Remembering an old friend: An ode to Johnny O’s and freshman year

With the memory of the once-great sports lounge fading and the Double U Bar rising in it’s place, it is important to remember how Johnny O’s informed the freshman experience

July 17, 2015

In the dead of winter, in the heat of controversy, Madison lost one of its most infamous institutions.

Johnny O’s Sport Lounge, a refuge for the brave underage, a home to the jaded Greek, slipped quietly into the night after a long hard battle for legitimacy. In January 2015, the Alcohol Licensing Review Committee approved new owners to take over the embattled bar’s property and Johnny O’s scheduled its last bar close.

The interior was razed without proper memorial and the sign removed without remembrance. But today, as the beams of Johnny O’s successor, the Double U, marks new beginnings, we must look back and remember all University Ave’s fallen soldier had to offer — a freshman’s paradise cast asunder by near regular police raids and several instances of violence.

Remembering a fallen friend

On any given Thursday in the dense Madison bar scene, there was one place a young Badger could go with the near guarantee of admission.

With a fresh McLovin’ fake and a confident Chi O on your sleeve, ole Johnny O’s promised a night full of moderately priced rail mixers and dancing. Like an all-grown-up bat mitzvah, booties bounced on the warped linoleum and jaeger bombs dropped in drunken harmony.

Women giggled, heels clacked, but the most beautiful sound came from the ladies’ restroom, where women doled out unsolicited compliments and much needed feminine products in a haze of befuddled generosity. The crop tops came off and skirts were exchanged without regard for the total strangers breaking their seals in the stalls behind.

Peppered with creepy older men, a few things were inevitable with a night at Johnny O’s. Before the clock struck two, there would be at least one randomly solicited threesome request, a few free shots and a polite dismissal of his invitation to “a bar” at his apartment.

Whether Greek or a GDI, 18 or 19, good ole Johnny O’s taught a thing or two about how to seize the night safely. How to enter with confidence and leave with your friends. How to drink just the right amount of Red Bull mixers to stay awake until dawn. How to own your embarrassing dance moves, engage everyone in your dance circle and act calm and cooperate when the cops came along.

Marked by scandal and marred in police activity, the sports lounge was long overdue for a close.

Bright future for freshmen?

With Johnny O’s gone, a more sophisticated bar will rise in its place. Where the DJ booth and cheesy fireplaces once lay, now beams and buttresses lie in their stead with the promise of finer décor and maybe even pizza ‘til 2 a.m.

Unfortunately, young freshmen, this likely won’t be the place for a flimsy fake or merely a confident smile. But when you’re of age, it may be worth your while.