Writer David Wood once joked that college was an amazing time—when parents fork over their savings to let kids go to a strange town and spend four years in a bar.
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Seriously, though, the best college bars offer more than cold beers and hot cheese fries. They’re fan headquarters for away games. They’re stages where college bands become national acts. They’re divey, not sleazy, and give visitors an insider’s perspective and memorable stories, like this one from the All-American Rathskeller at Penn State.
“On a Sunday, when we were closed, someone knocked,” recounts owner Duke Gastiger. “The guy said, ‘Do you mind if my grandfather uses your restroom?’ I let them inside. His grandfather shuffles to the restroom, comes back out and yells, ‘Yep, it’s still there!’ He had carved his initials into the bathroom wall on the bar’s opening day in 1933.”
Many of our favorite college bars are steeped in such lore, while continuing to make history and win over newcomers. Ole Miss keeps an open tab at Proud Larry’s, which stocks local beer labels and celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2013 with a live music act each day. Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater, OK, is so beloved that Oklahoma State University recently co-branded with the bar’s mascots, who now take the field on game days.
Football isn’t the only competition that draws folks to college bars. Trivia contests, open mic nights, and retro video games add to the sense of community. Regulars may even be rewarded for their attendance records. At Nashville’s Flying Saucer, those who sample 200 different brews get their names engraved on plates. It’s the kind of quality college-town bar that makes you feel welcome, even decades later and even if you’re not a Vanderbilt alum.
So here’s a toast to the mayhem of college and those bars that make it a great four years (or, in some cases, five…or six). To round out your campus visit, check out the most beautiful college libraries and check in to one of these top college hotels.
See the best college bars in the US >
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Proud Larry’s: Ole Miss
One of Mississippi’s premier live music venues, Proud Larry’s was opened by a few graduates in 1993 and has been going strong ever since. By strong, we mean lines around the block on game days and sold-out shows with musicians like Shannon McNally and Iron & Wine.
The University of Mississippi’s alumni association has an open tab here, and the cooler is lined with state-based labels like Lazy Magnolia Brewery and Cathead Vodka. For its 20th anniversary, Proud Larry’s celebrated with a live band every single day of April 2013.
The Tombs: Georgetown
Down in the Tombs, plaques gleam with the names of the 99 Days Club members, who rose to the challenge of purchasing something daily in the countdown to graduation. Early in the evenings, professors and Jesuits can be spotted among tables crowded with beer pitchers, served by waiters, often students, in preppy oxfords and bow ties.
Comfort food options include the Bulldog burger: organic grass-fed beef, slathered in beer-braised onions, smoked bacon, cheddar, and mustard on a pretzel roll. The Tombs shares a kitchen with 1789, a jackets-preferred, antiques-filled restaurant upstairs that attracts visiting parents.
The Albatross: UC Berkeley
Berkeley’s oldest pub sees a lot of the youngest legal drinkers—along with grad students, faculty, and local book clubs and sports teams. Once called “a community center that happens to sell alcohol,” this is one bar where you can walk in with a stack of pizza boxes and plop down in a booth like it’s your living room.
There are even classic games like Scrabble, Taboo, and Trivial Pursuit. While popcorn is the only food sold, the bottled beer list is 60 labels long, and the 14-handle draft lineup has a sweet spot for Belgians.
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