Shops prepare for graduation rush

Whether camping out in the Indiana Memorial Union hotel or sleeping at the Super 9 Motel, families wishing to find some post-commencement food and fun need not look any farther than campus, Kirkwood and downtown Bloomington. Numerous IU beer-guzzling traditions and stomach-filling fare are found in local taverns, restaurants and even the Union.\n"The food is wonderful now and 'Sink the Biz' has been voted the best IU tradition the last couple years so students and parents can round out their IU experience here," said Bloomington resident Ryan Keen, night manager of Nick's English Hut, 423 E. Kirkwood. "Get here as soon as possible after commencement because we don't really take reservations ahead of time. I would even send someone ahead to scout out a table."\nBased on last year's graduation crowd, Keen said the line at the door might form around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night after folks have meandered around town window shopping for IU apparel, and the line is expected to remain somewhat constant well into the early Sunday morning. He also said the "Sink the Biz" kits are popular graduation gifts, considering many students spend a lot of time at Nick's throughout their school years.\n"Graduation weekend is a lot more tame and better behaved than, say, Little 500 weekend because people haven't been drinking all day or all week," Keen said. "Parents like to cut loose every once in a while too but overall the weekend is not quite as hysterical as usual. Parents should be prepared to see and hear things they don't usually encounter in their professional lives."\nBefore the binge drinking begins, students can also pluck a few dollars from their parents' wallets for the last time for a meal fit for a king.\nBloomington resident Rod Yandt, manager of Little Zagreb Jankos, 223 W. 6th St., said his restaurant is an IU carnivore tradition and wine-gulping feast worth experiencing that a lot of students often cannot afford while they are undergraduates. He said Little Zagreb has fed just about every IU athlete at one time or another on their 1950s pizza-shop like red and white checkered tables, and the restaurant walls are decorated floor to ceiling with IU memorabilia.\n"If you like meat I would come here before you leave town because all our steaks are great, our barbecue ribs are incredible and this weekend we are offering a bone-in 18 ounce pork chop porterhouse," Yandt said. "If the smell doesn't get you walking around the neighborhood, the food definitely will get you hooked and we probably have the best wine selection in town." \nYandt said Little Zagreb is opening at 3 p.m. Saturday, one hour and a half earlier than usual, to accommodate the influx of graduate-loving patrons, although most reservation spots are already filled. He recommended hungry Hoosiers swing through for walk-in seating with the expectation they might have to wait an hour or more after 5 p.m. for a table.\nIf adult food and drink leaves under-21 family members with little in the way of Saturday night fun, the Indiana Memorial Union offers family entertainment for all ages in the form of bowling and sugary snacks.\nBack Alley employee and junior Jamie Minick said the IMU bowling alley offers family time together in the way of rolling rocks and a different kind of graduation night atmosphere on campus.\n"Get out and enjoy some time with family you may not see again for awhile," she said. "It's in walking distance and sometimes kids want to get away from their parents to relax, play video games or some pool."\nKeen said the line outside Nick's can only inch forward as fast as customers leave because his tavern can only accommodate a certain number people, but the fun will be found by those who are willing to wait a little longer after four years of anticipating graduation. \n"It's as important a weekend for parents as it is for students because they know their kids will finally get a job and be out on their own so they won't have to support them anymore," he said.