West Lafayette Nightlife

Formerly Nick's Billiards and Bar, it's reopened as Nick's Nightclub. A new dance floor, two semi private lounge areas, two full bars, and a dj Thur-Sat create the new concept. Still has six excellent pool tables as well.

Dress Code: nothing set in stone, but they'll turn you away if you look too ratty

No trip to Purdue would be complete without a stop at Harry's. Cramped, dirty, smoky, loud - but we wouldn't have it any other way. Once you are inside, pick a spot cause you wont be moving for a while - it takes a good 5-10 minutes to get upstairs when its packed. A great place to hang out with friends at night - and decent food during the day.

Dress Code: Anything.

Saturday through Wednesday, the Cactus is No-mans-land, as it's a country bar, complete with mechanical bull (seriously). Thursday and Friday, though, it turns into a real bar. Well, a college bar, anyways. The music will probably suck, starting the evening as pop, eventually turning into badly mixed techno which will make you want to through things at the dj booth. But chances are you won't notice. Why? Because after the $4 cover charge, drinks are ridiculously cheap. Lots of dart boards, most of which work. Pool tables will be crowded, but you can still probably get one. The Piano Bar, good for a laugh, is a nice place to start, but go early, because once it fills up, you have to wait in a huge line to get back in, even in you only left to use the restroom. Bring your Cactus mug on Thursday.

Dress Code: None. Though I recommend designating a pair of bar shoes, cuz the floor's kinda gross.

Well, this is mentioned in my restaurants page for Lafayette because it's mainly that. But over in downtown Lafayette, you could get a beer here or sit at the bar... it's a pretty quiet place for the most part.

This is another place where the primary activity is drinking and socializing. This is perhaps my favorite place, as it's pretty much a sports bar, and at least I've found that the drinks are a little cheaper. At any rate, before 9pm you can enter if you're under 21, as this is also a restaurant, and you can order burgers and such. Pretty good food too here. There's a pool table in the back, as well. The place is decorated in a kind of auto garage-style, with old gas pumps around the place and many state license plates hanging from the walls. Hey, they even have the NTN Trivia game here, but I rarely see anyone playing it.

Dress Code: Casual, nothing fancy.

Another very popular place at Purdue. I've never been here, but if you go on Thursdays or the weekend, you're sure to find plenty of people here. They have dancing, the Piano Bar, and some pool tables, and overall is just a huge place. The rest of the time is more of a country theme, with line dancing some nights.

This is a pool hall, and they have lots of tables here! This is where I generally go if we go out during the week (or last semester anyway). Tables are pay per play (you know, insert quarters)... they have a bar here of course, plus darts. It's really smokey here, but that's to be expected. Anyway, good place to spend a couple hours on a wednesday night.

Not really a chocolate shop, this place was actually a speakeasy during prohibition days. Then when prohibition ended, it kept the 'Chocolate Shop' name. Anyway, picture the scene from 'Coyote Ugly' when the cop says there are too many people. Well, Harry's regularly is that crowded! You can barely move sometimes, even on some weekdays! But weekdays are the time to come if you want to be able to move. It took us a good 10 minutes on a Friday, once, to move from the lower bar to upstairs. Anyway, this place is probably to most famous at Purdue... it's always busy, but it's definitely for drinking. There's not much else to do but go to the bar and get a mixed drink, a beer, or one of their many shots. They even have free popcorn! :) I'm not sure if I would reccommend this place or not... ok, maybe if you've never been. It's an experience!

It can get pretty crazy here too, especially later on in the evening.

Dress Code: Almost anything