Ingredients For The Perfect College Bar

Earlier this week, Complex.com released a list of more favorite college watering holes from around the nation, and we’re thrilled because they clearly follow CollegeCandy’s winning recipe for a perfect college bar.

By Ashley Lee

What’s the winning recipe? We’re letting you in on it so you can determine if your favorite college bar belongs on the list — or if it needs a little work (read: mood lighting).

Cheap prices. We college students thrive best on fast food dollar menus and free food found at campus events, so it’s not surprising that the same frugal attitude floats into our college bars. Ideally we’re ordering pitchers all night long for the low, low cost of one regularly-priced drink. Or, if we’re lucky, one dollar.

Game tournaments. Trivia Thursdays, Flip Cup Fridays, and Beer Pong Saturdays! We are going to play the games anyway, so the bar might as well host them weekly. They make a buck off our drunkenness and save us the chore of cleaning up the party fouls!

Themed nights. Appropriate attire for toga parties and ’80s night means no cover charges, aka a good time in costume outside the frat house. Better than the bar crawl on Halloween, and it keeps those hilarious walk of shame photos fresh every weekend.

Chill bartenders. Nothing kills a buzz like a pretentious bartender, so hire ones serving with a smile beyond the last call. And we definitely don’t mind the occasional hook up – free drinks are always our favorite thing on the menu!

Efficient bouncers. We college students are smart, and we are well aware that the bar is not yet at full capacity when we’re waiting in line to get in. So let’s save us both some time (and frozen hands) by checking our IDs and letting us in a bit quicker. (And while we’re at it, we wouldn’t mind the occasional waived entry fee, either.) But if we have to wait for a while, feel free to showcase that friendly personality while taking a few group pictures for us.

Timely music. Hey Mr. DJ, I know I’ll be in the mood for hip hop hits until 11pm and house music until 1:30am, but after that, we sloshed college girls would love to hear the sing-a-long for a while. So play the favorites like “Since You Been Gone,” “Party in the USA” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” and feel free to join is as well, because we will be way too busy noddin’ our heads like yeah and movin’ our hips like yeah to notice.

Low lights. We really don’t want to see other people’s stress pimples or their cheap mascara running down their face from all the sweat. But it’s going to happen. Lowering the lights keeps things blurry and exciting and we’d love to have the benefit of the doubt when we’re talking to the cute guy from class.

Close location. Not only does this save us money on cabs, but it makes that whole “let’s go home and watch a movie” transition a whole lot smoother.

Air conditioning. With all the previously mentioned perks of your fine establishment, it is obvious that this college bar is fully stocked with happy sippers. With all that profit lying around, there’s no reason not to invest in a stronger air conditioning system – maybe one with an air purifier built-in and the occasional oil candle to mask the body odors of those who forgot to coat their pits with deodorant. And then dance with their hands up. Right next to my face. I may be drunk, but I still have to breathe!