Complex City Guide: 25 More College Bars We Love

1937 Beacon Street

Brighton, Mass.

A great place to take a date—if you want to ditch her and hang with a bunch of drunken degenerates. Cheap drinks, peculiar smells, and boarded up windows—Mary Ann's is a dive bar straight out of central casting. Just make sure you come equipped with the necessities: cash (no cards here, jackass), ID (they've had their share of underage busts), hand sanitizer, and an extra liver.

609 Davis St.

Austin, Tex.

A non-dive that's also completely unpretentious, Clive has a great bar from top to bottom, outdoor seating (weather's nice in Hill Country, pardner), and it sits across the street from a row of food carts that deliver straight to your bar stool. It's an older crowd, so leave the frat brothers at home and don't puke on the white leather furniture. [Website: clivebaraustin.com; Twitter: @CliveBarATX]

423 E. Kirkwood St.

Bloomington, Ind.
Eighty-three years old and going strong, Nick's remains the focal point of Bloomington's Kirkwood drag just off campus. Cheap pitchers (less than $10 for swill, $15 for imports and local microbrews) and bomb pizza (a B-town strong suit) now share menu space with burgers made from local grass-fed beef, but the years haven't changed it; it's still the same cozy parade of tiny booths where professors, undergrads, and townies alike get pleasantly sloshed. [Website: nicksenglishhut.com]

717 N. 16th St.

Milwaukee, Wisc.

Housed on the sacred ground of not one, but two classic on-campus bars, Caffrey's is the place to be around Marquette when the weather gets cold (and it's Milwaukee—it's gonna get cold). Why is that? Well, it serves alcohol (duh), but it's also got a massive, heated outdoor patio. Take that UCLA! [Website: caffreyspub.com; Twitter: @caffreyspub]

14 Margaret St.

Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The scene in Plattsburgh starts and ends on Thursdays, with all roads leading to one place: The Krazy Horse. Every Friday Eve, the Horse gets swamped with shit-faced college students (50 cent Rolling Rock drafts will do that) and actual dancing (which can be hard to find in Plattsburgh), with the hottest and newest mainstream pop and hip-hip blaring (which can be even harder to find in Plattsburgh).

1800 E. Speedway Blvd.

Tucson, Ariz.

Its slogan is "A part of growing up," and if you think part of the human maturation process involves ingesting a pitcher of something called "Sicilian Whore" (eight different liquors with a dash of pineapple), then Dirtbag's is your spot. It ain't pretty (tile floors and spartan bar furniture), but that's not why you cozy up to Sicilian whores in the first place, right? [Website: dirtbagsbar.com]

228 G St.

Davis, Calif.
A bar's bar, G Street is the spot your local college bar goes to for a drink. Neon on the outside, hardly any lights on the inside? Check. Pool, darts, video games, and lots of TVs? Check, check, check, and check. And when your bar feels like really letting loose, G Street's even got karaoke. Ever seen a bar sing karaoke? Try it sometime. [Website: myspace.com/gstpub]

1728 W. University Blvd.

Gainesville, Fla.
UF takes home more "No. 1 Party School" titles than football and basketball national championships (and that's saying something), and Gator City might just be Gainesville's quintessential spot. Cheap, plentiful booze and beer, plenty of drinking-friendly diversions (pool, video games), hot girls, and...uh, we mentioned the cheap and plentiful booze, right? [Website: gatorcitygainesville.com]

Traditions Pub

84-28 164th St.

Jamaica, N.Y.

A dive-y locale situated just off the St. John's campus, Tradition's takes on many different guises throughout the week. On a regular weeknight it's quiet, a good place to grab a beer and some pretty decent chicken fingers. On a weekend when there's a party, however, shit gets a little wild. The upstairs is opened up, a DJ is installed, and the kegs come out. Yeah, it may seem a bit dreary at times, but the drinks are cheap, the wait-staff is cool, and if you catch it on a good night, you'll leave either happily enervated or intoxicated. Or both, it's up to you.

1039 Broadway St.

New Orleans, La.

Located across the street from the Tulane campus, The Boot is a lot like the city it's situated in: prim, proper, elegant, and oh-who-the-fuck-are-we-kidding?!? The Boot's a college bar, and that applies to underclassmen, too, you dig? It's kind of gross in a lot of ways, but so are you, so accept yourself for who you are and try not to puke. But if you do, by all means have a glass of water before you start drinking again.

708 S. 6th St.

Champaign, Ill.

Previously known for its Wine Night, this campus favorite closed in 2008 for a re-model. Now it's back and better than ever. During the day, food selections are on-point and the coffee bar makes for a pleasant alternative to Starbucks, but of course, you really go here to party. Lines are long Thursday through Saturday, but the drink specials, thriving dance floor, and flock of sorority girls make it worth it. [Website: theclybourne.com]

338 S. State St.

Ann Arbor, Mich.

If you don't like beer and you don't like crowds, then make sure you stay well away from Ashley's (keep your distance from us, too, while you're at it). If, however, you enjoy the suds and don't mind rubbing elbows with a few dozen like-minded folk, then Ashley's is the place for you. 70+ beers on the menu, some decent to pretty-damn-good food options, and a within-stumbling-distance proximity to campus, makes this a must-visit on any pub tour. Even Buckeyes could enjoy it—provided they sample all 70 brews. [Website: ashleys.com]

4611 Forbes Ave.

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Located just down the street from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon campus, Panther Hollow Inn (more commonly known as "Phi Bar") is the go-to spot if you want to see frat boys and engineering geeks getting wasted together in perfect harmony. Prices are cheap, so ordering pitchers of your favorite Steel City brew along with a greasy pizza is the perfect way to unwind after a long day. This lovable low-budget watering hole also happens to be one of the last places in the Burgh that allows indoor smoking. Lighters up! [Website: Panther Hollow Inn]

12 Caroline St.

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

An oasis of down homeyness in what can be a pretty stuffy town during horse racing season, DA's has all the amenities of a classic college bar: spacious booths, cheap drinks, foosball and pool tables, and a hard-rockin' jukebox. A dive, for sure, but make no mistake, around these parts that's a ringing endorsement.
[Website: desperateannies.com]

109 W. Main St.

Charlottesville, Va.

This is the place that birthed the Dave Matthews Band (Dave himself used to bartend here), but don't hold that against the joint. Low-key, with a great beer selection, decent food, and a jam band-free jazz night on Wednesdays, Miller's is also home to an outdoor patio so peaceful on a summer's night that you might even be inspired to write your own violin-backed soft rock. [Website: millersdowntown.com]

98 Third Ave.

New York, N.Y.

The Big Apple isn't much of a college town, but Bar None pretty closely approximates the feel of a good college bar. An apple's throw from a few NYU dorms is a loud, sticky, sweaty joint that's the site of many a murdered pitcher seven nights a week. A good (if loud, sticky, and sweaty) place to catch the full slate of NFL games on Sundays as well. [Website: barnonenyc.com]

4006 University Way NE

Seattle, Wa.

For two or three months out of the year, Seattle is a beautiful, sunny place; the rest of the time it's a rainy, cloudy grayscape perfect for hiding out in basements and drinking beer. Which is where the College Inn comes in. Located in a basement on the UW campus, it's got tons of brews, decent food, and enough distractions (pool tables, big TVs) to keep your mind off the precipitation above ground. Head down in October, come back up in May.

2401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington D.C.

Just a short walking distance from the GW campus, McFadden's is the typical college restaurant and saloon that you will walk into sober and leave wasted...on a Tuesday. Late happy hours that feature $2 drinks have the place riddled with undergrad girls dancing on top of bars and dudes arguing over their favorite team on the big screens. And don't even worry about drinking too much; the GW hospital is only a few stumbles away, so go all out, they'll take care of you, we promise. [Website: mcfaddensdc.com]

16 King Hill Rd.

Storrs, Ct.

The least clubby of the three UConn campus bars, Ted's offers better drink specials and a slightly more intimate night out than just getting trashed with your boys. (Although you can still do that. We said "slightly.") The place is also smaller than other bars on campus, still it attracts the hottest girls on random nights.
[Website:
Ted's]

128 N. Oberlin Ave.

Claremont, Ca.

There ain't a whole lot of gastropubs on this list, but we make an exception for the Back Abbey because a) that's the kind of town Claremont is, and b) it's that good. Excellent burgers with an extensive and varied beer list—no, the Abbey's not a stopover-on-the-way-to-the-football-game sorta place, it's a park-your-ass-there-for-lunch-and-whoops!-it's-dinner-time sorta place. Expensive, but if you're driving to the Inland Empire to go to In 'N Out, you're a moron. [Website: thebackabbey.com]

254 W. Grand River Ave.

East Lansing, Mi.

An EL institution, Crunchy's specializes in buckets of beer, cheap food, and endearingly grumpy service. Despite its willfully low-key frumpiness, it's something of a craft beer oasis. Just try not to actually say "craft beer." [Website: crunchyseastlansing.com; Twitter: @Crunchys]

2902 Figueroa St.

Los Angeles, Ca.

Unless you're an SC grad or student it's hard to root for the Trojans, then again, head to the Nine-O on a game day and see if you aren't humming that droning march in your head by the end of the afternoon. Beer, TVs, more beer, and what's that? More TVs. Sounds about right. [Website: 901bar.com; Twitter: @901Bar]

1000 Gayley Ave.

Westwood, Ca.

The title above reads "O'Hara's," but don't get it twisted, this place is really called "Maloney's." Under new management since a few years back (hence the name change), Maloney's is a quintessential college bar in a not so quintessential college town. Tons of TVs, all the requisite drinking-for-the-sake-of-getting-drunk-drinks, crowded as hell on Thursday nights—yes, you may have outgrown this kind of thing, but why would you want to?

850 S. Ash Ave.

Tempe, Ariz.

Yes, eating oysters in the desert sounds gross, but this is a list of college bars, not a guide to anti-locavore restaurants. It's an Irish pub, which means whiskey and beer, and more whiskey and beer, so drink up and maybe a little seafood in the land of cacti won't be so rough after all.
[Website: caseymoores.com; Twitter: @caseymoores]

199 N. Lumpkin St.

Athens, Ga.

Hey kids, grad students are in college, too, and just 'cause The Globe doesn't host wet T-shirt contests doesn't mean it's not a great college bar. After all, you don't need an advanced degree to understand that tons of beer and good food are a good thing. [Website: globeathens.com]