Meet Andrei Nicola, the King of Waterloo

If you’ve been to (former) The Drink in Uptown Waterloo, then you’ve likely encountered Andrei Nicola, sometimes known as the “King of Waterloo.” 

Infamous amongst students for his role in The Drink’s security club, with over 10,000 followers on TikTok, Nicola has been working in the nightlife industry since he was 19. He started going out as soon as he became old enough to legally drink before he realized, “Why go out and spend money when you can go out and make money?” At this age, Nicola met staff who worked at the former Beta Nightclub (which closed in 2017), and began working with them in security. 

For the past three-and-a-half years, Nicola has been working security at The Drink. Beyond this, he helps with promotion, hosting, and “bringing a good crowd in overall.” He offers free cover to regulars and contributes in promoting the club on Instagram and TikTok to students. While working at The Drink is a hobby for Nicola, he says his full-time job and experience in sales helps with understanding how to bring new people in. 

Sydney Lum, a fourth-year business administration and mathematics double degree student, has enjoyed her fair share of nights out in uptown. Having frequented The Drink since her second year, she states, “Every night we go out, he’s just on the streets. The first time I saw him was in my second year. He lets me go in for free at The Drink because he just wants us to have fun and have a good time.” 

Nicola sees his work in the night life industry as a hobby, mostly enjoying being able to meet new people. He described witnessing incidents like stabbings and encountering people with bear spray. 

With the closure of The Drink this past summer, Nicola has continued to work at other clubs in uptown. The owner of The Drink also owns Empire, Room 47, Hop House, and White Rabbit, allowing Nicola to work at these different places while something new takes The Drink’s place. 

The Crown Bar & Social opened in The Drink’s old location on Sept. 4. “In my experience, they [clubs] have to rebrand every four to five years,” Nicola said. “The new changes look good. People get bored of things when you go every weekend. People like something different.”

Changes have been made to the speakers, the location of the DJ booth, and the wall between the venue and Empire has been taken down to make the two clubs easily accessible to each other, making an easier transition between places for the winter months. While it maintains the club atmosphere, it also leans a bit into a bar-like atmosphere emulating the style of Toronto night clubs with more booths and a larger dance floor than it had before.

So while much of the club has changed, from physical traits to the name itself, students can still expect the familiarity of the King of Waterloo. 

As for the best time to go out in Waterloo? Nicola says that Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day are the best, to no one’s surprise, contrasted by summers being the worst because “all the students are gone… Nightclubs are worse in the summer because people want to be out on patios and chill.”