Moonshadow Tavern

Oh, Moonies, you definitely have an identity crisis! Moonies is a reinvented IC bar that wants to be IC's Jersey Shore, hence it has the nickname 'Club M00nies' (yet fails in trashy guido turnout, thanks to the fact Ithaca has two good colleges in town). It was once a hangout for IC students to just chill, hang out, and get drunk. Moonies is meant to have the soul of a grimy hole in the wall bar in Upstate NY, yet happened to turn into an IC Trustafarian's bar that would perfectly fit in well in a city like New Brunswick or Wildwood. OK, maybe there are a select few patrons who will pay with their hard earned money instead of Daddy's Dime!  

It's still got the grimy wood floors, but now has a gigantic glossy granite bar with fiberoptic lights. Oh, and Moonies has doubled in size to fit a dance floor. Drinks are decent, but I'd love to see the day I come back to visit and they start doing $1, $2, anf $3 Happy Hours like you see all over Denver (no such thing as a cheap bar in Ithaca)! Moonies has a $10 credit card minimum, but I guess that is a good thing for a bar; it's an encouragement to drink safely, tip the bartenders (they always have really nice bartenders, so they deserve good tips), and use cash instead.

I'll end my review of Moonies like this: no other bar makes me feel so confused and out of place in a crowd (it sucks that there's no wiggle room to just relax). But If you can get the opportunity to spot a drunk after last call getting away with simultaneously hiding and peeing in a bush (in the Commons) without the cops taking notice (hey, we all know you dare not go into any bathroom at Sammy's or Ameritalia, right?), at least I can say I had a good, fun night at Moonies... once. For that, it gets 4 stars.

I like to hang out here but they let way to many people into the bar to the point its hard to move let alone get a drink... The other night i had to wait for 10 to 15 min to get a drink when they had about 6 to 8 people behind the bar and yes every bar that busy has a bar back but still it should never take that long to get a drink. The bartenders need to move faster, talk less and not stand around banging their bottle openers on stuff to go with the music.

I went here with a few friends for a night out of dancing and drinking. The club was packed (I think it was a Wednesday) and the DJ was spinning a lot of great club and pop hits. The drinks were strong, and the atmosphere was friendly and danc-y. I have walked by this place on other nights and it looks dead, but I would definitely come back with a group of friends on a busy night. Also the bartenders are very friendly although the whistling can get kind of annoying.