Scooter’s 601st bar, first visited in 2009.

A pretty generic strip mall bar in a new building. A big, open sports bar with a high ceiling and blank, gray-painted drywall walls. The place was so new it hasn’t really established any character yet, but business seemed to be good and customers were enjoying themselves.

217 E Stolley Park Rd
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 382-4288

Scooter’s 600th bar, first visited in 2009.

This was a good, basic roadhouse-style dive. There was a menu and the food smelled good, but we had leftover pizza waiting for us back at the motel. The Game Show channel was on the big wall TV, we watched some “”Deal or No Deal”" and another game show I was unfamiliar with.

1803 W North Front St
Grand Island, NE 68803
US
[launch map]
(308) 384-4586

Scooter’s 599th bar, first visited in 2009.

This place was more restaurant than bar, though by this time of day the bar was the only thing open. Everything inside was woodwork, and the dining area included upstairs and downstairs booths forming a ring around the outer walls.

316 N Pine St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 384-3655

Scooter’s 598th bar, first visited in 2009.

This was a cool place. We started out at the angular, stainless steel bar but later moved into the lounge room and relaxed on a very comfortable leather sofa looking out onto the patio.

308 N Pine St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 398-8466

Scooter’s 597th bar, first visited in 2009.

This was a rock bar. As we entered, B expressed concern over the “”NO NUDITY”" sign posted at the door. “”Oh, it’s more of a guideline,”" joked the bouncer.

B had tremendous difficulty finding the restrooms, which turned out to be in the room with the pool tables. When he returned, he told me to go look for them and even showed me which room. I went to the pool table room and looked around, and I was stumped. One wall of windows, 2 bare walls, and one wall painted with graffiti. No doors anywhere! I was just about to give up when suddenly a rectangle of light appeared on the graffiti wall as someone exited a restroom. The doors were camouflaged, blending perfectly into the wall.

106 E 3rd St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 675-0187

Scooter’s 596th bar, first visited in 2009.

Finally, the place we had been waiting for all day! The owner of this place owns a few other places around town, and the person B talked to a week earlier during our planning was very nice and helpful. We’d been waiting all day to try their pizza.

Our plan was to put in an order, go hit up a couple of nearby bars, and then come back. But when they said it would be only 15 minutes, we decided to just stick around and wait.

After several minutes of watching others eat we were getting impatient, so I went outside to call our backup motel and reserve a room, knowing that stepping away always triggers food to arrive. It worked.

The pizza was absolutely delicious and very cheesy, one of the best pizzas I’ve had!

107 N Walnut St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 398-9283

Scooter’s 595th bar, first visited in 2009.

Entering this place was kind of strange, we walked down a smelly, carpeted hallway though a series of glass doors, with meeting rooms on either side. At the end of the hallway a couple of flights of stairs led to the bar that occupied most of the building’s upper level.

Their draws were all pints so we ordered 12-oz bottles. B asked for a glass to pour his beer into. He was handed a pint glass, and B’s beer filled it to the top. Busted! One of the barbacks overheard us talking about it and gave us a physics demonstration showing that what looks like very little liquid at the the top of the glass looks like a whole lot at the bottom of the glass. But that still doesn’t explain where other other 4 ounces went.

2110 W 2nd St
Grand Island, NE 68803
US
[launch map]
(308) 381-8666

Scooter’s 594th bar, first visited in 2009.

We had to drive around the building to get to the parking lot, and we noticed several people out back smoking. “”The cool people must use the back entrance,”" B said. We pulled around front, where we were the only car, and went inside. “”Oh! I’m glad I remembered to unlock the front door this time!”" said the bartender.

We played some Silver Strike and B set a new high score. Meanwhile on the bar’s TV, ABC was airing a segment on J.K. Rowling (the author of the Harry Potter series, in case you’ve been in a coma), specifically focusing on her sorrows and tribulations. “”I, [sniff] I fell asleep in a big pile of money, and [sniff] I didn’t know where I was!”" exclaimed B in his best sobbing British female voice, to the delight of the other patrons.

2320 S Locust St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 382-9773

Scooter’s 593rd bar, first visited in 2009.

The front area was a buffet style restaurant, serving up all-you-can-eat fried chicken. It smelled really good and we were starving, but we wanted to hold out for pizza. The bar was in another room in the back and overlooked a golf course. We were a little early for a bartender so had to wait for an of-age server to become available to serve us.

2848 S Locust St
Grand Island, NE 68801
US
[launch map]
(308) 382-7687