The Bank Bar & Lounge

So been here just once for a private party organized by a group that I was part of during my graduate study at UF. Rented out the entire place on Friday night (just before graduation) and it was awesome. DJ was super awesome. seriously the best DJ a private party can have. They had allowed us to bring couple of snacks and get Hookah as well. It was a great experience. The capacity should be about 150 people, it looked a bit crammed since there is no OFFICIAL dance floor, but hey It’s a party, good if it’s crammed. Good place to rent out if you have a private PARTY I think. Getting parking was difficult in this area, but if you wanted to have a quick bite to eat before you drink n dance @ this place, there were places around the block, infact there was an indian restaurant right beside this.

Let my check-​in history speak for itself: I am familiar with a sizable amount of the night life in Gainesville. The Bank is a forgettable experience that’s only saving grace is it’s location and not charging a cover on a Friday.
The Venue
On the corner of W. 1^st and University, The Bank holds prime real estate for the area and even looked pretty decent from the inside. It’s quite spacious and the lighting was appropriately club-​esque since that is what they were aiming for. The bar is relatively long and they have TVs for whatever might be on at the time (only open from 10pm-​2am Thursday, Friday, and Saturday oddly enough)
The Vibe
Totally off. They were next to dead for the location, and on a FRIDAY no less. The floor was so sticky that I could barely move my feet to dance. The DJ kept cutting songs too short and adding really fake vinyl scratch sounds over everything such that by the time you liked a track he was transitioning (poorly) to something else.
The Bar
The bar was clean and for the amount of people there I had no trouble getting a spot to grab a drink, nor was there really any wait to be served. They were out of numerous drafts and the imports were no more interesting than Stella or Heineken. The pricing was competitive for a Friday ($ 2 domestic bottles, $ 3 import) but the selection was atrocious.
Final Thoughts
They are only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as a public club but they rent the space out as a party venue if you make that arrangement. For that purpose it seems really ideal because the space is huge and the sound system was decent, but the floor was literally so sticky it was as if someone poured soda all over it and just didn’t bother to clean it.
With more people, better music/​DJ, and a more specialized bar experience (signature specials or shots or something to set them apart) this place could be a hit. That said even the free entry won’t tempt me to return.