Since Ol’ South is open 24 hours a day, it makes sense that some of the hours with the most traffic are the graveyard shift hours, especially in a college town.  

The types of people you will see and the conversations you will have will be some of the most interesting of your college career. The wait staff is made up of lots of different characters like the old lady who knows your order by heart or the sassy middle-aged woman who is always quick with a joke.  

There is no limit to the things that you will see and hear if you go to Ol’ South in the wee hours of the morning. For instance, here is a brief sampling of the many things I have seen while eating at Ol’ South late at night:

-EMT crews taking a break from the ambulance

-Drunk college kids

-Post-Billy Bob’s two stepping crowd

-Paranoid college kids (Especially around finals time)

-A waitress wearing bunny ears (It was around Easter time)

-Two drunk ex-football players arguing about who could bench more back in high school and getting into a fight about it (The cops were called; it was pretty cool)

-A fraternity trying to complete the pancake challenge

-Scantily clad women dressed in miniskirts, heels, fishnets, low-cut shirts and too much makeup pay for their dinner by pulling singles out of their bra. They may or may not have been prostitutes, but hey- Who am I to judge? 

My favorite experience was when the cops were called because of the drunks fighting about football. The whole incident started when one man started yelling at another man from across the room. Apparently the two knew each other, and both had played football on rival teams in high school.  

The adult men (both clearly inebriated) started insulting each other about the amount of weight they could bench press back in high school.

The comment escalated until the obligatory “Oh yeah? Then let’s settle this outside!” By this time, everyone in the dining room was looking around wondering if something would happen.  The women that were eating with the men wanted them to stop. Obviously, the men said no, and then they went outside into the parking lot.

Once this happened, everyone in the restaurant was watching the fight by the windows like grade school kids watching a nerd fight a bully. The fight started, and each man got a few punches in before the police showed up and broke it up.

Then everyone went back to eating like normal.

Maybe it is just me, but I thought the whole series of events was hilarious. It felt just like something straight out of a movie. At no time did my friends or I feel threatened–we just started watching the fight unfold in front of us like it was just a typical Thursday night.

That fight and all of the other events mentioned above make my late night dinners at Ol’ South that much more enjoyable. To me, it really speaks to the appeal of a restaurant when you do not really know who you will see once you walk through the door, and the more interesting the people are, the better.  

I have had some really good meals there late at night. It is a great place to go with someone just to talk, but it is also a great place to go with a huge group of people and enjoy each others' company. So I would say, especially if you are a freshman, to go to Ol’ South at least once after midnight. You will not be disappointed.

And just to prove that any time you go to Ol’ South you are guaranteed an interesting time, I decided to go there at 2 a.m. on a Thursday night and live tweet what I saw. Enjoy:

The EMTs across from me are talking about life, love and work. Turns out they have just as much potty mouths as sailors/cops do #whoknew

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

EMT on workplace relationships: "You don't s*** where you eat."

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Group of hipsters just walked in. Jorts, tattoos, v-necks, whole 9 yards. The EMTs are not impressed: twitter.com/JakeHarris4/st…

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Can't tell if the dude in the booth over from me is taking a general interest in our waitress or if he's just hitting on her

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

My waitress also serves as a campaign volunteer. Interesting.

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Either the ladies that just walked in came from the club…or they're hookers. Can't really tell.

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Someone just shouted "Amuricuh." My night has been made.

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Big ol biker man and his woman just strolled in. Apparently he's a "hustler," or at least that's what his shirt tells me.

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

I an currently witnessing a man in a suit copy down TCU's Big 12 football schedule from a poster on the wall

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

Old guy just checked out two college aged women #haha #caughtyou

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012

And "Take Me Home Tonight" just came on the radio.

— Jake Harris (@JakeHarris4) September 14, 2012