BY: RACHEL GALATIS
Every Thursday night, Holly McGrath shows up at Brother Mike’s an hour before the campus bar opens.
The senior bartender helps set up the three bars at the beginning of the night, lining up bottles of liquor and at each one. Then, she and others hang up menus and the “21 plus” signs on all the booths and tables close to the bar and hang up menus.
Campus bar “Brother Mike’s” is the place to be in the hours from 8 p.m. to midnight on Thursday evenings.
“Each week, we get there an hour before opening and set up several bar stations in anticipation for a busy night,” McGrath said. “We usually have some of each type of liquor, along with cranberry juice, grape juice, orange juice, various sodas, and other mixers.”
Brother Mike’s is now the place to be on campus. Every Thursday, students end up picking the Stonehill bar over some other local hangouts.
There is a new theme every week to encourage students to dress up in accordance with, as some of the most recent being white lies, country night, and a 70s party. The themes are based on surveys that have been sent out to students in previous years.
To be prepared, the bar is supplied with numerous liquors to ensure enough supply to last throughout the evening. On average, the bar will go through at least a full case of 750 mL bottles of vodka.
McGrath said last semester the bar started to offer a few mixed drinks to test how many people would buy them. This year, the bar is offering mixed drinks every Thursday and that this semester has been a trial run for mixed drinks, with one of the most popular drinks called “the Skyhawk,” which uses vodka, lemonade, and a splash of grape juice.
The tips aren’t the best for a bar, but the bartenders aren’t complaining.
“At the end of each night, all the tips are combined and distributed evenly among the bartenders,” she said. “In the past few weeks, we’ve each made about $30 - $40, but on a busy night, we generally each make about $60.”
Brother Mike’s originally started in 1970 in the O’Hara basement but eventually ended. It was restarted around 2007. The bar was closed from the spring of 2020 until fall 2021 due to the pandemic.
The bar allows students to socialize without having to go off campus or drive. The drink prices are considerably lower compared to other nearby hotspots such the Brockton bar “Brack’s.”
Hannah Callinan, a senior, said she looks forward to going to Brother Mike’s on Thursdays because it is a good way to hang out with friends after a long week of academics.
“I think it is definitely fun for all grades because it is a place for everyone to get together,” she said. “However, the bar area for the seniors definitely makes it better because it is less crowded.”
Although the bar is designed to accompany all students, there are some “21 plus” nights to give seniors time to celebrate their last year on campus. This rule was put into place last year on St. Patrick’s Day to uphold capacity limits.
Brother Mike’s will be open this Thursday with a theme to-be-determined. .
Comments