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 While a good resource to get a general idea of what special there are, Lionbars is sometimes a little outdated or incomplete.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…