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 Bars & Pubs
(by David)

• Common Grounds: 210 SW 2nd Avenue.
  
  This bar is also a concert venue and one of the meccas of the Indie scene in Gainesville (whether local bands or not). A very cool place indeed with some of the best concerts in town.

• Durty Nelly's: 208 W. University Avenue.
  
  One of the "Irish" pubs in Gainesville. I'm not sure it's that Irish (but then again, I've never been in Ireland. Anyways, this place is a great place to hang out, drink decent beer, listen to live music some nights, and just have fun. The crowd is somewhat a little bit older than many bars (let's say mid-twenties instead of early-twenties) and very varied. I think this is one of the thing I like best about the place, as you'll meet very different people as opposed to some other bars (most of them in Gainesville really) that are strictly indie, some other strictly Greek, etc, etc. I never liked that and I think Durty Nelly's is one of the few real "common grounds" in Gainesville.
   

• Jewells: 108 S Main Street
  
  I don't know the place too well, it's a billiard venue as well as a bar as well as a night club, the crowd is quite varied too, and every time I've been I had fun.
  

• The Side Bar: 15 SW 2nd Street.
  
  Another bar that is also a concert venue. The crowd is somewhat indie, but not necessarily. It has a big terrace (rare thing in Gainesville) which is always a good thing on warm nights. Lots of local bands play here.
  

• The Swamp : 1642 W University Avenue.
  
  One of the most famous bars in town, I must admit I never was a big fan of it. Mostly because of the fact that the crowd is almost exclusively Greek, and when you're not one, if really feels like you don't belong. Too bad, because it can be a crazy place (especially on game day) and this is arguably where you'll find the prettiest girls in town. I really should have gone there more often during my time in Gainesville, I guess I just didn't hang out with the right people (yeah, it's not really a place where graduate students go either... that and the fact that as I lived downtown, I always went out downtown without thinking twice about it, but enough about me ;-) ).

• The Top : 30 N Main St.
  
  If the Swamp is the most famous bar in Gainesville, the Top is the most famous one among the indie crowd. During daytime it's really a restaurant (see this section) but at night it's the best rock bar in town. You'll also find very good cocktails, import beers, and juke-box with a very interesting selection in it (and thus the music is really want the patrons want, as they make the play list). The population is also a little older than the average undergraduate crowd (a lot of graduate students and young professionals go there). It was pretty much the place I would go out the most to (and the fact that I lived only a block from it is not the only reason.)