Open since ’74 (renoed in ’05), the Gorsebrook gets top marks for its theme nights: pirate nights and beach parties and the annual Alexander Keith’s birthday bash. That and the fact it’s a little cooler than your typically divey student bar. “It’s the oak and leather,” says bar manager and SMU grad Lorne Caborn. Students also like that the bar is run by the Student Association. “Every penny they drop in here goes back to the association and back to the students.” Open mike night on Wednesday packs them in, as are the various hip hop and Celtic band gigs that keep the joint jumpin’.
First runner up: Grawood
Second runner up: Split Crow
