Strawberries
In the early 1980s, Strawberries (often stylized as Strawberry’s Restaurant) was a short-lived but fondly remembered bar/restaurant in downtown Clemson. It occupied a prime location at the corner of College Avenue and Highway 93 (Seneca Road) – essentially the closest bar to campus, sitting right at the foot of Clemson University’s gatese-yearbook.com. Strawberries opened its doors around the summer of 1984, taking over a building that had seen several incarnations before. Just a few years prior, the space had been known as The Bookstore, a late-1970s disco club that closed in 1981 after its owner’s death and a suspected arson attemptclemsonwiki.com. The building was briefly a club called The Corporation in 1982-83archive.org, but by mid-decade a new concept was introduced: Strawberries. Unlike the dance clubs that preceded it, Strawberries was conceived as a casual theme eatery – described at the time as a “Bennigan’s-type” restaurantarchive.org. In other words, it offered a family-friendly pub atmosphere, with a full menu and bar, similar to the popular Bennigan’s chain of the era. The interior was likely decorated with the sort of eclectic memorabilia and greenery that characterized 1980s fern-bar decor. This concept was something of a shift for Clemson’s nightlife, which had previously centered on either gritty beer halls or overt dance clubs. Strawberries aimed to be a bit of both: a sit-down restaurant serving lunch and dinner, that could transition into a social bar scene in the evenings.
Atmosphere and clientele: As a hybrid restaurant/bar, Strawberries drew a mix of patrons. By day, you might find local residents, professors, or even families enjoying a meal (given its resemblance to a Bennigan’s or TGI Fridays). In the evenings, Clemson students – especially those of legal drinking age – would stop in for mixed drinks and cocktails, which were a highlight of the menue-yearbook.com. In fact, Strawberries was noted as the nearest spot to campus where one could order liquor by the drink, not just beer or wine. This made it popular for upperclassmen looking for something a bit “classier” than the typical beer joint, perhaps to have a date night or a celebratory cocktail. The bar did serve beer and likely had some music playing, but it was not primarily a dance venue – more a place to socialize over food and drinks. Contemporary accounts from Clemson’s yearbook reminisced that Strawberries “held forth for several years in the early to mid 1980’s”tigerpregameshow.blogspot.com, suggesting it established itself for a time as part of the Clemson social circuit. Being right across from campus, it was an easy stop for students walking downtown, and its presence contributes to many nostalgic memories of Clemson’s mid-80s downtown scene.
Despite its promising start, Strawberries turned out to have a relatively short run. By late 1985, only a year or so after opening, business had faltered and the establishment closed its doorse-yearbook.com. The closure came during a period of major transitions in Clemson’s bar scene, as drinking laws were tightening. In 1984–1985, South Carolina raised the legal drinking age (from 18 to 19, then to 20, with 21 on the horizon), cutting off a portion of the student customer basee-yearbook.com. This change proved challenging for many downtown bars, and Strawberries was no exception – the yearbook ruefully noted that “one factor that may have contributed to these transitions was the change in the drinking age”e-yearbook.com. With fewer underage underclassmen able to patronize the bar for beer, and perhaps finding it hard to compete with trendier pure nightlife spots, Strawberries struggled. Additionally, a new nightclub called College Station had become the hot spot for dancing, siphoning off the party crowde-yearbook.com, while another bar (Crazy Zack’s) tried and failed nearby. Caught in this shifting tide, Strawberries closed and was quickly revamped under a new name. In early 1986, the venue was rebranded as Lester’s Burgers & Spirits, pivoting to a more straightforward sports-bar and burger joint concepttigerpregameshow.blogspot.come-yearbook.com. (Notably, Lester’s was likely named after Lester Moore – one of Tiger Town Tavern’s founders – suggesting he or his family had a hand in the new venture.) Lester’s continued into 1987 before it too eventually faded. By the late 1980s, the spot had transformed yet again, becoming TD’s, a sports bar and grill that still operates today under that name – marking the end of the Strawberries era in Clemson lorefacebook.com.
Nostalgic significance: Although Strawberries was not around for long, it holds a special place in the memories of Clemson alumni from the mid-1980s. It represents a time of transition – a bridge between the raucous disco days of the ’70s and the more modern college bar culture that followed. Former students recall grabbing drinks at Strawberries before Clemson football games or unwinding there after class, the restaurant’s name evoking a bit of 80s whimsy. Some remember the novelty of having a chain-style restaurant bar right in downtown Clemson – a departure from the town’s typical dive bars. The location itself had a storied past (dating back to Dan’s Restaurant in the ’60s and the infamous Bookstore disco in the ’70s), so by the time it was Strawberries, it was already woven into Clemson’s downtown fabrictigerpregameshow.blogspot.com. To this day, local historic anecdotes mention Strawberries when recounting the lineup of bygone Clemson bars, often with a tone of fond nostalgia for “the good old days.” Whether it was enjoying a strawberry daiquiri (fitting for its name) or just reveling in the atmosphere with friends, those who frequented Strawberries remember it as a unique slice of Clemson’s past. While its run was brief, Strawberries’ blend of restaurant comfort and college-town revelry earns it a spot in Clemson’s collective memory – a nostalgic reminder of evenings spent in a Clemson that was both changing and staying the samee-yearbook.com, one cocktail at a time.
