What are some alternatives to bars that stay open late for folks that don't drink alcohol?
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?
Find yourself a hackerspace. They're collective-toolsheds of people around your community who find joy in making things, learning skills, and generally interested in helping teach others the skills that they know.
My local hackerspace, for example - has a 4 axis HAAS CNC, multiple metal lathes, TIG, MIG, Stick welders, leatherworking supplies, access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and lots of woodworking tools. We also had basically every console in existence and others bring in their game libraries for everyone to play.
They are also generally filled with college students that are burning the midnight oil quite regularly but may otherwise be somewhat solitary in their activities.
These places also will kind of locally crowd-fund new machines for people to use. They can vary wildly from space-to-space, some places being filled with old guys who are mostly into woodworking, or filled with young web-devs with no interest in welding, etc. If you are lucky enough to have multiple around your area, visit them all to see which one fits you best.
Also, membership usually includes 24/7 access to the space via controlled entry (membership keys, etc)
Is hackerspace the common term for these? I think I've also seen makerspace, or at least it sounds like there's overlap. I may have to do some more searching along these terms, but any time I've read of these it seems like they're more around larger cities or university towns/cities, which I don't happen to live in at the moment.
Hackerspace is the original term, but some places call themselves Makerspaces instead because "hacker" has a negative connotation with the common populace. A hack, in the original sense is almost equivalent to 'redneck engineering'. It's a non-formal environment, probably doing non-standard things...thus a hack.
They are generally found around larger cities, universities, etc -- there's not enough population otherwise to keep them running as they're generally member-funded, and they still gotta pay things like rent.
Fablabs are similar, but corporate-owned and you're expected to use tools and GTFO; not stick around and be social.
I didn’t know about these and found one in my city. Thanks for the tip!
I like this idea. I found one in my city that's not even that far away. I might have to check it out
Same. I also found one in my city, might have to come by sometime.
Dance clubs, comedy shows, open mic, tabletop gaming clubs.
LAN parties (showing my age).
It depends where you live, but my go-to was 24 hr cafes and other food places, but there are also other activities like late night fishing, long drives (or rides), night photography, etc
Crack houses are usually open 24/7 and while you can drink alcohol there, you're not expected to do so
Crack isn't optional though, it's either crack in your veins, or your neck getting cracked.
There isn’t much drinking at swingers clubs. At least not in the public areas.
ಠ_ಠ
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.
It really depends where you are - some places have a lively late night culture, others not so much.
All night diners, 24 hour fast food places are really the only alternatives here (though you could count movie theatres with late showings, I guess).
But (unless you have personal reasons for not being around alcohol and drinkers), you can totally go to a bar with a vibe you like and just hang out drinking soda. Bonus points if that bar has something cool available aside from just booze (barcades, live music venues, etc.).
If you're not looking to specifically be around people, you could also just check out some green space outdoors, but keep your wits about you and use your judgement - some places are lovely to chill at 3:00 am, some would be if it wasn't for the sketchy folks shooting up.
One of my absolute favourites is an arcade bar near me that stays open late. I don't usually drink there but I'll go and hang out with mates, get some chips and play some retro arcade. Super chill vibe and people there all seem way more chill than most pubs or bars I've been to!
Echoing the outside thing. I love to sit on a deck chatting with friends on a warm summer night. There are some biking trails with minimal street crossings nearby that make for a great late night stress-relief ride with or without a friend. I have met a lot of snowboard/stoner/skater bros late at night on trails. Find an abandoned bridge or other public infrastructure and watch the stars while munching on some 24h takeout.
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.
Why the fuck would you hang out at WinCo foods in the middle of the night. Just get a fucking graveyard shift job.
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 :)
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.
Sheetz if you're in the North East US
Have you considered going to a bar and drinking whatever you want?
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
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.
We have a sandwich shop that runs 24 hrs from Tuesday morning until Saturday night. I've picked up late night supper there and seen people playing cards, etc and just generally hanging out for long stretches.
When I was younger my buddies and I went to a 24 hr diner and played magic into the wee hrs, occasionally leaving only when the earliest breakfast crowd started to roll in.
I hope you tipped well, lol. my tabletop RPG group may have been known to do this. the waitress kept us up on coffee, so yeah, we might have tipped for the time rather than the percentage of the bill. probably the only reason we never got kicked out.
I had a group like this when I was the graveyard shift at Denny's. I'd get them three apps for eight people, slap down two liter jugs of coke, and they'd collectively leave me about twenty bucks for basically no work on my part. Nice kids, they were usually in there once a week and they always called ahead to make sure it was okay.
They played Vampire: Masquerade, which honestly seems like a depressing setting but they were into it.
Plus a table of customers/witnesses through the small hours of the morning can't hurt, makes the staff feel a little bit better.
Pre covid we had a game group we found on meetup. We'd go on Wednesdays to Fuddruckers, buy an appetizer and some drinks and then just rove from table to table and play what game seemed good. Made some neat casual friends that way. Our group would rent out the back room every week. Post covid we couldn't afford the appetizer (went back to school for a better job. Poverty yay!) so our game nights have been at home.
Bowling Alleys (some), late night museum tours, late night roller skating.
They all have exposure to alcohol still. But can be enjoyed sober.
Diners, if in the US is waffle house still a thing..?
Unfortunately at least in central Europe essentially everywhere except bars/clubs closes pretty early.
Hanging out at your friend's place with some board-games or movies. (cheaper too!)
Until you really get into board games too haha
Ain't that the truth!
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.
Several of my friends in my mid 20s didn't drink, so we usually would hang out at hookah bars. They are great, especially if they are allowed to serve food where you live. Most at least serve tea and other non-alcoholic beverages. I can give you a few pointers for first-timers if you are interested.
Pool halls. I think some bowling venues. Less common, we have a cafe full of hundreds (maybe thousands) of board and card games. They’re only open until 11pm, but that’s still a place to socialize and meet up with people at night.
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.
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.
Denny's.
MacDonalds has wifi
You can check out https://soberbarsnearme.com
Thanks!
heh. I checked my city of 100,000. Nada. Next town over. They've got 60,000. Zilch. Next town over. 20,000. Nope. I went the other direction. 120,000. Nah. 125,000. Null. 450,000 folk in my county and not one ping on that map. I know there are mocktails served just about everywhere I go. I'll try to flesh out the map because it looks like it's just got Portland and LA on my coast. I just make it to bars like once or twice a quarter.
That's unfortunate but not terribly surprising.
Humans will build a bar as soon as there are more than two people that want to drink but you typically need much larger populations before you get a sober community at all. You usually only get dedicated sober spaces when those communities get big enough.
Fortunately, as many others on this thread have pointed out, there are many sober options beyond dedicated sober spaces.
Probably coffee shops
If it's to hang out with friends then those private karaoke rooms are a lot of fun
In Canada we call that Tim Hortons
McDonald's is this Canadian's choice. Better coffee.
Unfortunately, here in Ottawa the McDonald's best enjoyed late at night is closed forever :( RIP 99 Rideau, you were sketchy as fuck but wonderful for those who liked dinner and a show after the bars closed (and knew to keep your mouth shut, lest you become part of the performance)
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/end-of-an-era-rideau-street-mcdonald-s-officially-closes-1.6378473
Diners.
You might be able to find a gym that stays open late.
When I was an 18 year old high schooler, we would go to our towns bowling alley that did last call for a game at midnight. We would also go to a hookah lounge, which was open until 2am. YMMV with these, but they worked for me about 6 or 7 years ago.
Dessert places. Ice cream, waffles, all that kind of thing. There are a few around here that are always busy 10-12pm.
Casinos
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.
There used to be this all night donut shop in Austin. Might still be, but I moved out like a decade ago.
Restaurants are also open quite late, but a dinner is more expensive, and they often turn to bars. That said there is a huge variety in bar, not all are either the start the party here before clubs open or drink all night to forget and tons are family friendly places where you can, also get a soft drink and enjoy their terrasse/garden
Clubs. Activites. Local Theater. Rehearsals go to something like 10 pm quite often. They are social, fun, and you have a common goal. Drinking is not allowed.
Denny's
Denny's back when people could smoke inside were a veritable hive of scum and villainy even without alcohol.
https://thehardtimes.net/culture/dennys-smoking-section-last-place-man-felt-truly-alive/
Truly a magical place
Dance clubs. Most have alcohol available but it isn’t a required part of the experience. The people I know who go out dancing the most don’t drink.
But it depends what you’re looking for. If being near alcohol in any way would be a problem, that changes things.
daycare /s
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
