Evening · 8 ideas · easiest first
Friday, right after work
The mistake on Friday is going home first. Once the shoes are off, the evening is over. Everything below starts within an hour of leaving the office and most of it starts with a drink. The list runs from a happy hour that ends by seven to a night that ends when the taco truck closes. Pick your exit before you start.
Happy hour at a place with a real menu
Two drinks and three small plates at a restaurant you'd never pay full price at.
- Cost
- $20–30 per person
- Best when
- Weekdays, 4–6 pm, sit at the bar
- Cheaper
- This is already the cheap version. Bar seats usually get the deal; tables sometimes don't.
- Skip it if
- You want a long dinner. Happy hour ends and the prices double.
- Bring
- A friend who's off by five.
A flight at a brewery taproom
Four small beers, a long table, dogs under it, and a food truck outside. Low stakes.
- Cost
- $12–18 for a flight
- Best when
- Weekday evenings or weekend afternoons
- Cheaper
- Taprooms pour their own beer $2–3 cheaper than bars serving the same thing.
- Skip it if
- You don't like beer. Most taprooms have one cider and one wine, and that's it.
- Bring
- Cash for the food truck. Some are card-only, some the opposite.
The last showing of the night
The 10 pm screening is mostly empty, nobody's on their phone, and the night isn't over when it ends.
- Best when
- Friday or Saturday, last slot
- Cheaper
- Pick a theater outside downtown; the same film is $3–5 less.
- Skip it if
- You have to be up early. You won't be.
- Bring
- A plan for after. A late diner is open.
A comedy club showcase
Four comics who know what they're doing, a dark room, and ninety minutes where it's rude to look at your phone.
- Cost
- $15–30 plus a two-drink minimum
- Best when
- The early show, Thursday to Saturday
- Cheaper
- Early shows are cheaper than the late set. Order the minimum as soda water and it's $8.
- Skip it if
- You get picked on easily. Sit in the back.
- Bring
- A reservation. Good rooms sell out on weekends.
A band you've never heard of, in a small room
Two hundred people, a $15 ticket, a bar in the back, and a band playing like it matters.
- Best when
- Any night the listing looks interesting
- Cheaper
- Door price on a weeknight is often less than the weekend advance price.
- Skip it if
- You need to sit down. Small venues are standing rooms.
- Bring
- Earplugs. Seriously.
A private karaoke room
Your own room, your own playlist, a buzzer for drinks, and nobody outside the door can hear you.
- Cost
- $8–15 per person per hour
- Best when
- Friday or Saturday, book ahead
- Cheaper
- Weeknights are often half the weekend room rate.
- Skip it if
- The group is two people. Rooms want four or more.
- Bring
- A playlist drafted in advance. The first ten minutes are always wasted scrolling.
A dive bar with a pool table
Cheap drinks, a jukebox, a table that eats quarters, and a night that goes nowhere on purpose.
- Best when
- Late, any night
- Cheaper
- Dives are the cheap option already. Bring quarters; pool is $1–2 a rack.
- Skip it if
- You need a cocktail menu. There is a well, and there is a beer.
- Bring
- Cash. Half of them don't take cards.
The taco truck run
Three tacos, a plastic chair, a parking lot at 11 pm. The best meal of the week, and it was $9.
- Best when
- Late, after the bars or instead of them
- Cheaper
- It's the cheap option. Trucks are cheapest again near closing.
- Skip it if
- You need a chair with a back.
- Bring
- Cash and napkins. Trucks give you two.