MULTIMEDIA

Saturday Night at The Spot

VENUE INFO

Click below for address and more

• Ale Emporium
• Hot Shotz, a Gastropub
• The Spot

9:50 p.m.

Tonight I'm hitting The Spot, a relatively new party bar in Castleton. When I say it's a party bar, I mean that literally. The Spot is a college student's Never Neverland, a house party with a menu.

Indy Mojo Cornhole League play is wrapping up when I arrive. If you aren't familiar with the game of cornhole, look elsewhere in this issue for a better description than I can provide. The Spot sports a long L-shaped deck with cornhole sets along each side. Dave Grohl croons an acoustic version of "Everlong" over the speakers, over the steady thwack-thwack-thwack of corn-filled bags slapping wood.

10:07 p.m.

Lish Marr, 24, and Aaron Wilkerson, 22, are Monday night regulars. Cornhole is a popular complement to drinking, but Wilkerson seems to get flustered easily, exhorting the bags to perform better. "Oh, get in," he shouts across the deck.

"It's a frustrating game until you start drinkin'," Wilkerson said. Win or lose, at least he's playing for a good cause. According to Marr, the league's registration fees were donated to Relay for Life, a charity that supports cancer research.

10:33 p.m.

I leave cornhole behind to take a look inside. "You can bring anyone here and they'll find something that they like," says Aimee Achenbach, 24, as she drinks her draft beer through a straw. Never were truer words spoken.

Six pool tables fill half of the room, but three of them are covered with plywood so that the growing crowd can play beer pong. I was never captivated by the idea of someone touching a plastic ball and throwing it into my beer, but it seems I am in the minority. A large balcony featuring couches and three flat-screen TVs overlooks the main floor; a smaller room where a group plays an original Nintendo console, is just a few steps up.

Video games are popular here. A makeshift quintet butchers "Rock Band" in an alcove off of the main room. They stare intently at the screen while later slaughtering Faith No More's "Epic."

11 p.m.

Achenbach is right: You can bring anyone here and they'll find something that they like. That is, unless they don't like to party. Then they'd be up the creek.

The Spot

6155 E. 86th St., (317) 842-0252, www.thespotindy.com.

Hours: 4 p.m. through 3.a.m. Monday through Friday, 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. to midnight Sunday.

Details: Full menu, outdoor seating, smoking, arcade, billiards, jukebox, television, MC/V/D/AX.

Plan B

If this week's bar crawl doesn't hit The Spot, try one of these Castleton-area watering holes.

Ale Emporium

8617 Allisonville Road, (317) 842-1333, www.ale-emporium.com.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to midnight Sunday.

Details: Full menu, smoking, arcade, billiards, darts, jukebox, live music, television, MC/V/D/AX.

Hot Shotz A Gastropub

4705 E. 96th St., (317) 818-9510, www.hotshotzpub.com.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday; 12 to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Details: Full menu, no smoking, television, MC/V/D/AX.