East Lansing has a great selection of bars that help provide a much-needed distraction for students during their free time. If you are just getting into the bar scene, you will be quizzed on which bars are popular on certain days (like, it would suck to get to Bar X at 9:15 p.m. and discover a line around the corner) and a term paper will be required on where the best specials are if you plan to pass this required course.
Besides -- knowing the drink specials are extremely useful in limiting the questions (and ultimately the reaming) from your parents about where all your (umm...their) money has gone.
Metromix has done our homework and we have scientifically compiled an excellent list of bar hot spots for every night of the week to help familiarize the newly turned 21 year olds with the East Lansing scene and assist the experienced nightcrawler in getting out of their summer-long "bar rut."
Monday Night
The Post is a good spot to have a couple drinks and relax on Monday nights. There are all new fall specials which include $3 domestic draughts, and 24oz. Miller High Life cans for an affordable $2. Enjoy their patio seating while it is still warm!
Tuesday Night
P.T. O’Malley’s on Tuesday is somewhat of a tradition at State. There is a ton of drink specials, you can always count on great jams from the DJs, and there’s usually a line outside waiting to join the party within (which is why it’s best to get there early). Enjoy the $2.50 bottles of Rolling Rock, Miller Lite, and Coors, as well as $2.50 calls and $2.50 shots of SoCo and lime and Kamikazes.
Wednesday Night
It may not seem like a happening night to hit to go out, but several venues offer its best deals on Wednesdays. At Rick’s it is ladies night (no cover for women) and it is half-off all drinks. The first 50 men will also receive free wings before 10 p.m.
Harper’s has half-off all food and drink the whole evening, and there is live music until the DJ takes over around 10:30 p.m.
If you want a (slightly) calmer and more "sophisticated" (grad students) atmosphere then head to Beggar’s Banquet where they have the finest wine selection in East Lansing. Wednesdays feature half-off all bottles of wine and most appetizers; and after midnight the half-off deal is extended to liquor and beer (whoo!).
Thursday Night
The Landshark is all about Thursday. The DJ will play a mixture of modern hits from different genres and at the end of the night expect The Piano Man or Shout to play to get the crowd going. Specials include $2 domestic bottles, $2.25 calls, and $3.50 pitchers; ladies get in free. And the Shark Bowl is a must.
Friday Night
You can really go anywhere on Friday to have a good time because everyone is out. Lou and Harry’s on Ann St. has its own fiesta every Friday with $3 Corona and Dos Equis drafts, $3 tequila shots, $8 margarita and daiquiri pitchers, and $5 Labatt pitchers all day and night. When 5 p.m. rolls around they bring out the free taco bar. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Saturday Night
Again, the bars will always be fun on the weekends, but people seem to gravitate to P.T. O’Malley’s and The Landshark for the crowd, the music, and the drinks. P.T.’s has $3 domestic bottles and drafts, $3 shots of SoCo and lime and Kamikaze, $3.50 flavored-vodka drinks, and $3.50 Captain Morgan drinks. The Landshark has $2 domestics and $3 vodkas (wells, calls, and premiums).
Sunday Night
The Riv (or the Riviera Café -- which no one calls it) is the best place to be Sundays. Throw on an old pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and relax; it is exactly what a hard-working students needs to prepare yourself for the week ahead (right?). You can play darts, pool, or just talk and listen to the music from the jukebox and the Uptown DJs. Happy Hour lasts all night long on these lazy Sundays with $2.25 domestics, $2.75 calls, and $3 Long Islands. If you are hungry then order up the tacos – you can get three for $1.75.
As the glorious college days get closer, keep checking back to Metromix daily as university and lifestyle related content around Michigan State, University of Michigan, Wayne State and Oakland University is explored.
