Afterwork Burrito

Everyone hates Mondays. No matter what you do, chances are you're not a big fan of the end of the weekend, going back to work or school. To alleviate the pains of long first day of the week, one bar/restaurant in State College was kind enough to make an offer any one could possibly resist: Large Margaritas for five bucks anytime until midnight and all-you-can-eat burritos until nine. Thank you MadMex!

MadMex is part of the DaysInn on Pugh Street, half a block north of Beaver Avenue. It is the best sport in town to cool off after a stressful and painfully long Monday, especially in the summer. The outside patio will be full of students and workers alike and nothing taste as good in the late afternoon sun as a frozen strawberry margarita--and yes, it's okay for guys to drink those too... However, MadMex as many other wonderful drink specials, one of my favorites is the three-dollar pint of Magic Hat #9, one of the best summer beers. The burrito special is equally great. Every burrito is made to order, so if you want to have beef on the first and shrimp on the second you're good to go.

On sunny and warm Mondays, MadMex is my favorite place to go in Downtown State College. If you're looking for a place to hang out with friends, relax and drink and eat well for less, this is the place to go.

The Tank

Any day, any time... Sharkies is always there. And so am I. My favorite place in town, Sharkies Bar and Thrifty Bottle Shop is literally my second home. I am not only saying that because I spend so much time there but because I never had a bar before that I'd call "mine". A bar, where the staff knows my name and the bottle of Lionshead is waiting for me when I walk in.

But why do I like the place so much? Well, first of all, they have a pretty damn good selection of beer and drinks and all of those are easily affordable. Adjacent to the bar Sharkies operates a well-stocked bottle shop providing the supplies for the after-party at Karl's place with Corrinado's Pizza (just a block away). Secondly, there's an upstairs and a downstairs bar, so if you're a smoker like me you'll prefer the downstairs but if you don't smoke you are not going to be affected by the smokers if you stay upstairs. Thirdly, you can play your own music on the internet jukebox. The fourth reason is the great pool tables Sharkies has to offer. Seven all together, four upstairs and three downstairs. I never really played pool before but now I'm a big fan.

Lastly and most importantly, the people and thus the feeling of the bar. On the one hand, the staff is extremely wonderful and never fails to contribute to a good time. On the other hand, the people who come to Sharkies. For some reason there seems to be an unwritten code of conduct at Sharkies. Hardly ever will you find disrespectful people, no matter how drunk they get. And if anyone is stepping out of bounds they'll be out in no time. Also, in no other bar would I ever leave my belongings on the table for the entire night. At Sharkies no one will ever touch them and if I forgot everything I'm sure they'll still be there next time I show up. What truely makes Sharkies what it is for me is my Sharkies crowd. A group of three delightful individuals with whom I share my passion for the place. Not many of my friends are actually too fond of the place and I understand that it is an acquired taste and you have to like the atmosphere. All I can say is, come and find out, it's definitely worth it. See you at the shark tank!

Zeno's Pub

The best underground pub atmosphere in State College can be found underneath the Corner Room on Allen Street, just off College Ave. Zeno's pub is small but truly wonderful. Especially if you are a big fan of beer. As far as I can tell, Zeno's probably has the largest selection of beer in Downtown State College, whether draft or bottle.


Once you find the outside stairs on the side walk of Allen, you head down to a quite small wooden door. Be careful when you walk in, if someone opens it when you're just about to, you'll get hit in the nose. And if you're as tall as I am (6'4''), watch your head! After you clear the ID check and pay cover (if they have a band) the bar will be to your right and the tables to your left. The seating area ends in the stage and here's a useful tip: the bathrooms are to the left of the stage, you basically walk over the corner of the stage. I still have to find the sign for them.


Back to the bar: The great beer variety is immediately visible but Zeno's doesn't lack behind on mixed drinks either. When you chose your drink, don't order something you've had before. Be experimental or just ask the bar tender what he'd recommend (though you might want to give him a hint as to what kind of beer you're into). If you're looking for the vast specials you may find in other bars, Zeno's is not the right place for you. They always feature on draft beer; find the sign for it in the middle of the wall behind the bar. If you like the kind they have, try it. I can almost guarantee that you will never be disappointed. Last Tuesday I treated myself to an Elk Creek Double Pale Ale... hmh... delightful. And only $ 3 a pint, too. Other people pay that for a Coors light at Inferno...


While Zeno's is a great destination on any day of the week, in my unofficial Downtown calendar Bluegrass night on Wednesdays is the one to go to. Be there early (8ish) to get a table. Free BBQ Sandwich included in cover. All together, Zeno's is the pub between College and Beaver. If you want to hang out with friends and drink 'exotic' (compared to other Downtown bars) beers, Zeno's is the place.

Off Topic: What's actually happening on or between College and Beaver or some general Information

As you start discovering the State College Nightlife, you should also be aware of the occurrences on State College's streets. 

College Ave definitely has the most packed sidewalks early in the night when everyone is trying to get into the Bars. My personal favorite is the Indigo line on football Saturdays. It reaches from the Indigo Entrance next to the corner room (almost on Allen street) past the State Theater all the way to the corner of Fraser Street, across from Dunkin Donuts. Insane, and I always love walking by just thinking, why?! Saturdays in general are not the best nights to go out. Too crowded and too expensive, especially football weekends. If you ever get the chance to stay of break, I highly recommend it, because all bars are less crowded, charge no cover but still have all special. I actually can't wait for this coming week.

Now, for some reason, Beaver seems to be the return route late at night. Come two o'clock and everyone pours out of the bars, all the drunk people stumble back on Beaver. Particularly funny last weekend for State Patty's Day when all the side walks were glaced over with ice:

 

If you happened to walk back on College, be aware that there is a camera at the Tavern, that records 24/7 and archives all videos online and freely accessible. And don't ever touch the pig in the little alley next to the Tavern, people do tend to use it as an outside bathroom when they are drunk... 

Out of all the streets in State College that have the greatest fun factor, it's Garner Street. It is the return route for all respectable women from Frat Row. Witness freshman girls in their tiniest skirts and tops with high heels when its way below freezing outside make their way back to campus. Either in packs or accompanied by a seriously pissed off boy friend, regardless, always funny as hell. On that note, happy spring break and watch out when you come back, there's so much to see when your traveling through downtown State College.

The Den

One location in downtown state college that’s always good for a beer is the Lion’s Den, mostly referred to just as the Den. The bar is on S Garner right next to Bar Bleu, across from Baby’s Diner. My favorite part about the Den is the back patio. It’s nothing special but I just prefer drinking and smoking outside. The patio is also covered so even on rainy spring days, the Den patio is still a good option.

The Den has a happy hour from ten to twelve everyday. As far as my experience goes they also have varying specials before that depending on the day of the week but Lionbars doesn’t indicate that anymore. While a good resource to get a general idea of what special there are, Lionbars is sometimes a little outdated or incomplete. Back to the Den, on good days, whether week or weekend, chances are there will be a line outside anytime after nine. The Den always gets really busy and sometimes it’s a pain to finagle your way through the crowd inside. The Den basically is just one dance floor and that makes such finagling much harder. As soon as you enter you have to make across the dance floor for just maybe three feet to get to the bar and that can already be difficult. The bar itself is probably one of the larger ones in State College and that makes getting drinks a little easier. And as always, tip well; especially once it gets crowded, you want to be remembered. Most nights they have a DJ and after eleven the inside turns into a good place to party while the outside remains a good place to just hangout and drink beer.

The option of choosing whether you want to party or chill in one place is probably what makes it so attractive and that’s why I like it, too. Just got to be prepared for some elbow-fighting, particularly fun with drinks in your hand… But I don’t want it to sound too bad, it’s all manageable.

Midweek Madness

If you need a break anytime from Tuesday to Thursday and really want to party it up, quick and thrifty, go to the Saloon. On those nights, the famous Monkey Boys are only five dollars. As you may recall I mentioned there are two monstrous pitcher size cocktails that you need to try at least once while you're a Penn State student. Well this is the other one and in my opinion, the better one (sorry Bar Bleu). There are various flavors and I can only recommend trying whatever sounds good to you. Be reminded however, that just like the Fishbowls, the Monkey Boy will kick your butt fast.

The Saloon is on the Corner of E College and Heister, right around the corner from Inferno. Come be before 11 and I can almost certainly promise you no line outside. Once you make it in, as in so many other bars in State College, you go underground. Normally there's a three dollar cover at the door downstairs and once you enter you're practically on what will later become the dance floor (Live music on any given night). To your left, you'll find some booths and tables and further in the back there's a pool table with ample room to stand around (don't ever come here anticipating to actually, seriously play pool). By the time you got your first Monkey boy down, the place will have filled up quickly. By the time the Music starts it'll pretty hard to navigate through the crowd but the bar staff is super quick and your supply chain should never be interrupted for too long. Many time I have not remember leaving the Saloon but it's always been great fun. One advice to smokers: Once the line outside gets long, the ID-checker upstairs will make you wait to get back in, very unfortunate.

In conclusion, it's a wonderful place to party and forget about the stressful days behind and ahead of you, while still keeping a bar/pub atmosphere. Besides the Monkey Boy, the Saloon has plenty of other great specials. Check out the Lionbars link on the left top of the page. If you're looking for conversation though, not so much, it does get really loud.

Outdoor Experience

This week I am taking you to the best spot in town when the weather is good. Café W 210 (commonly referred to as Café) is located on West College between Fraser and Burrowes. It has a front and back patio that you won’t find anywhere else in State College. The back one is especially cozy because it is in the surrounded by old, shuffled buildings and a couple of huge trees but it’s also open towards Calder Way where almost no cars drive. Coming from Germany I feel right at home here since our Beer gardens are quite similar to the back patio set up and no other establishment in State College can provide that feeling.

Café has great specials any day of the week but my favorites are Friday afternoon/evenings. There is no better way to start of your weekend anytime from April to October with a pitcher of Yuengling on the back patio as soon as you get out of class. Come 6 pm, Jack and Coke pitchers are $ 6 (!!!). Need I say more? By that time the live music (a mix of oldies and rock and roll classics) will have started inside and you can hear traces outside. Due to noise complaints close by, Café can’t open the doors to the patio to permit the music to be more audible outside as well, in case you ever wondered.

While Café is certainly a place to relax, it can be a place for studying as well. One of my friends told me, that even his father’s friends came to study here 30 years ago. It may be a little more difficult today because Café has no wireless. But if you have assigned books as your only sources, it might even be better not to have Internet because you can’t procrastinate your work on facebook.

Definitely my favorite place to be outdoors and I can highly recommend it to anyone who savors that first afternoon beer after a long week.

Fishbowls

Bar Bleu is located on S Garner Street, right off the corner of Garner and College across from McLanahan’s Garner Street entrance. On Friday nights you can find a long line along the white painted brick wall on Garner, if you’re too late, because it’s one of the most popular places on Friday nights. Bar Bleu is separated into an upstairs sports bar and lounge, that offers not only great drinks but also good bar food, and a downstairs upscale pub. Upscale because it looks fancy with it’s blue light and is a little more expensive than most State College Bars, however as the night progresses, it doesn’t make much off a difference whether you’re here or at the Phyrst.

Bar Bleu is home to the Fishbowl, one of the two monstrous pitcher size cocktails in State College that you need to try at least once while at Penn State. I recommend the Iced Tea version, unless you like it really sweet. And once you’ve had one, give it some time to sink in, especially with the sugar, they can be quite overwhelming. Be aware that the downstairs bar only has liquor and thus mixed drinks; beer is only sold upstairs (I don’t think I’ve ever had beer when I was downstairs). While the upstairs is a good venue to just hang out, catch up with friends and watch sports the downstairs is designed to appeal to the party-lovers among the students with live music or DJ’s everyday of the week. On Fridays, this is another place to see Lowjack. One important piece of advice, especially when you’re drinking fish bowls, take enough time to go to the bathroom because there’s only one each downstairs and always a line. And no, running upstairs is not faster either, gets too crowded eventually. But, waiting in line, I’ve had some wonderful conversations with delightful people. Once again, you got to take it from there…

Sunday Night Distraction

Sunday night, eight pm. You should be productive because another busy week of classes and assignments lies ahead. On the other hand, you've spent most of your day working on projects and you could really use some distraction. To pull you out of your misery, a friend, in my case Hanna, calls and suggests going to a bar. We tend to decide on the Sunday classic: the Phyrst. As we start walking down towards college, the same question arises every time: Where is the Phyrst exactly? It's on Beaver so far so good but where there? Well, once and for all, it's between Pugh and Allen.

When you open the massive oak door you look down a stairwell whose walls are full of picture collages with one main theme: green. It is a collection of St. Patrick's Day pictures dating as far back as the 90's. They are quite entertaining while you wait for the queue to move down the old wooden steps. Once past the register, you have the bar with its great selection of draft beers and mixed drinks to your right. On Sunday nights, it's half off the house from 10 pm to midnight. After you’ve gotten your drink of choice (mine would be a pitcher of Guinness), find one of the rough, wooden picnic-style tables. Once you’re seating, take some time to take in the unique style of the Phyrst. Look up and you see that the along the beams of the ceiling there are metal beer mugs covering each and everyone of them. Even though you’re underground, the Phyrst has colorful, church-style, backlit windows along one side of the room, which creates the illusion that you’re actually above ground and the light from the street shines in.

The Phyrst also offers live music performances almost everyday of the week. One of my favorite State College bands, Lowjack, plays here on Sunday nights. There are two pool tables available in the corner behind the stairs, but they are very hard to come by if you’re not there fairly early. However, during Penn State football games, I can highly recommend watching the game with friends at the Phyrst in between pre- and postgame tailgating and playing a relaxed game of pool in the meantime. Overall, the Phyrst is one of my favorite bars in State College and if you like a pub atmosphere with live music and wonderful specials, this will be one of your favorites as well.

Thirsty Thursday...

In the wilderness of State College nightlife there are two big wateringholes to consider on a Thursday night. One is the Mezzanine on East College Ave between McLanahan’s and Jimmy John’s. The other is Indigo on West College next to the Corner Room. I never liked ‘the Mezz’ but I am guilty of ending up at Indigo one way or the other on most Thursday nights.

I’m sure most students have their personal definition of Thirsty Thursday but for me it has always been Indigo 10 to 12: Two Dollar shots, long islands, Red Bull and Vodka and three dollar barcadi drinks. If you’re smart (or poor) you try to be there by 9:55 to beat cover because after ten its three to get in. You walk down the long blue carpeted stairs (which most times I don’t remember ascending later) and come to the register. If it’s after ten you will get the wonderful Indigo stamp that won’t come of for days to come ensuring that everyone knows where you were last night when you show up for class Friday afternoon, all haggard (Yeah, as soon as you turn 21, don’t schedule a class for friday morning…). Anyway, when you walk in, never check your coat because it will take forever to get back when you desperately want to leave. Just walk over to the tables and find a chair to pile up everyones stuff. Nothing has ever been stolen from me or any of my friends.

Once you have gotten your first round of drinks (personal favorite are the RBV’s), be sure to look out for young Donald Trump on the dance floor. A little after ten this energetic fellow will give his performance of the night – for lack of a better term - break dancing almost all by himself. Now last week, he was accompanied by a smoking hot but also visibly intoxicated girl who had decided to basically dry hump the floor. The night was off to a good start and while not as visible as these two, Indigo provides a wide array of goofy, interesting or simply good people. So good that even my hipster friend Karl, whom you would never expect to see there, will occasionally find his way down the blue carpeted stairs. He actually went last week and yesterday because he came to realize the ‘dating’ opportunities that lie within the diverse population of Indigo. If you want to find someone to talk to, even in the winter, go smoke a cigarette outisde on the churchbenches by the AC vent. You get a wrist band before you head out and when you want to come back in you better have your ID on you. Also another reason why not to check your coat, you will freeze. My friend Hanna never quite got that concept… Respectable women in next to nothing may ask you for a part of your clothing. Someone will definitely bum a cigarette of off you. While these are both inconveniences to you, they will never fail to start a conversation, and it’s up to you what you make of it.