Reed: Reliable New Amsterdam keeps the Strip hopping

Photo by Keven Reed

Janey Cheek and Greg Wood are resplendent in light blue while mooning over each other at the New Amsterdam Grill.

Photo by Keven Reed

Janey Cheek and Greg Wood are resplendent in light blue while mooning over each other at the New Amsterdam Grill.

Photo by Keven Reed

Melissa Brown and Chip Morris get caught having a good time at New Amsterdam Grill.

Photo by Keven Reed

Pool tables and other games make for fun possibilities at New Amsterdam for Joshua Pucksh and Wala Habiby, from left.

The Strip has become foreign nightlife territory for me in the last year. I usually find myself lured to the likes of the Fort Sanders Yacht Club for a night out with friends. Otherwise, I take a stroll to Sunspot for a quick evening trip before the chaotic UT student body stumbles down Cumberland Avenue like a herd ready to graze.

Regardless of where I go, the sad truth remains that I have managed to outgrow the traditional drink-a-thon crowd that most of the bars on the Strip cater to.

However, that doesn't mean I won't make an exception given the right circumstances. My friend Chip's birthday was this weekend, so we decided to meet on Cumberland.

After spending the entire day in the Smokies, I didn't manage to get out until nearly midnight. Of course this isn't late for the Strip crowd. By the time we actually arrived at New Amsterdam, the party was in full swing.

New Amsterdam sits right next to First Tennessee bank on Cumberland Avenue and is nearly impossible to miss. A UT staple, known previously as RT's Warehouse, New Amsterdam is one of the better bars on the Strip. It's also one of the largest. The first floor is home to the main bar and plenty of booth seating as well as several TVs. Further back you will run across multiple dart boards, pool tables and arcade games.

On the weekends New Amsterdam usually has live music on the second floor. The shows are usually hugely popular and have featured larger acts like Robert Randolph and lesser known novelty acts like Trotline and Velcro Pygmies.

Luckily you only have to pay the cover for the show if you actually go upstairs. Folks are more than welcome to hang out downstairs for free. I was once rudely tricked into attending a Trotline show under the guise that they were a bluegrass group. I later found out that bluegrass was code for Top 40 country hits. I was sorely disappointed and out of my $10. However, these groups have proven to draw the crowds and put on a great show if the style of music happens to be your thing.

New Amsterdam has a good sound setup and plenty of room to accommodate the crowds upstairs. If your beverage needs aren't too complicated, there is a smaller bar upstairs as well that serves a limited selection of beer and liquor. On busier nights you will find yourself waiting in line for drinks at either bar, a frustration that can get worse when people start jumping in front of you later in the evening.

New Amsterdam is home to some fairly normal drink prices, but also some great specials. Throughout the week you will find an assortment of $2 beverages including drafts, bottles, wine and cocktails. New Amsterdam has an assortment of beer on draft, but nothing out of the ordinary that you can't find somewhere else. The Saturday night we visited New Amsterdam they were offering $5 pitchers of Yuengling, a deal that certainly made the evening there a bit more valuable.

Overall, New Amsterdam is a fun, loud and rowdy good time on the Strip that anyone can enjoy.

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