Bars are notable for staying open late, but I’m not really familiar with alternatives that might operate similarly. I think many cafés (at least around my area) tend to close a few hours earlier by comparison, which would be my go-to for an alternative otherwise, so what other options are there?
You might be able to find a gym that stays open late.
When I was younger, there were some places with a club atmosphere that didn’t serve. For whatever reason, no booze. They became hang out spots for teens and the like. There was also a strong coffee shop culture, and one or two that stayed open just as late as bars. But in a post-covid world, many of those places shut down and new places like that close early.
There isn’t much drinking at swingers clubs. At least not in the public areas.
ಠ_ಠ
Bars are loud.
I like coffee shops that stay open until 11 or 12 during the week. They typically close at 2 or so on the weekend.
I live in an area with a lot of muslim people, as they don’t drink they often go to Shisha bars or Dessert bars. There’s also a few tea house type places, fancy dark late night places that do posh teas.
24-hour coffee shops
24-hour diners, though they can get a little interesting at night. Do not underestimate a waffle House at 3:00 in the morning
24-hour libraries: these are rare
24-hour restaurants like burrito places.
Really depends what you want to do, do you want to just chill, or do you want to hang out with friends, or do you want to eat, there’s a lot of options.
Unfortunately 24 hour libraries, or even late night, are pretty much non-existent now because 1) parents use them as babysitters and 2) nothing against homeless people but librarians aren’t equipped or staffed to take care of them appropriately.
And now with the book bans librarians are in short supply too, which means shorter hours and even fully closing on some weekdays.
Support your local library, everyone! See if there’s a “friends of” group. It’s a great way to connect with your community.
This is one of the unfortunate things. I never wanna hang around in libraries anymore. Decent number of people that look scary, and the bathroom stalls have been cut down so low to make sure people can be revived if they OD that I don’t really feel comfortable using the restroom there anymore. Hardly any privacy.
I wanna solve the drug problem and housing problem so that our public spaces are chill again. When I was a kid, there were “cool” homeless people that all the students got to know as we all rode the same bus lines, basically just people down on their luck, but otherwise normal. Nowadays, it’s only aggressive drug addicts who are angrily shouting because they can’t afford the medicines that help keep them moored, made worse by fentanyl. Would really appreciate universal Healthcare and goverment funded public housing for normies and for people down on their luck or perhaps those getting a second or third chance at life.
can’t afford the medicines that help keep them moored,
Or their MDs don’t believe that the medicines help them, or they can’t afford to even make it to the appointment, or they feel better mentally but worse physically and their MD won’t help them find an Rx with better side effects because the MD has this notion that you’ve gotta suffer when you’re disabled, or…
Being on the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum sucks. Trust me.
Whataburger, Winco Foods, insomnia cookies, Denny’s, and other diners come to mind. Since covid, hardly anything is open late anymore.
You might be able to find some other places local to you that we won’t know aboht, if you satay up late and use the “open now” option on Google maps.
Sheetz if you’re in the North East US
Why the fuck would you hang out at WinCo foods in the middle of the night. Just get a fucking graveyard shift job.
Night owls still need groceries and it’s best to shop when you’re more awake and alert. When I worked a graveyard job, Winco was a lifesaver. I thought if better to include more for those who might be interested.
Lol my wife and I absolutely used to go to 24 hour grocery stores at like midnight on weekends back before we had kids. We both love cooking so it was fun to slowly peruse the aisles looking for random things we hadn’t noticed before and coming up with ways to use them.
Lame I guess, but neither of us likes bars that much and we couldn’t afford to go out that often anyway.
Different strokes for different folks, and all that :)
That’s sweet. Maybe I should try that with friends sometime.
Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic (and no offense taken if you are lol). But I think if you turn it into a home brewed version of Chopped meets Guy’s Grocery Games, you can have a lot of fun with it.
Not at all! I don’t watch shows very much, but I’ve seen those in hotel rooms and dentist lobbies (weirdly enough) and it sounds good.
daycare /s
If you’re looking for late-night alternatives to bars and don’t drink alcohol, consider visiting a C2 hookah lounge. These spots provide a relaxing and social atmosphere without the need for alcohol. You can enjoy a variety of hookah flavors, engage in great conversations, and unwind in a laid-back environment. Many C2 hookah lounges stay open late, offering a perfect place to chill after hours. It’s a great way to enjoy the evening with friends or even meet new people who share the same interests. So, next time you’re out late and want something different, give a C2 hookah lounge a try!
Just… don’t go to a bar and consume the bar stuff elsewhere.
There. I just provided the single worst solution to this problem. The “downvote” button is waiting to be mashed.
My favorite local bar (a microbrewery) sells the brewery stuff just there in cans. I’ma take that lemon drop home so my besties from out of town can have it at our game nights (they like lemon drops too). That way we don’t have to have our game nights at the bar. I don’t think they want us taking up four tables playing Eldritch Horror or Gloomhaven at the microbrewery. It’d be kind of fun tho.
Good to know
Casinos
Book clubs. When I was driving a night taxi, the latest customers on workdays were book club people.
Music clubs too possibly, especially jazz.
What is a book club in this context? When I think of a book club, I think of people getting together at someone’s home to discuss a book they all read that week. At least that’s the cover, assume they mostly talk about whatever and drink wine, but call it a book club to sound fancy.
Yeah and I imagine these book clubs don’t meet particularly late.
Even if they do go late, I don’t really view it as a substitute for a bar. It’s people who know each other meeting at a home, rather than a place someone can simply go.
Some book clubs are open for everyone.
I dunno, my ex used to go to book club meetings all the time and wouldn’t be back until the next morning
Yea I had the same feeling like what you’re describing.
Have you considered going to a bar and drinking whatever you want?
That’s not an option for recovering alcoholic.
Now that’s a valid reason.
Any reason is a valid reason
Depends on the person. I facilitate recovery groups, and you see a variety. some people get triggered simply by seeing a bottle, or a beer. Some have absolutely no problem
I omitted my personal reasoning in the OP to avoid sidetracking the conversation, but since it’s had some time to develop & you ask, I just personally don’t like the smell of much alcohol or the erratic behavior it causes. The former I just find unpleasant, meanwhile the latter makes me uncomfortable & anxious on top of being annoyed by the scents.
As someone being sober, I’d feel like I’m half-expected to be responsible for some of those getting drunk around me (even if I’m not, really), and it just makes it hard for me to relax as I’d like.
I could, and I may end up caving and finding a bar with an atmosphere I don’t mind, but I was hoping there might be some alternatives to spaces that I generally just find uncomfortable to be in. Also, and this just comes down to the area I’m in right now, many of the bars have a specific style/theme to them here that I don’t care for whatsoever, at least from the little bit I’ve looked around.
That’s 100% understandable. I don’t really “get” bars. So I don’t go. I don’t know what to do there. If I want to go out at night, I go to clubs, but they have some of the same issues with drunk people. Aside from that, I have hobbies to share with like-minded people. For example I go to an open couple dancing (Forró) event as often as I can.
removed by mod
SPORTS
LOUD SPORTS
TVS ON EVERY SURFACE AT TOP VOLUME
TUNED TO MULTIPLE CHANNELS SO NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE THERE ARE ALWAYS COMMERCIALS ASSAULTING YOUR SENSES FROM AT LEAST TWO DIRECTIONSYou’re going to the wrong bars. All the bars around me have the TVs on but they’re muted and none of them show commercials.
I don’t go to bars. I strongly resent that my hometown pushed out the cozy local coffee pub that sat at the core of the city’s culture in favor of yet another chain sportsbar when it already has so many of those.
Yeah. Most of the bars I go to don’t even have TVs. There are a bunch of shelves with board games.
There’s a few of those in the city I live in, they’re great.
So maybe a hot take, but being at a bar to not drink alcohol is not really that fun.
Its not really that fun when drunk either. Unless your drunk enough to have a very non-fun two next days.
In my experience it depends on the bar. I have a local that I like that is very laid back and relaxed bar scene, you still get some rowdy groups, but it’s not like fighting for the bartenders attention or blasting music. Perfectly easy to go in alone or with friends, sit down and shoot the shit for a few hours. Doesn’t really matter what’s in your glass.
No I totally understand. It wasn’t meant as the best solution. Just a suggestion. I’m not a fan of bars myself tbh
deleted by creator
I used to belong to D&D groups that were open at a local comic store till like 4am.
We’d rent the space from the store at a good price, have pre-made characters for those that wanted to jump in.
If you don’t have something like that local, I can imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to start
I’ve kinda tried D&D in the past and it’s not really to my tastes tbh. I’d be down for other tabletop games, but I need to look around some more to find groups playing what I might like.
