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Grand Market Place goes 24 hours
The word “gimp” is often used as an adjective to describe mild physical deformities, yet it is also used as a noun, a colloquial term for sex slaves, usually male, bound in full suits of leather bondage gear and masks. Both connotations could loosely apply to Gimp patrons at 2:30 a.m. on a Wednesday.
Some in the Theology Department at USC might say God cupped the Russell House in His benevolent hand and blessed both late night studiers and club hoppers, alike, by transforming the Grand Market Place from a run-of-the-mill food court into a sexy 24-hour eatatorium. Whether an act of the Divine or simply an attempt by Dining Services to move more rotisserie before expiration, one thing is for certain: late nights on campus just got that much hotter.
Nestled in the heart of the university campus, "The Gimp," as students call it, offers a decent variety of choices for diners who have grown tired of the usual late night fare in Columbia: the half-hour wait at the Sonic drive-thru, with some guy passed out in a lawn chair in the back of a pickup truck ahead of you in line; the cackling drag queens and cop scene at IHOP; the subnormal pizza delivery driver with the glass eye that you kinda wish didn’t know where you live... forget it all.
Sure the Gimp is no Skyline Club. But, the refreshing change of late night clientele makes up for what the venue lacks in ambience.
The word “gimp” is often used as an adjective to describe mild physical deformities, yet it is also used as a noun, a colloquial term for sex slaves, usually male, bound in full suits of leather bondage gear and masks. Both connotations could loosely apply to Gimp patrons at 2:30 a.m. on a Wednesday.
You can strike up a conversation with a group of Goth hangers on at the vegan station or talk Halo 3 with Freshman nerds at the deli. If you plan to stay awhile, engage a stoned grad student about the vagaries of subatomic physics while he devours an entire carrot cake with his bare hands. Or simply hang back and watch a table of Statistics majors glare over their books at a trashed sorority chick in a cocktail dress and smeared mascara singing loudly to a carton of egg salad. It’s all part of the charm. And the hot bar’s not bad either.
The wraps and sandwiches are some of my 24-hour favorites. The Gimp’s signature peanut butter and jelly is available on wheat or white bread and the Marriott food services night shift employee will spread the peanut butter on both slices of the bread, just like Mama used to. It is, hands down, one of the best PB&Js in Columbia. With a bit of coaxing they may even cut off the crusts for you.
And, after a few rounds of Jager bombs in the Vista, nothing better tops off a peanut butter sandwich than not-so-fresh sushi and a big bottle of chocolate milk to keep it all down (and, hey, if you don’t, USC janitors are always on call with plenty of sawdust). But trust us, after a night at Art Bar, those California rolls taste like they were rolled fresh on Manza Beach in Japan.
I recommend you go between 1 and 3:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday for a truly “grand” experience.
...Gimpy and grand indeed.
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