Attending college in New York City is a feat in itself. Tall city skyscrapers, busy streets, the subway system; it’s a lot to take in, especially when you throw in exams, all-night study sessions and getting to class on time. Why complicate the little social time you have by trying to navigate the local scene all by your lonesome? We say, “Leave all that nonsense to the experts!” The top hangouts for you and the rest of the city’s scholars await:
Continental
While the ambiance doesn’t exactly scream ‘punk’ like it did in the past, the crowd at Continental is the real deal. A mixture of hip-ish twenty-somethings and die-hard veterans subsist on what is undoubtedly New York City’s best ‘happy hour, every hour’ value: five shots of anything for $10. The arrangement is perfect for pregaming, postgaming, and, well, flat-lining; three concepts that are golden to a newly-minted, shallow-pocketed college student. If the alcohol isn’t enough to keep occupied, a film projector makes regular showings of pulp movies, from the original Dick Tracy to the modern noir of Pulp Fiction.
Down the Hatch
Don't expect an aristocratic, Skull and Bones, atmosphere down the stairs and into this dark, downtown college favorite. In fact, this dank den of a bar is the exact opposite, but that doesn’t mean it is any less of a fantastically-drunken time. Come for the Buffalo wings and cheap beer and you'll happily forget your surroundings. (Besides, college isn’t about luxury.) Wait your turn, for a game of beer pong or don’t. The owners of this bar operate four more just like it, so if the line is long head over a few blocks to Off the Wagon or uptown for an ivy-league, Columbia crowd to the The Stumble Inn, Gin Mill or Jake’s Dilemma.
Phebe’s
Students from Cooper Union, The New School and NYU, alike convene at this Bowery brew pub for before and after class cocktails. Come to think of it, slightly-aged characters, or more specifically, recent grads hang around too, drowning their out-of-work sorrows in shots and stories about the day when college was a full-time job with promise for a brighter future. Nevertheless, Phebe’s is a perfect place for both the former and the latter. Complete with greasy bar food to soak up last night’s residuals, this spot is a college-age staple.
McFadden’s
This midtown saloon, NYC’s branch of the McFadden chain, is practically a gargantuan fraternity party. There are loads of beautiful and drunk, albeit underage girls. (Which, in this case, is a statement, not an invitation.) Beer naturally flows like water and the youngsters gravitate to the dance floor. Maybe it’s the Irish pub feel that creates the rowdy party ambiance; maybe it’s the Special K dropped into unsuspecting cocktails (just kidding, kind of). McFadden’s seems to keep ‘em coming back, no matter the circumstance.
Peculier Pub
Beer is like water for an over-exerted, parched post secondary pupil and luckily, Bleecker Street is virtually a stream amidst dry, Greenwich Village dwellings. Touted as the best bar on the NYU strip, Peculier Pub boasts a menu of over 500 bottled and 17 draft domestic and foreign beers. If not to mingle with the young-and-rowdy, venture to conquer the beer list in the four or five (or six) years you spend on campus. Forget the Medical Microbiology and Immunology degree and major in ‘brew science’ at Peculier Pub.
Bar None
The generous happy hour, lasting until 11PM, makes this an ideal place to hit up before going out. The crowd, rife with NYU students, enjoys the cheap beer, the games on any of the 11 TVs, and the occasional flirtatious game of pool. Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) and Macaulay Culkin (Kevin McCallister) have been known to hit up this dive more than once. Bar None is by no means velvet rope, but for sheer drunken debauchery you could do much, much worse.
Wicked Willy’s
When your class schedule looks like this:
Karaoke Sundays: $3 drink specials and $7 pitchers
Monday Madness: Beer Pong and Flip Cup Competition
with $1 draft, $2 shots and $7 pitchers
Tuesday & Thursday Karaoke: Free drink when you sing
Live Music Wednesday: $3 drink specials and $7 pitchers
Fun Fridays: Live music until 11PM, DJ after 11PM and $4 drink specials
Saturdays: $7 pitchers, $3 shots, $3 beer from 12-5PM and live music from 7-11PM, DJ after 11PM and $4 drink specials
What more could a college student want? A pirate-themed party? Don’t worry, Wicked Willy’s has that, too.
Village Pourhouse
From a city that’s seen it all with tastes as ever-changing as a Port Authority bus line, comes The Village Pourhouse, a multitasking venue that satisfies all your desires in one place. One part Old World tavern, one part sports bar, one part "Red Light" District, and one part "Vegas" Casino, this place is the adult version of Chuck-E-Cheese. But when you strip down all the hype, The Village Pourhouse is basically a sports bar with a college-y scene, offering a wide selection of reasonably priced beers, and surprisingly tasty grub. You can’t help but notice the utterly predictable music, which seems compiled from a would-be mix called Frat House Hits. With nightly drink specials, "White Trash Mondays" where $1.95 Natty Lights are served out of paper bags, and Old School 80's Saturday Nights, there’s enough going on here to keep that pesky post-adolescent ennui at bay.
