Tides Lounge not only serves beer and wine, but also serves as the daily-meetup spot for one group of students to chat, drink and catch up with their favorite bartender.
Located in the Otter Express in building 14, the Tides Lounge is a bar and lounge at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) serving an array of beers, seltzers and wines for Otters of drinking age, as well as non-alcoholic options for those simply looking to lounge with friends and chat over drinks. The drinks, though, for many are not the most interesting thing about the bar; it’s the people.
“I came here, it wasn’t finished yet, I came behind the bar here, [I said] I think that I can do this. I felt comfortable with it, and they hired me,” said Tides Lounge bartender Joe Russo, recalling his first visit to the campus bar back in 2022. Russo explained he’s been the main bartender at the Tides Lounge since its opening in October that year, making the bar 3 years old this month. Prior to serving drinks at the on-campus bar, Russo was a fisherman as well as an engineer on boats ranging from Monterey to Alaska.
“On the same boat I was an engineer there and a winchman, so I handled the cable winch and all that, and the engine and the oil changes and all that stuff,” said Russo.
He explained how his wife, Mary Russo, worked as the executive chef for Otter Kitchens when the bar was being built in 2021, and how she inspired him to apply for the job as a post-retirement gig. Now three years later, Russo says the job is not only a job, but a chance to connect through conversation.
“It’s amazing the stories that come up. Just different things, you know. People have things on their mind or whatever and they wanna talk or have someone to talk to or whatever, and I talk to them,” said Russo.
Many bar regulars note how Russo has become not only a bartender to them, but a friend. “My relationship with Joe [Russo] is pretty tight. I like Joe a lot,” said frequent bar patron and third-year computer science major Willa Eoff. “He’s a pretty stand-up person, he doesn’t really talk bad about anybody. He only really has positive things to say about his customers and other people in his life. It’s kind of a refreshing thing to come to at the end of the day.”
Eoff noted that the bar is a frequent meetup spot for him and his closest friends, crediting the bar as the reason for his relationships’ strength. “I feel like every person I’m friends with here, I have a stronger relationship with than, at the current point in my life, than any other person or any other friend group that I have,” said Eoff while sitting at the bar counter with the friends he’s made spending his time there: Tanner and third-year accounting major Allyssa Vejar.
The Tides Lounge is not only a peek into bar culture and a great option for Otters who want a taste of the bar experience right on campus, but also holds space for friends to come together and unwind, all while Russo shares stories and comradery with the drinks he serves. The bar also offers several non-alcoholic favorites such as Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers’, as well as classic drinks like horchata, jamaica and agua fresca.The bar is open Monday-Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
“I’ve met really good people here, and I’ve kind of established a group and I know that’s really hard to do in college,” said Vejar.