Going to KOK is an IU rite of passage. There’s no other way around it. You’ve got to go. It consistently ranks nationally as one of the top college bars, and Hoosiers voted it Bloomington’s “Best Bar” in the 2015 Spoonie Awards. I was lucky enough to turn 21 on the cheap night (AKA $2 Tuesday) and have documented my first KOK experience for your reading pleasure.
Even though the big “2-1” meant that I’d finally get to go to a bar, my birthday didn’t start out so great. It was a typical Indiana fall day: cold and rainy. To make matters worse I’d just taken an awful exam, I had to work on a research paper and it looked like I was going to have to be on campus for nine and half hours. Around hour five I stopped giving a shit about all my other life crises and set out for the promised land of KOK.
Photo by Taylor Young
Before I could even think about alcohol it was clear I needed food. All I could think about was food. Make it greasy, fatty, salty and make a lot of it! I plopped my happy ass down at the bar feeling victorious from getting past the bouncer and ordered a burger.
Photo by Jordan Shea
My friends and I had been discussing which legendary Long Island we’d each order, but this took presidence. And my burger came out perfectly. I’m addicted to mayonnaise and pickle so I was so excited to see it come with both. And yes I slammed that bad boy down within five minutes. No shame.
Photo by Jordan Shea
At this point, a different bartender approached me and proceeded to inform me that my Tye Dye had been made wrong. I’d already downed about half of it so I was greatly concerned as to what made it “wrong.” But apparently it was just the coloring that was off, so she quickly whipped me up a prettier version.
I’ll admit, I didn’t taste a difference. But boy was it pretty to look at. The colors clung to the ice and didn’t mix quickly. It was very entertaining to watch – at least it was for a slightly inebriated me.
Photo by Jordan Shea
I was definitely feeling the alcohol at this point. I’m pretty sure I blinded the bar tender with the flash on my camera because I had to take the photo of my drink over twenty times before I was satisfied. I continued to terrorize the rest of the patrons in an attempt to get a photo of the inside of KOK.
Photo by Jordan Shea
I wasn’t all too impressed by it in the end, I’d probably just gotten myself too excited. But I was still super excited just because I was finally allowed inside.
Our night didn’t last much longer, I knew I probably shouldn’t skip my morning class because I had a final group project meeting. (Even when drinking I’m boringly responsible, apparently.) But I don’t regret pounding two Long Islands back in one hour. And also managing to take photos while drinking. True Hoosier.