Barley's Taproom remains an Old City staple

Photo by Greg Wood

Swetha Akula and Erick Hutchinson mug for the camera at Barley's.

Live Music at Barley's

At night out at Barley's

Photo by Greg Wood

Laura Lamb and Travis Hardy take in the '80s night at Barley's.

KNOXVILLE — As soon as I walked in the door to Barley's early on a recent Friday evening I was reminded of something I'm growing very sick of in this town: cash-only cover charges.

So when the door man told me and a friend that the only option we had was to pay cash (which I never carry), we quickly found ourselves in a pickle.

When I go out in other cities I'm usually able to pay a cover charge with a card. But Barley's couldn't work that out. My friend (who was more angry about the encounter than I was) asked why we couldn't pay with a card, resulting in an "I don't know" from the door man, who explained that the night manager was around but that he "didn't know where."

Regardless, we eventually scrounged up the dough and made it inside to find a full house around 9 p.m. We ventured upstairs with the intention of playing pool, but not only were all the tables taken, there was a waiting list.

Every table was occupied, and crowds loitered next to the bar and arcade games, which is what we ended up doing. If I'm going to be standing around contemplating my next move, I most certainly want the easiest access to alcohol. And video games.

We stood around chatting and watching the crowd, drinking Rogue Dead Guy draft. After a couple minutes, it felt like that's what we came there to do.

The Barley's crowd and I get along quite well. I'm not often in the mood to throw down with college students, but I'm also not far removed from that mentality. That's the type of people who end up at Barley's. Most of them are in their 20s but the age bracket often extends up to the 50s (after all, they do have the most taps in town, so dedicated beer drinkers of any age flock down). They're out to have a good time but not get rowdy.

Overall, they're laid back. It's groups of friends out enjoying the evening, possibly making more friends. One couple I talked to gladly explained to me that they come down frequently because it's a comfortable place. There's always a happy vibe, stemming from the hippie-esque wait staff.

Our evening hit another snag when my friend ordered a basket of chicken wings that he found unappetizing. The lesson of the evening: always stick to the pizza at Barley's. Personally, I find their pizza to be the best in town. Pizza and beer is never a bad combination, and they offer quality versions of both.

As we stood around chatting, we forgot that we even came with other intentions. It felt natural to have a few drinks and watch the crowd while conversing. Over time, we noticed more than one female walk past us wearing a sequined outfit. Inevitably, we had to wander back downstairs to figure out what was going on.

If you haven't been in a while, the downstairs environment has changed for the better. The bar moved to the opposite wall, resulting in an expanded dance floor/seating area fitting substantially more people than before.

And, fortunately, I ended up coming on one of the best nights to check out just how much expansion there really was - '80s night.

Although my friend and I headed down with entirely different motives, we found it hard not to catch the live music (after all, we went through so much to pay the cover). The audience members decked themselves out in their finest '80s attire, looking exactly like a scene from "Pretty in Pink." I'm never let down by Knoxville's ability to dress up in costume, and my evening at Barley's reiterated this sentiment.

With the added room it makes it much easier to dance, see the band, and get a drink. The crowd still packs in pretty tightly, which is to be assumed (and a sign of good stage presence by the band). But it's easy to get around.

Barley's is a staple of the nightlife scene. It's one of the frontrunners as far as beer selection goes, and its popularity hasn't waned in years. Recommending it seems like a moot point.

But in case you've never made it out to the Old City gem, with the enhanced downstairs area and consistently amazing crowd (as well as $2 pints on Monday and Tuesday), now's as good a time as any to check it out.

Just bring cash. And stick to their pizza.

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