My First Time

I really wish I had a great story about my first time at Yogi's. Unfortunately, I don't remember it. And I don't even mean that I got wasted and blacked out, I mean that I don't remember exactly when I first went there. I was already going to the Village Idiot fairly often. I remember walking down Broadway during the daylight hours one weekend, seeing some shady bar and saying, "hey, that place looks cool, we should check it out sometime." But, I think it took me awhile to finally get there. And I'm not sure if I learned that it was affiliated with the Village Idiot before or after I stumbled in.

Here's one thing I can tell you about my first time at Yogi's: I had a great time. How do I know? Because I always have a great time at Yogi's. It's impossible not to. It doesn't matter if you're in a good mood or bad mood, if it's crowded or empty, if it's a hot summer day or the middle of a blizzard - Yogi's is always a good time. It's hard to find bars like that. How often do you say "hey, you want to go to blah blah blah," and the answer is "I don't know, last time we went it was too crowded/too empty/the crowd was weird/they had a shitty band playing..." With Yogi's, none of it matters. You're guaranteed that there will be cheap ice cold cans of PBR (or pitchers if that's your thing), loud country music, friendly bartenders wearing minimal clothing, and lots of people having a good time. Okay, if it's Monday night, there might not be that many patrons, but they'll still be having a good time. And that's the thing with Yogi's, the demographics are a little unpredictable - there will be some legit Southerners, some college kids, some old guys, maybe a group of girls looking to dance on a bar, maybe some people who wandered over from a show at the Beacon - but, it doesn't matter. Because everyone at Yogi's is there to have a good time. The place just has an infectious spirit. Even the people who've never heard any of the songs before can appreciate the enthusiasm of those who are singing along. Heck, if you'd asked me who David Allan Coe was 10 years ago, I would've given you a blank stare. Now, I'm one of the people leading the sing-a-long.