Brittney Cason After Dark

…was the Friday night I couldn’t find anything to eat after 11 p.m.

I got off a plane and went directly from the airport to Belk Theater to see Spring Awakening, where afterward I led the Q&A talk-back with the cast. I hadn’t eaten a thing all day other than the travel-size bag of pretzels they gave me on the plane — and there’s nothing like theatrical porn to work up an appetite. Thus, following the show I was so hungry I almost started gnawing on my hair.

So, we went to Dandelion Market … but the kitchen was closed. And for the record, they should go ahead and change the name to meat market. But you can’t eat that meat and I was too hungry to stay and flirt.

So, we went to Nix Burgers and Brew … closed

Only options in Uptown at this point are Sushi at Enso, or the places I only go when I’m drunk … and I had no intentions of drinking, let alone coating my stomach with grease. As much as I love Phil’s fried pickles, my body was craving a real meal since I’d been neglecting to nurture it all day. And my friends didn’t want sushi. So, we ventured out of Uptown scavenging nightlife like vultures in search of food. Read the rest of this entry »

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I posted the following on my Facebook page: Brittney Cason is writing an article about “Ballin’ on a Budget”… where can people go to find the best drink specials?! … and nightlife on clearance? And I got so many informative responses, I figured I might as well just post the comment thread for your infotainment…

Jayson Knight: Al Mike’s. As far as nightlife on a budget, anything outside of 28202. Dammit Janet is tons of fun.

Jason Sandwick: No such thing unless you are female…then you can do it anywhere there are guys….

Matt McLean: or a hot gay guy……..

Bailie Ann Thompson: Try most places in Plaza-Midwood or NoDa-you’ll be out under $50 food and drink!

Rachel Sunset Miller: Well, it’s not $1 beer night, but The Sunset Club has $100 bottle/VIP service and 1/2 price bottles of wine on Wednesday night.

Jay Hagerman: My buddy started www.charlottehappyhour.com. It’ll have everything you need for each day of the week.

Hannah Toole: Trader Joes is where you can ball on a budget- 3 buck chuck!(wine) Angry Ale’s has $2 domestic Mondays and Brixx Pizza has half price wine on Sunday’s, $1.95 domestic drafts on Monday (including microbrews)

Sophia Burrowes: Zink American Kitchen! Everyday there is a $2 beer special and $5 liquor special. Half price sushi from 5 – 7 Mon thru friday. $2 drafts on Saturdays ALL DAY (sam adams, milk stout, etc.) Come out tomorrow from 5 – 7 for happy hour with The McDevitt Agency and check it out! Great for your article.

George Pappas Park Lanes: Bowling is $.79 a game on Monday Nights from 9pm-cl. We also run a Sunday Night Special from 8pm-11pm for $11.99 per person. The shoe rental is free with both of these specials.

Lauren Elizabeth Thomas: I work at Town Tavern and wanted to pitch in their specials. On Wed we do $2.50 Ultras, Coors lights and $4 well drinks. On Thursdays its Beer pong night we start about 9 and do 25 cent Miller light draft and $2 Miller light bottles. Fridays between 8-10 we have $2 you call it. That excludes top shelf like Greygoose and patron but everything else including beer and wine is $2! And Saturday its $2.50 Bud lights! Hope this helps your article

Quincy Blanco: I agree with Lauren .. Town Tavern iz def the place 2 Roc if U wanna ball on a budget!! .. went there last wk and had a blast!

Jason Astephen: Well 50 cent drafts on Thursday nights @ Buckhead should fit any budget!!!

Matthew T King-Lineberry: Hawthornes on 7th hands down…Monday nights they have ALL draughts $1.50. Great selection too. Good place to ease into the work week on the cheap. Hope all is well with you, Miss Cason

Amy Lyttle McCarter: 25 comments and my lame ass can’t think of a single place to recommend. God, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten out! Good luck with the article.

Milton Boyd: I think your idea is well worth the effort.

Kristen Gaddis: Brixx Woodfire pizza, everyday we have a drink special, everyday except Monday we have $3.00 jagers, and royal flushes (only at the southpark location). And everyday after 10pm its buy one get one, meaning either 2 pizzas or appetizer for the price of one!

Have any other suggestions? Leave a comment below!

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Last week, I went country… back to my roots (and to Coyote Joe’s).

You can take the chick out of Dixie, but you can never take the Dixie out of the chick. In 8th grade, my friends and I used to have our parents drop us off at “The Round Up” on the weekends — which was a barn converted into a dance floor with a band where people of all ages line danced. But then after a while we used that as an excuse to meet up and then snuck off to some high school or college party. We got caught eventually, and needless to say, I was never allowed to go to the round up again… and I haven’t country line danced since.

That is, until I went to Coyote Joe’s last week for their FREE line dancing lessons. First thing my friend and I noticed is that most of the dance moves don’t require any hand movements… it truly is the boot scootin’ boogy. We figure it’s so they can hold their beers. As the instructor was going through the eight counts, I found myself naturally incorporating hip-hop moves into each step… and I couldn’t help it. I call it “hick-hop”… Read the rest of this entry »

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I would like to thank Charlotte nightlife for coincidentally and conveniently opening clubs on my birthday. My first year here, it was Forum. Last year, it was Strike City … this year, Butter. I guess this means we share a birthday. They’re even talking about Butter NC in N.Y.C., on Page 6 of the New York Post.

But before I went to do the Land-o-Lake shake at Butter, I went to NASCAR night at the arena. That’s right… I had a birthday party at a Bobcats game! It’s even cooler than Chuck-e-Cheese, and without the two-beer limit. You can read about how one even has a birthday party in the arena and see the photo gallery on the Bobcats Break blog.

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I spent last Tuesday night in custody of the CMPD with a blood alcohol level of .08. No, I wasn’t drinking and driving – I was at the CMPD Police Academy acting as a test dummy in training officers how to administer sobriety tests … kinda like jury duty.

You can find the full story in my column in this week’s CL, “My night in the cop shop”… but you can find the incriminating photos here. Pun intended.

The bartender — or mad scientist, rather — who was precisely pouring 50ml of liquor per drink. Perhaps bartenders should start using measuring cups to pour drinks… food (or drink) for thought.

About halfway through the study, 1.5 hours — 4 cocktails and 200ml of liquor later  — they had me blow into the “Intoximeter” … and I only blew a .04! Yet I was legally drunk in my mind at that point. So drunk in fact that I thought the cop ordering me to “blow like I’ve never blown before” was comical.

And then the real fun began … the testing. These are the tests the cops administer if they pull over someone they suspect to be drinking and driving. At first they did the “Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus” in which they look for six clues to intoxication (3 in each eye). They look for maximum deviation and onset of nystagmus (whatever that means).

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I found this letter in my inbox from the Casting Producer for America’s Got Talent, season 5. Basically, if you want to be on the show, well, then you should read it …

Hi Brittney,

My name’s Shannon, I’m the Casting Director for America’s Got Talent. The show will be in Atlanta on the 20th and 21st and I want people from Charlotte to come down for it! I want to talk to you about how we can generate a lot of interest in the open call and also give you some more inside info on the “Q” acts that I need to book. I can get about 50 acts right in, in front of the judges where they won’t have to wait or deal with the crowds. Most times, they are the people that end up being selected for the show. All I need from folks you know –or don’t even– is their contact info and a video showing me that they’re at least good and I can book them a private audition time. Just need to spread the word and get what’s good from people in the know. Like, I need the writers from your paper, your friends, their friends, the local/regional papers to come up with the best or most unique, most talented people they’ve ever seen in the Charlotte area. It doesn’t matter if it is performance art, breakdancing, cake baking, wood whittling, spoken word speaking, dancing, quick changing, streaking, tumbling, etc… You get the picture. We’ll hopefully be able to give a lot of people a great opportunity!

All the Best …

So in synopsis, if you want to be on America’s Got Talent just send me a video of yourself being talented. Send it to brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com … consider me your direct line to cut the line… but really I’m just the Charlotte middle man to a casting producer in L.A.

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Last weekend, I went to the market … as in the Dandelion Market, the newest bar in Uptown.

Although I did go to the actual market as well… after spending 15 minutes fighting my way through the parking lot of the Metrolina Shopping Center, I got to Trader Joe’s. Another 15 minutes later, as I’m standing in the check-out line, I hear: “If you left your blackberry in the apples, we have it at customer service.” I look at the bag of apples in my hand, and notice the lack of blackberry in the other. I go up to customer service to retrieve my crackberry, and they tell me they found it mixed in with the apples in the crate … oops. Luckily, they have child-proofed the store for adults.

The staff of the Dandelion Market is as cool and helpful, and like in Trader Joe’s they let you have samples … of their 24 beers on tap including many local drafts. I tried the one with a church tap. And seeing as how it’s a small plate place, you can sample the menu without committing to a whole meal. You can also try everything at the market, which is one of everything on the menu for only 200 “buckaroos” … I’m pretty sure that means a dollar in Dandelion lingo. They also have 25 different kinds of wine and only charge 25 buckaroos a bottle. Read the rest of this entry »

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After three wins in a row, you are probably contemplating jumping on the Bobcats bandwagon, aren’t ya? Well, all aboard because these ‘Cats might actually go to the playoffs this year. And I got your ticket on the wagon and to the game this Saturday, Jan. 9, against the Grizzles. Grrrr

I have more VIP passes for the Front Court Bar, which is in fact a bar within the arena. And there’s a game on the court and a DJ in the bar …

The tickets will also include admittance to the after party hosted by the Lady Cats. You see, games are typically over at 9 – 9:30 p.m., which is a weird time in nightlife where it’s too early to go out to a bar, but too late to go home then come back out. So, the Bobcats alleviate that problem and occupy you in the interim.

I have five pairs of passes to give away to whoever can riddle me this  …

Why is it that in a sporting complex the men’s restroom line is always longer than that of the women’s, yet the women’s line takes twice as long … why do women take so long? What are they doing in there? I am a woman and I don’t even get it- personally, I am in and out and back to my seat.
… or, just be the first to e-mail me at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com with subject line: Bobcats

Shaq is so big his head doesn’t even fit into the frame of the photo!

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Virginia Tech played Tennessee in ATL on New Year’s Eve. And of course I centered my New Year’s plans around said college football game … I have a degree that brands me a Hokie and a dog named Smokey.

I’m a poet and didn’t even know it. But I did know the Hokies were going to win the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl as the Volunteers would volunteer to lose.

You know why else I opted to ring in the new year at a college football game …? Because I go out to clubs and bars all the time, and the only thing that makes them different on New Year’s Eve is that they’re more crowded. Hate to say it, but I call it like I see it.
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Kazba is pairing its grand opening celebration with a New Year’s one, but last night I got a sneak peek … but I’m not going to be sneaky about it. Here’s the scoop, for your info-tainment …

My friend Dianne said it reminds her of a bar you’d find where she’s from … she’s from the Untied Arab Emirates … not ringing a bell? … Dubai … the Middle East, if you will. So, for her to say that, they really adhered to the international theme they were going for.

It is the epitome of a lounge with its candlelit, low-to-the-floor plush seating. It was dark and comfortable. So much, in fact, I kinda wanted to take a nap. The music wasn’t too loud so it really became a possibility come midnight; all the pillows and couches lined with drapes made it rather tempting. I even had to order a Redbull, sans vodka.

My only issue with Kazba is that there’s no bathroom in it … you have to go use Mez like an outhouse. When both venues are crowded I imagine that is going to suck (i.e. New Year’s Eve) — just be sure to go out with an empty bladder, and avoid breaking the seal for as long as you can.

So is the Kazba rockin? … You be the judge

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