The Junction

For my 200^th review (milestone!) I found it only appropriate to review a place near and dear to my heart. I spent 4 amazing years at Ohio University tucked away in the middle of nowhere Southeast Ohio closer to West Virginia than any other major city. I owe much of the amazingness of my tenure there to one place — The Junction.
Even if the two block strip known as Court St. has 23 bars lining the sidewalks, The Junction stands out in front of the rest. Maybe I am a little partial; I started going to the J-​Bar as a freshman. Members of my fraternity have historically worked at the bar so I was able to bypass the wait and the bouncer before I turned 21. My first experience was Spring Quarter freshman year during finals week. A few of the older guys called my friend and I up to the bar to «take a break», which meant taking any nasty shot that Craig concocted to make our stomachs turn. I’m not sure what the first one I had to take was, but I know it was thrown in a microwave and curdled half-​way down my throat. Who would have thought this first impression would turn me into a regular at this place?
The Junction became an every Thursday event for my friends and I. A bunch of the guys and I would stop in around 6PM every Thursday, sometimes earlier, to pound down some Junction punches. What is a Junction Punch, you ask? I’m not really sure. All I know is that you take 4 bottles of liquor, dump it into a glass until it’s about 90% full, then top if off with some Sprite and grenadine, giving it a pink-​lemonade look yet a taste like Heaven. One got you a buzz, two got you drunk, three had you on the floor. And at $ 2.25 a pop, it’s about 6 times as much liquor as a standard drink in Chicago at about a third the price. Rumor has it that the drinks were only this strong on Quad Night (every Thursday) but for some reason the drinks always tasted the same and were equally as strong to me. The bartenders also made a mean 7 and 7 and a Patio Lantern, their signature drink. Pretty soon we recruited the sorority girls from the house we worked at to join us for some JP’s and the Junction became a huge hit for our friends. I have a sneaking suspicion a good portion of their Thursday night revenue came from me and my friends alone.
The place is your typical hole-​in-​the-​wall college bar in a town where there is really nothing to do but drink. The floors were hardwood and were covered in so much liquor your feet would get stuck to them every time you took a step. Many a pair of flip-​flops have had an untimely death on the Junction floors. The walls were bricked and full of graffiti from all the patrons over the years. There was a balcony on the right hand side that would get so packed I would swear I felt the floor moving. The bathrooms were raunchy and were your worst case scenario public bathroom should you choose to enter. The bartenders could sling drinks faster than any I’ve seen and always found a way to keep everyone happy and not-​so-​sober.
Aside from all the craziness, some of my favorite times at the bar were spent sitting at the bar and staring out the huge front windows at everyone walking by down Court St. Since it was on the corner of Court St. and State St., it had prime LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
I could go on and on about this place, but maybe you should stop in and check it out.
The Junction was the type of bar that everyone could enjoy. Anyone who stops in will have a great time unless you don’t enjoy a packed college bar. I haven’t been back in about 2 ½ years, but you bet your ass when I go back in May I’ll be parked at the bar for the entire weekend!

The Junction was the scene of four of the greatest years of my life. Every night there are specials, whether it’s dollar Michelob, dollar Canadian or dollar Miller products or the famed quad night. The homos leaving negative reviews of the Junction probably didn’t go to college at OU and just don’t get it. This is one of the greatest hole-​in-​the-​wall dive bars in any college town in America! Its owner, Mr. Keith Martin, has painstakingly maintained its flinty ambiance by NOT folding to the rigors of time and adding modern conveniences such as air-​conditioning and non-​graffitied restrooms.
Its jukebox is a virtual step back into the ‘80s with both the Air America soundtrack and Red Wanting Blue’s first album represented. If you love Athens the way those of us who went to college there do you’ll love the Junction.