Opinions vary among those of legal drinking age since Johnny Kaw’s Yard Bar opened to 18 and older every Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Aug. 25. Thursdays still require 21 and up to enter; however, older K-State students have mixed opinions about the change. 

Yard Bar offers the area’s two largest patios, yard games and fire pits, making it a popular attraction for students. 

Dustin Bartholomew, general manager of Johnny Kaw’s Yard Bar, said there is no specific reason for the change, and it was something he and his staff have always discussed. Bartholomew said the bar needed to be properly staffed to handle the 18 and up crowd.

“We decided that with the number of 18 and older customers in Aggieville every weekend and the amount trying to get into Yard Bar and Kaw’s every weekend, it was time to let them begin experiencing Yard Bar and Kaw’s,” Bartholomew said.

Those individuals who are 18 and up now have access to Kaw’s, Yard Bar and Outback Patio once they enter the establishment. Yard Bar’s decision to lower its age restriction now has opened the opportunity to attract a wider variety of customers.

“We expect to see a lot of new faces and to create an offering that is a destination for them every weekend,” Bartholomew said. “We also expect to go through a lot of Sharpies marking all the 18 and older as they enter.”

Ryleigh Keys, junior in event and hospitality management, said she is unsure this change was a good decision, but understands the exclusivity for the younger crowd. Keys said she enjoys Yard Bar’s atmosphere more than other bars in Aggieville.

“It is more mature, it is not as chaotic and it is a lot more enjoyable,” Keys said. “I was able to just sit down and have a drink with my mom and friends, which was nice.”

Keys said adding the 18-and-up crowd to the bar scene could make things feel more hectic and could lead to a lot more minors getting in trouble and possibly decrease the number of customers 21 and up.

“It was such a familiarity to be only 21 and older in Yard, and now you are adding 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds — it can get a little bit sketchy,” Keys said.

Payton Zimmerman, senior majoring in business management, said opening Yard Bar to those 18 and older is not a good idea. She said since the bar opened to an 18-and-up crowd, lines are unusually long.

“It creates more of a crowded space, and it is just not that fun anymore because people that are younger than 21 tend to be a little bit crazier,” Zimmerman said. “It just gets to be too much sometimes.”