GCB: Expectation vs. Reality

Let me take you back to your freshman year. It’s noon and you just got out of your morning classes. Since you’re a freshman, you’re probably taking an 8:30 a.m. no-laptops-allowed FYS and, since you’re a freshman, you probably got up at 7:00 to pick out your outfit, do your hair, and eat a quick bowl of cereal in your room. At this point, you’ve been in class for, like, two and a half hours, and you’re tired. You need to recharge, see some friends, and get a little sugar in you if you're going to face the rest of the day. In other words, you need the Ratty.You walk in and instantly see tables full of welcoming faces. You get a huge plate of french fries and other gross fried food you won’t want to eat in approximately three months, pull up a chair to an already overcrowded table, and sit back and enjoy. This is what college is all about, you think. Your mouth is full but your heart is even more so.Now imagine that instead of a freshman, you’re a junior. And instead of the middle of the day, it’s the middle of the week. And instead of french fries and falafel it’s beer and tequila.When a senior I knew told me that the GCB was “basically the Ratty with alcohol,” this is what I imagined. And – yes – maybe I was weirdly into the Ratty (Editor’s note: she’s still on meal plan) and therefore missed that the comment was meant to be taken negatively, but this impression of the GCB remained. As more and more of my friends turned 21 and started ditching me for the GCB – on weekdays and weekends alike – the bar took on more and more of a mythical status. What was this place? Why was it so cool? And, most importantly, where on Earth campus was it? I knew that as soon as I turned 21 I was going to find the answers to these questions. As an April baby, I spent the entire first half of this semester cursing my parents for not holding me back or forcing me to take a gap year before college, and the entire week after Spring Break waiting in nervous anticipation. My birthday happened to be on a Monday, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I gathered a group of 21+ friends and planned a trip to the GCB the night I turned 21 (NOT the midnight of my birthday – according to RI state law, the GCB would have been legally obliged to turn me away).What is the GCB? For the miserably uninformed, the GCB is the Grad Center Bar, somewhat surprisingly the only Ivy League bar to make it on esteemed publication collegeranker.com's list of the 50 Best College Bars. Since it’s literally on campus, it’s a popular place for juniors and seniors to go during the week, or on the weekend when there’s nothing better going on (which, let’s face it, at Brown happens to be every other weekend). As you get older, the GCB becomes all the more powerful, sucking in friends and roommates alike at all times of the day. If you’re under 21, you don’t even try getting in because they have a ID scanner and if you’re caught with a fake you’re banned for life.So, on the day of my 21^st birthday, I walked into the GCB with just my passport and $5 (the cover charge) in my hand. 

• Expectation: a large brown room with a dusty old bar at one end and a jukebox at the other. The bar will have a dirty mirror behind it and old, red, fake-leather barstools. There will be a lot of Brown flags, a stuffed bear head mounted onto the wall, and one of those checkerboard floors.
• Reality: I don’t know why I expected the GCB to look so much like Red Stripe. The GCB just looks like a normal bar – blue lighting, a neon bar menu – and it's decently clean and surprisingly modern. The wall decorations have a comic-book theme that’s pretty cool and looks original. I was surprised by the lack of Brown memorabilia. There’s a big main room with the bar, booths and a bunch of round tables, a room with darts, and another pool room. It was a little bigger than I thought it would be.

• Expectation: the GCB will be full of juniors and seniors and I will know the majority of the people there. A good-looking senior who I have seen around but do not know will ask for my number.
• Reality: the GCB was mostly empty – but it was a Monday night. I did know the majority of the people there only because they were mostly my dear friends who came with me to celebrate! Also, there were a higher number of old people than I thought there would be (there were like two old people). No one asked for my number.

• Expectation: there will not be a good selection of alcohol. I mean, hey, who has high hopes for Brown dining.
• Reality: there was a huge selection of drinks (especially beer, a lot of beer) because, again, this is like a real bar and not a Brown dining hall.

• Expectation: I will take 100 shots, black out, and dance on top of a pool table.
• Reality: I was feeling kind of sick (Health Services actually told me I might have mono, but what else is new) so I didn't really drink, but I did take one birthday shot. The drinks there are cheap – maybe not “really cheap” but still cheaper than drinks anywhere else. But the vibe feels a little more chill than you might expect from a college bar – there were people literally playing Scrabble. (It was also a Monday night.)

• Expectation: I will have a good time.
• Reality: Despite feeling sick, I had a pretty good time. To be honest, if I'm anywhere I can sit with my friends and drink alcohol, I’m happy. Add some music, games, and cool blue lighting and I’m really happy!

 Why is the GCB so cool? Apart from the fact that it is literally the only place on campus that serves alcohol (and as we all know, alcohol is cool), I’m going to go with the décor. The GCB just looks like a cool place to hang out and take Instagram stories to fill your younger friends with jealously. Where is the GCB?I’m ashamed to say that I still don’t know. It’s in Grad Center – obviously – I think? Guess I’ll have to go again and actually pay attention next time! Images via, via Ebba Brunnstrom '19, via.