buck.
Knight Library is at 12289 University Blvd. in Orlando (across from UCF); call 407-482-2500.
