It's 11 p.m. on a Friday, and Five Points is deserted.
It’s hard to picture. There are no crowds, no lines snaking out of bars. No one is sprinting across the street from Breakers to Pour House in a race against the flashing red hand. Even Cook Out is eerily quiet, with only a handful of cars inching through the drive-thru.
It sounds like an apocalyptic version of Columbia’s bar district, but really, it’s just a Friday night in December. When students headed home for the holidays last month, Five Points stayed right where it was.
“It’s a lot mellower, a lot lower key because it’s a lot less crowded,” Jake’s Bar & Grill manager Jung Pak says.
When temperatures drop, the menu at Jake’s gets a few more soups and chilis and managers order “a little leaner” when it comes to alcohol, since they aren’t selling as much.
“Everybody knows that shifts do get cut because there’s just not enough business for that,” Pak says.
Without the flow of 20-somethings ordering shots of Fireball and beer after beer every Friday and Saturday night, several bars in Five Points saw a downturn in profits. But three weeks later, with students back and the semester underway, the raw January air starts to fill with the familiar Five Points din.
Salty Nut Cafe manager Colby Thomas guesses most students headed back to Columbia a few days before classes started last week, judging by how many showed up to the bar last Friday.
“This past weekend was really good. But a month or two ago—” Thomas says before he pauses and shakes his head.
Profits weren’t as high without the collegiate regulars. Thomas restocks the register on Thursday afternoon, gearing up for another big weekend with everyone back in town.
It’s nowhere near the size of the late-night college crowd, but the bar isn’t empty — it’s a different time of day with a different clientele and a different drink palate. Instead of beers and shots, this group of bar-goers prefers liquors drinks and “more top shelf-type stuff,” Thomas says.
“The kids leaving definitely slows us down a little bit,” he says, “but we’ve still got a really good local crowd that comes in.”
Delaney’s manager Andy Melanson estimates that somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the pub’s patronage comes from USC students. But when they’ve all gone home, the older crowd comes out of the woodwork.
“They’re scared of all the kids, so they stay away when school’s in,” Melanson says.
The popular Pint Night destination transforms from a busy bar scene to more of a restaurant feel, as older customers come in seeking appetizers and dinner, not bottles of Blue Moon and cheese fries on Wednesday nights.
“Pint Night does not (drop off) because a lot of kids that have graduated are coming back in town, so they still come out,” he says. “But Thursday nights with bourbon and vodka are a little more popular when school’s in.”
But just steps down the road from Salty Nut, Papa Jazz Record Shoppe is coming off its most profitable month of the year. After all, December means Christmas, Christmas means gift-buying and record stores don’t rely on the same clientele consistency bars do.
“Busiest time of the year, Christmas time,” Papa Jazz owner Tim Smith says. “All the retails will tell you it’s the busiest time of the year.”
Smith knows winter break means a drop-off for bars’ attendance and profits, but he doesn’t share bar-owners’ concerns. As a general rule, he says, business is better when school is in session. But the spirit of giving the holiday season brings keeps his shop well above water every December.
“Now, if the kids were in school and it were Christmas,” Smith says, smiling at the profitable possibility, “that would be even better.”
More Like This
As bars lose liquor licenses, fate of Five Points up in the air
By Tyler Fedor | April 25, 2021Five Points reopenings cause concern, hope
By Jack Bingham | May 31, 2020