Ryann Jackson | Tubby’s Sports Bar

By Libby Zuck

From Olathe, Kansas, Ryann Jackson is a new addition to the Tubby’s staff. Jackson, junior in marketing, was hired as a shot girl last semester and hopes to transition to a bartending position after she turns 21. Jackson said she enjoys being able to simultaneously make money and spend time with her friends at work. 

“I work at Tubbys because of the fun environment it is,” Jackson said. “All my friends are Tubby’s regulars and I have so much fun seeing them and getting paid. I think Tubby’s has been the best job I’ve ever had, despite the good and bad. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Addie Morgan | Aggieville Brewing Company

By Libby Zuck

Addie Morgan has years of service industry experience under her belt.

“I’ve worked in the service industry for about five years now and can honestly say it’s changed my life,” Morgan said. “The amount of amazing people, opportunities and stories I’ve met and heard have made me who I am today. I think everyone should work in the service industry at least once in their life in order to gain a new perspective of people.”

Morgan said her time at ABC supports her opinion that service industry experience is invaluable. 

“Currently, I work at Aggieville Brewing Company, which is an environment full of positivity and full of life,” Morgan said. “My favorite part of this job is our patio and the staff. Going to work doesn’t feel like a task or a job. It feels more like a party.”

Erika Hanke | O’Malley’s Sports Bar 

By Libby Zuck

Erika Hanke, junior in mass communications, works as a server at O’Malley’s. 

“I have worked in the service industry for the past four and a half years, and one constant thing that I love about it is the connections that I am able to make in and outside of the workplace,” Hanke said.

Working in the service industry requires close proximity to other servers, as well as attentiveness and care for customers. 

“Since beginning in the service industry — specifically Manhattan at night— I have had the opportunity to meet and talk with all sorts of people,” Hanke said. “It has brought me out of my shell in the best ways. Being able to experience Aggieville from the industrial side is something I’m greatly appreciative for.”

Jennifer Newman | Insomnia Cookies

By Justin Shoemaker

Insomnia Cookies has served baked goods with a smile into the early hours of the morning in Manhattan since 2016. While Jennifer Newman isn’t a student, she loves serving the Kansas State community. 

“It’s a lot of fun, especially when they come in late at night,” Newman said. “We just have a lot of fun.”

In her year of experience as a shift leader, Newman has grown to appreciate Insomnia’s location just outside of Aggieville. 

“It’s very beneficial to us. We’re right in the middle — they know that they come in the back, come down the hallway, line up here in the queue and wait their turn for their cookies,” Newman said with a chuckle. “We don’t have any issues.” 

She ended our chat with a warm cookie and a smile — the true Insomnia Cookies experience.

Luke Parker | So Long Saloon

By Jakob Twigg

Before So Long Saloon became a staple of Aggieville’s culinary scene, the building echoed with the shuffle of vintage clothing racks and the scent of late-night pizza slices. One night around a campfire, four friends with a taste for good grub and good company hatched a plan — and a Manhattan legend was born. Part wild west saloon, part burger haven, So Long Saloon now dishes out award-winning food and the iconic Pirate Nancy, where the spirit of cowboys still lingers in the wood grain. 

Luke Parker, senior in accounting, said bartending at So Long Saloon is the best job he’s ever had.

“It feels like a privilege to have this job, honestly, to be a bartender in Aggieville and not have to deal with Hannah Montana blasting at two o’clock in the morning and people throwing up in your bathrooms,” Parker said. “It’s a great job and it’s treated me well.”

Parker has worked behind the restaurant’s century-old Brunswick bar — built with mahogany and maple — for 10 months. 

“Come by and get a bean dip, and we’ll knock your socks off,” Parker said.

Erin Plaster | Dirty Dawg Saloon

By Emma Lazarczyk

While not an employee, you can often find freshman Erin Plaster showing off her line and swing dancing skills as the lyrics of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” fill Dirty Dawg Saloon. 

“I found out about Dawg’s on my student orientation from an upperclassman who said it was their favorite spot to swing dance, and I have been swing dancing for a couple years now, so I was excited to do it here in Kansas,” Plaster, freshman in exploratory studies, said.

With her dancing background, Plaster started exploring swing dancing in Colorado two years ago and has now made it a key hobby in Manhattan. 

“I don’t think [you need experience to go] — sometimes it can be overwhelming if you don’t know what’s going on,” Plaster said. “It’s still fun to watch, and if it’s not crowded it’s a great place to learn.”

Plaster said many of her friends now go with her on weekly visits to Dawg’s and take advantage of the student-friendly budget.  

“My favorite memory at Dawg’s was my first time doing a backflip while swing dancing,” Plaster said. “It’s a really good time and never a dull moment. You will meet some really cool people and you will build a community at Dawg’s.” 

Isaac Chase | Varsity Donuts

By Kyra Case

Isaac Chase’s journey to his part-time job at Varsity Donuts began with two key factors: a window flyer and encouragement from his mom and fiancée. After applying for the job, he was quickly accepted and began his position working in the back-of-house as part of the kitchen crew, and in the signature Varsity Truck.

“They’re really willing to work with my schedule and really willing to work with my schooling, and so that’s been a huge plus,” Chase said.

Although the junior transfer student often doesn’t leave his shift until around 4 a.m., Chase said he enjoys being able to fill his night after a busy day of classes, fulfilling his double major in music education and philosophy.

“Honestly, being on the truck is really fun,” Chase said. “Getting to see people that I’ve met throughout school and throughout the day is really cool. And this may be a bit crass, but seeing all the drunk people late at night is really funny every now and then.”

Josey Wolf | Tallgrass Tap House

By Kyra Case

Kansas State senior Josey Wolf has worked at Tallgrass Tap House for two years, taking the night shift during weekdays thanks to her busy class schedule. Although her days are filled with classes, Wolf, a personal finance major, said she prefers the hustle and bustle of nighttime.

“I like the busier shifts — like, keep me busy,” Wolf said. “The crowd, the environment, just the fast pace part of it— I would say that’s my favorite part.”

Wolf first started serving at age 15, and after coming to Manhattan and working a different serving job, she landed a position at Tap House.

“I would say the management and the people here and the way it’s ran in general is far better and different than anything I’ve ever worked in,” Wolf said. “Very professional, very enthusiastic to encourage us and progress us in our professional careers past being a server at Tap House, because they know we’ll be going somewhere once we graduate eventually.”

Avery Bocquin | Raising Cane’s

By Haley Smith

Avery Bocquin spends her nights behind the counter at Raising Cane’s, managing a fast-paced crew while most Kansas State students are heading home for the evening.

Bocquin, senior in medical microbiology, is also a non-traditional student. She began college before the COVID-19 pandemic, took a break and returned afterward to complete her degree.

Now, she’s juggling late-night shifts and upper-level science classes — and has been doing so for nearly five years at Cane’s.

“I worked as a crew member for about four years, and I’ve been a manager for the past year,” Bocquin said.

Located off campus, Raising Cane’s is a popular destination for late-night food runs, especially among K-State students. The restaurant stays busy into the early morning hours, with a steady line of cars in the drive-thru and customers filling the lobby.

As a manager, Bocquin leads a crew made up mostly of fellow college students — a dynamic she says helps make the long nights more manageable.

“I work with a lot of younger people, and a lot of the crew is college students,” she said. “So they understand and they get it.”

Bocquin said shared understanding creates a supportive environment where everyone is on the same page, balancing schoolwork, deadlines and the demands of a night shift.

And when she needs a quick break, Bocquin has a go-to order ready: “A toast sandwich — with butter on both sides.”

Allison Brentano | Tanner’s Bar & Grill

By Meredith McCalmon

Allison Brentano’s last name inspired the “Tanner” in Tanner’s Bar & Grill — so it’s only fitting she ended up working there in college. 

According to the Tanner’s website, Steve Brentano founded the bar and grill in the ‘80s as a place “where the service is always friendly, the food is tasty, and the beer is ice cold,” with the first location located in Lenexa, Kansas. Allison Brentano is Steve’s great-niece, and she works nights at the Manhattan location. 

“I started working at Tanner’s last year in January, so I’ve been working there for like, a year and a half coming up,” Brentano, sophomore in marketing and sales, said. “… So my family actually owns some of the Tanner’s in Kansas City and I think they own part of the one here, so I just always had t-shirts and stuff, so I was like, ‘Well, I guess I already have the stuff and I might as well work there.’” 

Brentano fondly remembers her childhood memories spent at Tanner’s with her family.

“We always go for the big sporting events, Super Bowl, we just — all the family meets up there and just watches the games and hangs out,” Brentano said. “We have so many koozies, hats, shirts — it’s literally too many.”

Though she now spends most of her time at Tanner’s on the clock, she said “the girls and [her] managers” make the professional environment just as fun. 

“The staff is mostly girls,” Brentano said. “There’s a few guys on there, but we’re all pretty much friends, which is great. It’s really just walking in and just talking to your friends, which is nice because serving can get a little bit stressful sometimes, but usually in the Tanner’s environment it’s not too crazy.”

Due to her daytime class schedule, Brentano said she always works from 4 or 5 p.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., which is “not too bad considering it’s a college bar.”

“Sometimes I am pretty tired,” Brentano said. “Sometimes I do have to rush home and get homework done, which can be a little bit hard because it’s such a small time frame.”

Tuesdays are one of the busiest nights for the Manhattan Tanner’s, when patrons crowd in for a spot in the weekly “Singo,” or song bingo, at 8 p.m. The event is specific to the Manhattan location and players check songs off a bingo board as snippets play through speakers. Winners earn Tanner’s gift cards to pay for their meals. 

Cheers, boos and music fill the restaurant and can even be heard from outside on every Singo night. 

“It’s pretty fun and upbeat,” Brentano said. “It does get a bit rowdy in there because everyone is very competitive. I would say it’s definitely like, ninety percent college students, which I think is great because sometimes in Aggieville it can get a little bit weird mixing the students and the adults, but we always have such a fun time.”

Win or lose, Brentano said Singo is a lively way for Tanner’s to bring the Manhattan community together.

“My favorite part is asking my tables if they won or not,” Brentano said. “And they’re either really excited or super defeated — but they always come back for the next week.”

Mallory Pabst | Rock-A-Belly Bar & Deli

By Cole Bertelsen

A junior at Kansas State majoring in sales, Mallory Pabst has spent the past two years working as a waitress at Rock-A-Belly. Her shifts vary, sometimes meaning she works until the restaurant closes at midnight. 

Pabst said she loves the environment of working in Aggieville, and it’s led to lasting memories — both positive and negative. 

“There was one time there was a college student so drunk he peed in our dustpan outside on the patio,” Pabst said. “Yeah.”

Despite the extreme situations it can put her in, Pabst said she enjoys the excitement her job brings, and can miss it on quieter nights. 

“Some nights kind of stink just because they’re slower,” she said. “But I really love the girls. I love the atmosphere.”

Pabst said she personally doesn’t go out in Aggieville and drink, so working at Rock-A-Belly gives her the experience of being near the chaos a college town’s bar district can produce. 

“Kids are outrageous,” she said. “Sometimes, I think we know how to have a lot of fun, and also sometimes, most of the times, overdo it — which can also be fun.”