It's 11 p.m. on a Thursday and the combination of heels on the sidewalk and Meek Mill blasting through speakers is taking over Main St. Down past Just Pizza and Northside Bar, there are women gliding to the front of the line while guys wait impatiently to enter the popular bar Mojo's.
The Lambda Sigma Upsilon (LSU) fraternity has resurrected Latin Thursdays, an entire night dedicated to Latin American music and dancing, after a two-year hiatus. The pre-weekend activity is held at Mojo's instead of its old venue, Sangria's. LSU figured this was perfect timing for a return, especially because of new laws being established in Buffalo.
"We wanted to bring the people what they wanted," said Gardel Espinal, a junior advertising and marketing major. "Especially because now Buffalo passed that new law that you can't have 18 and over parties on Chippewa and around Elmwood, so we thought we'd have Latin Thursdays so people can have fun on Thursdays again."
The strong turnout proved Espinal right. People socialized and danced while bartenders remained busy making multiple drinks at a time and being thanked with smiles and dollar bills.
Bouncers are not as stressed on Latin Thursdays compared to the average weekend nights because there are no college students peeing all over the floor in the bathroom and no drunken stumbling. People dress to impress even though there is no enforced formal dress code.
The mass of people that show up every Thursday night is no longer shocking to the members of LSU. They've been hosting these nights for two months. Without flyers, LSU has relied on word of mouth and social networks to get the news traveling.
"It has been good, this is the fourth week," said Krystal Diaz, a senior psychology and early childhood major. "I heard about it through my friends."
The crowd is mostly Latino and African-American students, and the music is mostly hip-hop. Every week, those waiting in line are anxious and excited because they feel as if the event is their own.
"It's good because it's Latin and we don't really have any [events]. Everything is predominantly mainstream," said Marlene Ferreris, a senior geography major.
With this many people in attendance, the bartenders' tips are pretty healthy and Mojo's is making money off the cover charge at the front door.
"Usually what we do is that we take [the money from] the 21 and over and we will split the [money from the students] 18 and over," Espinal said. "Of the 21 [year-olds], Mojo's makes their money at the bar. We make a profit from when they come in."
With brothers of the LSU fraternity advertising their Latin Thursdays parties to their friends on Facebook, they expect the crowd to keep growing.
Latin Thursdays are buzzing and new attendees are making plans to be at the next party.
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