Atmosphere

1. La Salles reopened as a bar and restaurant two weeks ago. Although the dining may need some work concerning service, the bar has a particular ambiance for casual drinking. If there is a long wait for sit down service (sometimes up to two hours) then customers have the option to sit in the lounge area and order drinks and food.

Parkside Taphouse– The outside seating has a particular feeling of a warm summer night spent under twinkle lights with a chilled gin and lavender in your hand. The prices of drinks and eats at this spot may not be ideal for college students, some drinks cost up to ten dollars while an average plate can round up to about twenty. But this place is perfect if you want to spend a night relaxing, playing cornhole and chatting with friends around a rock lit fireplace.

Price

1. Riley’s Bar and Grill– This greek-filled college hot spot gets a lot of heat for being rowdy but the special drink prices here can’t really be beaten by any other popular bar in the area. On Tuesdays, they hold what is called buck night where drinks are sold for one dollar, doubles for two dollars. On Thursdays, the bar holds what they call ‘power hour’ which entails 50 cent shots from 9-10 pm. Fridays are wrapped up with five dollars half pitchers of any drink of your choice.

2. Sierra Nevada Brewery– When thinking about good prices, Sierra Nevada is probably not the first place that comes to mind for college students. But if the system is played correctly, a group of friends is easily able to fill up on delicious appetizers such as free baked bread, beer cheese pretzels and french fries with a few beers for only about seven dollars a person.

3. Aonami Sushi-This new sushi spot on 3rd and Main is the best for happy hour sushi rolls and three dollar Sierra Nevadas on tap. They have a happy hour menu that includes hand-crafted sushi rolls for as low as four dollars and beers on tap for three dollars. Hitting happy hour is the perfect place to take a Tinder date because it’s classy yet inexpensive. Also extremely vegan-friendly!

All around best

1. Peekings Chinese Food is a quaint small front restaurant under Moms on Second and Main. The reason it ranks so high on the list is the enormous serving sizes that come with every meal. The spot is popular on weekend nights because it is a popular place for customers to get a cheap beer (Sierra Nevadas or Tsaingtoa) or Sake. It is not uncommon for groups of college kids to start doing Sake bombs together if they are seated nearby each other. It is a chill place to meet friends and get a lot of delicious food for a solid price.

2. Breakfast Buzz– This place doesn’t get much attention due to its odd hours but what makes it such a hit is the bottomless mimosas that can be ordered at breakfast time. Basically, a meal for the day and seven mimosas all come for the price for 12 dollars. But beware of mimosa brunch, it will indeed have even the most tolerant sending ‘you up?’ texts by 1 p.m.

Nicole Henson can be reached at [email protected] or @nicohenson on Twitter.