After a year of packed game-day crowds and graduation celebrations, the summer air settles in the college town of Gainesville. Once busy streets empty out, bars and clubs become relics of what they were during the fall and spring semesters as thousands of students leave town and head off to whatever their summer may hold.
Nightlife spots in Gainesville, typically bursting with students and loud beats from the DJ, are now deserted. Even Midtown’s newest bar, MacDinton’s Irish Pub, lost half its usual occupancy.
Trinity Chan, a 20-year-old UF psychology and criminology junior and MacDinton’s bottle girl and bartender, said employees are facing difficulty due to the lack of patrons.
“Their bartenders are really struggling right now,” Chan said.
In the fall, Chan said she worked five days a week. On game days, her shifts were 18 hours long. On a game day week, she worked 35 hours. In the spring, she worked around 25 hours a week.
In the summer, MacDinton’s is open Friday and Saturday nights. Now, she works 15 hours a week at most.
The football season brings a hefty range of patrons watching the games or celebrating, and Chan said she would make around $2,000 a week.
In the quiet season, she makes less than half that, earning around $300 or $400 a week, she said.
Chan prepared for the lack of patrons by finding a second job for the summer.
“I don't think that I could pay my bills solely off of what I'm making at MacDinton's right now,” she said.
Chan’s not the only one affected.
“On busy days, we could have up to 12 bartenders per bar, and we have four bars plus like 10 to 15 security,” she said.
Out of four bars, only one is left open: the main bar downstairs.
DJs, cleaning crew and employees have all been cut, she said. Employees have taken on extra roles to fill the gaps, taking turns playing music from a Spotify playlist instead of having a live DJ. Rather than hiring third-party cleaners every night, employees like Chan are in charge of cleaning.
“You have to pay the workers to be there, and then you have to pay for all the lights to be on and for the water to be used and all of that, so if there's not enough people coming in, we have to shut down,” Chan said.
Busy Friday nights might only see 100 to 200 patrons over the summer, and “people are getting a lot less crazy,” she said.
The experience is still worthwhile, she said. Service is more personalized with a smaller crowd. She also urges people to come in and tip their bartenders.
MacDinton’s also offers more deals over the summer. The bar offers a buy one, get one free deal every Friday and Saturday night. Chan said she noticed more people coming in since the first week of the summer semester, which she attributes to the deals.
Sophia Lorenzo, a 19-year-old UF sports management junior, visited MacDintons on May 31. She was surprised to find most tables full and the bar crowded.
“I expected this to be completely empty, but there's a few people,” Lorenzo said.
The unexpectedly sizable crowd might be owed to the bar’s popularity. If people are going to go out, it’s going to be MacDinton’s, she said.
However, she noted a smaller crowd than usual and said the “vibes are low.”
“This time, there’s not even a bouncer at the door,” Lorenzo said.
She usually pays $20 to get into MacDinton’s, but she got in for free.
Lorenzo said she’s not going out as much during the summer because she’s focusing on classes and doesn’t have many people to go out with over the summer.
Rose McDaniels, a UF psychology junior and MacDinton’s employee, said the bar feels more intimate with fewer people.
“You can actually have a conversation with someone without the DJ blaring loud and 100 sweaty bodies pressed against you,” she said.
A few doors down, things didn’t look too different at Salty Dog Saloon. The small bar, usually so full you can’t walk, was bare. However, some people took that as a plus.
Mollie Hoffman, a 22-year-old UF health science senior, said she usually doesn’t go out, but because the bar was emptier, it was more approachable.
“I've always wanted to go, but because it's super packed, I can never get in,” Hoffman said.
While the bar was pretty empty, its small size made it seem busier. The bar was filled with more locals than students with no familiar faces around, she said.
Still, Hoffman said she thinks it’s fun to get dressed up and go out.
“I feel like it was a way for me to explore the bars that I haven't been able to explore before,” she said.
Contact Allison Bonnemaison at abonnemaison@alligator.org. Follow them on X @allisonrbonn.
Allison is a journalism and international studies sophomore. She is the Summer 2025 food reporter at The Avenue. In her free time, she enjoys drawing and finding new music to listen to.
