A Vacant Bar in IC?

Most would find it alarming that an Iowa City bar contained no more than 20 people on a Saturday night. And to make it even more shocking, domestic drafts were only a dollar!

Last Saturday I made my way to Sky Box, but remembered it was very hard to find. Like One-Eyed Jakes, a very narrow stairway led to the bar with a tiny sign out front; the bar was very easy to miss.

According to a Daily Iowan article in 2004, Sky Box was previously named Top Dogs and closed for 2 weeks in August of 2004 to remodel. Owner Mark Nolte claimed in 2004 that business for Top Dogs was slow, but it just needed to run it's course.

On the contrary, business didn't seem to be looking up last Saturday. Once I got up the stairs I noticed just two people sitting at the bar, we would make the occupancy 6. Little did I know that I would get cheap beer all night. But why wasn't a bar with dollar beers more happenin? According to a couple blog posts, their prices on food are ridiculously high. A Chicago style hot dog costs $6. So why must they mislead people with their prices?

You would think that those outrageous prices for food would turn people away. And sure enough, last Saturday night proved that Sky Box isn't on everyone's mind when they go downtown. It didn't help that I almost had to ask someone for directions, even though I have lived in Iowa City for 3 years now, with trips downtown totaling in the hundreds.