From the 9-Hole to the 9-Whoa

Back in the days, when I was but a wee l'il Trojan, I frequented a place called the 9-Hole. Formally known as the 901 Club, this place had ceilings that the basketball players felt cramped in, smells that made you think of a porta-potty and floors that would stick to anything not attached to your feet. I'm talking disgusting. Probably the biggest dive bar I've ever been in. Amazingly enough, people still went there every night, and even more amazingly, it wasn't that hard to take someone home (everyone got trashed to avoid thinking about the surroundings)....apparently, all of that's changed now. Thanks to Trojan Casey for the heads up.

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Nine Whoa!

Legions of USC alumni are in for a shock when they come to campus on Saturday for the opening game.

Don't worry, it won't be caused by 45-point underdog Idaho.

The 901 Bar and Grill, formerly the 901 Club and best known as the Nine-Oh, has undergone jaw-dropping renovations. For years, it was considered a bad dive bar -- the type that violated all five of your senses.

But patrons were fiercely loyal, and like it or not, the 9-0 remained an icon of USC student life. With limited hours at university-run Traditions, a beer-and-wine-only liquor license at 29th Street Cafe, and the closure of Julie's Trojan Barrel many years ago, the 9-0 has been the only legitimate bar at USC for at least a decade.

All that "dedication" is now being paid back. It's still the kind of place where you can rub elbows with (potential) Heisman winners, but now you don't need to hit the showers afterwards. Recent alumni are guaranteed to be impressed.

Besides the physical improvements, the 9-0 has opened up its kitchen and extended its hours. People can come in for lunch at 11:30 a.m. and can stay until they get kicked out after last call (around 1:30 a.m.). The kitchen currently closes at 10 p.m., but owners are planning on extending hours until 2 a.m.

The changes are a dream-come-true for Leo Amari, Johnny Liska, Alex Manos and Roger Toussaint. The four recently became business partners with the existing owners (who also own the Trocadero and Cabo Cantina). They had worked at the 9-0 since shortly after the place was purchased in 1996.

Toussaint was the man behind the new design and is responsible for a long list of improvements.

• Ceilings have been raised from 9 to 35 feet, keeping the bar cooler and ventilated.
• A new air condition unit was installed. The old one hadn't worked for several decades.
• The floor is now coated to help prevent the ever-mysterious 9-0 sludge. The floors used to be unfinished cement.
• Four windows have been uncovered, allowing more light into the bar. The original ones had been boarded up for an unknown period, but cleanup crews found newspapers used to cover the glass that dated back to 1942.
• Nine 50" plasma TVs are hanging around the main room. Besides carrying all the USC games (they'll be holding alumni events when USC is away), they have Sunday Ticket for your NFL-watching pleasure.
• The bar was replaced (it's narrower, but feels about the same) as well as the booths. The redesign eliminated the curved booths, installing one long bench along the side wall. The owners made sure to keep the elevated back so that patrons can sit above the crowd and check out the scene.
• As part of the bar rebuild, they got help from Beauchamp (a Miller distributor) to go from three beers on tap to twelve.
• The old beat-up jukebox was replaced by a new system with eight speakers, two sub-woofers, and millions of songs on the playlist.

The bar is named after its original location at 901 West Jefferson, where it was established in 1947. In the early 1960s the bar relocated to a preexisting building at 2902 Figueroa (where it stands today).

Jade Earlabaugh (USC '94) walked in and was impressed with the changes. He remembered the place bringing everybody together, but also recalled "the sludge between your toes and the smell. The bathrooms weren't too good, either." Looking around, he went on, "I like it. It looks good."

In June 2002, the 9-0 was Playboy's college bar of the month. The review said the place "looks, sounds and, yes, smells like your classic college dive." Even in giving high praise, Playboy didn't miss "the club's beer-coated cement floors" and quoted a student saying "the floor is usually sticky and it's dark, but there are always lots of good looking people having a good time here."

The owners seemed to observe the same things. "USC is one of the hottest schools in the nation. It should have one of the hottest bars," explained Liska. Amari got a little more specific, adding "the best girls" are at USC.

Amari also recalled a story of a business executive flying clients to a USC football game and taking by the 9-0. They weren't impressed. "The future leaders of the country ... they used to have a dive bar."

Now that the improvements are done, Amari was able to laugh about how it used to be. "It was legitimate sludge."

Liska concurred, "It went 3-4 feet deep!"

Now, the floors are on par with other places you see around town. The bathrooms are still bar bathrooms. But they're not the old 9-0 bathrooms.

With a cleaned up establishment, there should be less hesitation to try the food. The pizza is the same kind made by partner restaurant Rocco's Pizza. They've won the best pizza award for five years straight at the Feast of San Gennaro. The kitchen also boasts a 9-0 burger (the bar's original recepie is so old Amari says they "could barely read it") and typical fare like hot wings and cheese steaks.

So what's the same? College students still flock to the bar. Drink specials haven't changed either, including pint night on Tuesday and Jack-n-Coke night on Wednesday. Additional specials were added, namely a happy hour with two-for-the-ones being offered from 4-8p daily.

Asked if any more changes were in store, Liska pointed to the new rafters.

"We're putting a Bruin bear on a noose."