There are a lot of bars downtown, most charge cover after a certain time, and on the weekends during a school year there is usually a line after about 11 PM. Sometimes they move quickly, sometimes they don't.
Some great bars:
BW3 - this franchise bar was recently remodeled and they did a fantastic job with the interior. It has high ceilings, great woodwork, pool tables, a dart board, and a good sized bar with probably the largest draft beer selection in East Lansing. It also serves buffalo wings and other foods, and has NTN trivia available. This bar is quite crowded, but it often is much less 'college-esque' than some of the others, meaning if you are a girl you won't have your rear pinched quite as much, and if you are a guy you won't have to beat someone's ass for being a jerk.
The Riv: One of my favorites, because of it's central location and almost never a cover policy. The selection of beer is okay, and you can find some great deals, especially during happy hour. There are 3 pool tables and two really old and almost useless dartboards. This bar gets PACKED, especially on weekends, so come early and avoid the lines. The meat-market quality isn't quite so bad, but it's much more noticable than at BW3
The Peanut Barrel - a pretty small bar on Grand River, but it has its share of regulars. I've noticed that most ppl at he Peanut Barrel fit into four categories.
1) East Lansing locals who are way too old to be anywhere but the Peanut Barrel, and who are almost always drunk, even if it happens to be 11 AM on Tuesday afternoon.
2) The alterna-hippie/hemp wearing peons who seem to want the Peanut Barrel to be their little slice of Ann Arbor(home of MSU's rival university and way, way, way too many offspring of rich ex-hippies). Fortunately most ppl in this category are too baked to be a nuisance.
3) The sneaky pool-shark. The Peanut Barrel probably has some of the best pool players in East Lansing, and they really really really like taking your money. Most of them also fit into the constantly drunk regular category, meaning all the bar workers know and love them, so getting in an argument with them (not that anyone here would ever do that......) usually gets you a ticket out the door.
4) Everyone else. This is obviously what it sounds like...everyone who doesn't fit into any of the first 3 categories.
The Barrel is great for avoiding the typical college drunk testosterone fest, and if you have under 21 ppl with you, it's one of the only places where they can even get in the door past 9 pm. Because of this, however, the bar staff are REALLY anall(apparently anall with one l is 'offensive' even in this context, so I am putting two l's. I assume you get the picture) about carding ppl and work VERY hard to ensure no minors are drinking. Don't be offended.
Rick's American Cafe: This is probably the most widely known East Lansing Bar, as there are versions of it in other college towns, plus it's been around for a while and is generally the only place that gets relatively well known bands to play live. It's also a total meat market, hooch-fest, sorority/frat, testosterone-fest bar. It's not cheap, there's almost always a 3 or 4 dollar cover, and it gets packed, but it's a good place to catch some tunes. Rick's is also hookup central, both in terms of findind post-bar parties and post-bar party 'friends' (wink wink). Rick's is also a good place to get your teeth knocked out by a mob of neanderthals wearing greek letters who you've just angered by mocking their need to 'buy friends.' Not that I know anyone who's had that happen to him...
The Landshark: The Landshark is really easy to write about. Refer to the entry on Ricks, and multiply everything by two. Ricks and the Landshark about a 15 second walk from each other, though I would have appreciated that there be a street crossing involved, so natural selection would have weeded out some of East Lansing's lesser residents (see also: Communications majors)
PT O'Malley's. PT's is an 'irish' bar only in the sense that they have a big neon clover sign in oneof the windows. Aside from that, it's pretty much just like the Riv, a bit laid back, always packed, and always with a cover. It's also sandwiched between Landshark and Rick's, and is right next to Beggar's Banquet (see below)
Beggar's Banquet is a restaurat/bar that is about as far from your typical college bar as you can get. It's quite nice, and the drink prices reflect it. It's a great place to take a date, especially if you know some nimrod is going to steal your date when you go to the bathroom at the other bars.
There's also a spot called Harpers, which brews it's own beer. Their American Wheat beer is good, and cheap. Harpers has a spot for live music and dancing, but I didn't frequent it very much, so I can't say much about it
Troppo - Troppo is where all the Detroit Suburbanite rejects go and spend Daddy's money. They are so cool at Troppo that there's even a dress code. Definitely the place to be if you're someone I can't stand. :)
