Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Animal House bar is throwing toga parties
The former Red Ivy Bar and Lounge on the Himmarshee nightlife drag in Fort Lauderdale has been put on double-secret probation, and in its place has risen a spring break pop-up bar themed after the 1978 cult classic, “National Lampoon’s Animal House.”
Dubbed Animal House and branded with images of John Belushi in full togaparty regalia, the clubby Spring Break bar opened March 1 and will close March 31. The venue at 200 SW Second Ave. replaces the short-lived Red Ivy Bar and Lounge, an upscale drinking den that debuted Oct. 31 and lasted three months before shutting down in early February.
Never mind that the enduring R-rated comedy is, at 42 years old, roughly the same age as the parents of Spring Breakers. On Sunday, more than 1,000 college-age revelers packed both stories of Animal House, lured inside with sidewalk sandwich boards (“LADIES DRINK FREE” in all caps) and heavy promotion on social media, bartender Greg Joseph said Monday.
“If I put a number to it,
I’d say 80 percent of the kids have no idea what ‘Animal House’ is,” Joseph says. “They point to John Belushi and say, ‘Who’s that guy?’ ”
The pop-up, from coowners Steve Berke and Mike Boles, is open with limited hours – 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. nightly – and features themed parties such as Toga Tuesdays, Wasted Wednesdays and Bluto Saturdays, the latter named after Belushi’s slovenly, brutish character. On the bar’s second floor, two flat screen TVs play “Animal House” clips on a loop, including one of Bluto chugging a fifth of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. A banner mounted outside the Himmarshee bar repurposes the “Animal House” logo from the film, and cardboard cut-outs of film characters decorate the interior.
Animal House cover charge is $20 at the door and $15-$20 via Eventbrite.com.
A fancy $60 VIP “Super Pass” gives ticketholders daily access, a free pizza voucher and discounted table service. And yes, the bar promises to serve free drinks to women nightly. Drink prices range from $5 to $6 for beer and from $5 to $10 for liquor. (Info at AnimalHouseSpringBreak.com.)
“The place is designed to look like a frat house party,” Berke says. “There’s brown leather couches, giant Jenga, like a never-ending party in someone’s living room. I want to name it Animal House because it’s a fun name. I watched it all the time in college.”
Berke spent $5.8 million to buy the building – which formerly housed Tarpon Bend Food and Tackle – in July 2015 from developer Alan Hooper and Tim Petrillo of the Restaurant People (YOLO, Township, the upcoming FAT Village project), according to tax records. By the time Red Ivy opened last October, the bar’s owners had already fallen months behind on rent, he says. In February, Berke says he bought Red Ivy and its still-active liquor license from the previous tenants.
“[The owners of Red Ivy] didn’t understand the market at all,” Berke says. “They were charging too much for drinks and the décor was very ugly.”
Once Berke realized Spring Break was imminent, he says the Animal House pop-up came together in a last-minute scramble. After 11 days of repainting and new furniture, the bar opened March 1.
Berke says Animal House may extend its run beyond March 31, depending on the bar’s popularity. Then it will close and be replaced with a new sit-down restaurant with a full-liquor bar, he says.
“If the place is still successful, we might keep [Animal House] open for another two weeks,” Berke says. “We’re deciding on what kind of restaurant concept will replace that.”