CLubs/Pubs Question (Scranton, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre: to live, restaurants, under 21) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

wardz20 · 03-19-2007, 01:02 AM

Hey everyone, i am 20 years old, i am visiting Scranton, PA from the caribbean, where it is legal to drink and go clubbing at 17. and i kno its 21 in the US. so my question is, can i still go to clubs even tho im not 21 yet? or are all the clubs 18 to party, 21 to drink?

SteelCityRising · 03-19-2007, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wardz20

Hey everyone, i am 20 years old, i am visiting Scranton, PA from the caribbean, where it is legal to drink and go clubbing at 17. and i kno its 21 in the US. so my question is, can i still go to clubs even tho im not 21 yet? or are all the clubs 18 to party, 21 to drink?

As far as I know, they're all 18 to party, 21 to drink. I haven't done much "clubbing", but I have been out a few times in the club scene down in the Wilkes-Barre area. I've been to "Club Evolution" at the Woodlands on Thursday nights, and 18 is a permitted age. Also, I've been to Twist, a gay-friendly night club just up the road from the Woodlands, and there are people in there under 18 (I went for the first time back when I was 17).

I'm not sure about the clubs up in Scranton, but I belive Tink's, Flashbacks, and all of the other popular nightlife spots allow 18-year-olds in.

weluvpa · 03-19-2007, 09:03 AM

Tinks only allows under 21 in when they are having say a concert for all ages 18 to enter 21 to drink and flashbacks is just a bar/club 21 across the board, but otherwise the club scene here is a joke and it won't be what you are used to outside the states. Where in the Carribean are you from?

wardz20 · 03-21-2007, 08:49 PM

From St.Lucia, just moved to Miami like a month ago, sux cuz its mostly 21 to even enter clubs here, frustrating as hell!

SteelCityRising · 03-21-2007, 09:28 PM

Do you mind my asking just what brings you to Scranton from Miami of all places? We get a lot of day-trip tourists from New Jersey and New York City, but getting a visitor from South Florida (besides the elderly who used to live here) is unheard of!

I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, but it's just unusual to hear of someone traveling over 1,000 miles just to visit little 'ole Scranton! LOL!

bolillo_loco · 03-21-2007, 11:00 PM

For ten years, I worked in several South Central Pennsylvania clubs. Clubs, bars, pubs or whatever you wish to call them will not let anybody under the age of 21 through the door. If the place has a restaurant and food is the primary business of the bar, you will be able to go and eat, but it’s not a place that’s exactly entertaining. Even in the restaurants, there are strict rules; you can’t sit at the bar and I’d bet that the dining area is far removed from the bar. Since I left the club business ten years ago, I see that the new owners of all the clubs that I worked at not only require ID, but they scan it through a machine before you even get to the door. If there’s an all age or under 21 event going on, but there’s also drinking, the PLCB will require that the drinking area is separate from the event and be sure that the door is guarded to the drinking area and proper ID is a must. I was a club DJ in Harrisburg, about 120 miles/180km south of Scranton, but the PLCB is the same throughout the state and few clubs will violate the LCB’s laws. There are small bars that may permit entrance, but it’s rare and you’d probably have to know somebody very well. No bartender or barmaid in their right mind would let somebody in even if they’re not drinking. Gay bars are another story. Gay bars tend to be a lot more liberal with rules. I was also a DJ at Stallions in Harrisburg. I used to get my underage girlfriends in Stallions because they wouldn’t let them in the Vault, a straight club that I also worked at.

I can’t really speak about the Scranton area, but the PLCB is the PLCB and its rules and regulations are far more intrusive and strict than most other states. Under 21 events and clubs are few an far between. These places usually do very little business and pop up here and there. Usually they open for a month and close the next. I lived in Texas for a while and something that shocked me was that they let people 18-20 into bars. They had to submit to having a large M written on each hand. The liberal liquor laws of Texas are a far cry from Pennsylvania and the PLCB. In the mid 1980s Pennsylvania’s drinking age was 21. I bring this up because most other states set their drinking age at 19 for beer and 21 for liquor. It all changed about 1986 or 1987 when the Federal Government stepped in at told 50 supposedly sovereign states to change their minimum age for drinking laws. The way the Federal Government did this was that no highway money and other Federal aide would be given to any state with a drinking age below 21, thus was born the 50 state wide must be 21 to consume alcohol law.

You may be able to party in gay bars, but I’d say that you’re not going to have much luck with other bars and or clubs. While I don’t share the views of my Country’s laws, keep in mind that Pennsylvania and the rest of the states have gotten very strict on drinking, smoking, drugs, and other behavior that they’ve deemed anti-social. I do mean strict! I wouldn’t count on clubbing, but good luck.

wardz20 · 03-26-2007, 05:35 AM

Hey ScrantonWilkesBarre... im actually just coming for a couple days to visit some friends there.. so was just wondering bout the club scene.... we got some clubs down in miami, and most of the clubs in fort lauderdale that allow 18 to party, 21 to drink.... so was just wondering bout there....

I LOVE PA! · 03-26-2007, 05:11 PM

Sound like 18 and up to party, 21 and up to drink, but that doesn't mean the same place on the same night.

in2dadark · 03-26-2007, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

As far as I know, they're all 18 to party, 21 to drink. I haven't done much "clubbing", but I have been out a few times in the club scene down in the Wilkes-Barre area. I've been to "Club Evolution" at the Woodlands on Thursday nights, and 18 is a permitted age. Also, I've been to Twist, a gay-friendly night club just up the road from the Woodlands, and there are people in there under 18 (I went for the first time back when I was 17).

I'm not sure about the clubs up in Scranton, but I belive Tink's, Flashbacks, and all of the other popular nightlife spots allow 18-year-olds in.

Oh yea.. by the way ...He's gay. if you're wondering..

I think he was looking for beavers Paulie..

SteelCityRising · 03-26-2007, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by in2dadark

Oh yea.. by the way ...He's gay. if you're wondering..

I think he was looking for beavers Paulie..

That's fine. Whether he craves sausage or beavers is none of my concern.

I think I'm now officially "asexual", as I've been alone for so long that the prospect of dating someone is no longer appealing to me. Besides, being a young single professional in Scranton certainly can have its advantages (showing up at a future Pittston Area class reunion down the line with a large Mercedes-Benz and Rolex to upstage those who thought I'd never get anywhere in life).