Nightlife Central: Shakey's

Nightlife Central
Partying For The Socially Challenged

Shakey’s
312 Mill Street, Hershey, PA
533-9824
It’s Friday night around 10:00 p.m. Shakey’s parking lot is full. Figures. We had to park almost a block away. Figures, again. There wasn’t much wait at the door though, and the sizably-large security guys were remarkably social and polite. As I am sure it was a coincidence, Shakey’s manager Louie Aquller was also standing at the door. We were greeted with a smile, a handshake, and a $5 cover (depending on the band), as were most patrons, and when I mentioned that we had never been there before, we were given the nickel tour of: “The game room is over there on the left. There are two bars on each side, the beer girl by the stage, and bathrooms in the back.”

My guests and I landed on the upper section of the bar, to the right, and were fed well-mixed drinks, and icy cold drafts from bartenders Maria Trojini and Joann Naycor. There are specials on the weekends like 16 oz. pounders of Coors Original and Light, or MGD and Miller Lite for just $2.50, and on Saturdays, there are $1.00 drafts and well drinks from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The place was filling up relatively fast, with a good mix of guys and girls, casual and dressy, with the occasional Harley-fan sprinkled about for flavor.

It was a band night, Poptart Monkeys, (and yes, the Poptart people are after them.) So, your usual groupies were poised in front of the stage. The lighting in Shakey’s is subdued, and the ambient music (pre-band) wasn’t bad at all. I was impressed as much by the crowd as the band that night, in seeing that everyone was ready to party. Once the band got going the crowd followed suit, and the rest of the night was up-tempo and a good time.

There’s a rumor that Shakey’s has some killer entertainment lined up in the near future, but they weren’t willing to say what yet. Right now they alternate between a DJ and bands on the weekends, and they promise that things are only going to get better.

Our party had a great time, and if it’s going to get better, we’ll be back for sure.