Although not as rich as the downtown Minneapolis night life, campus night life is diverse, widespread and offers an opportunity to meet other students.
With more than 45,000 students attending the University, a firm base of bars and coffee shops have been established on campus to serve students who find time to go out when they are not writing papers.
Don Bye, general manager of Sally’s Saloon and Eatery in Stadium Village, said 50 percent of his customers are students. “I think there’s a broad mix of students wanting to go out and students wanting to stay home and study.”
For underage students, campus night life limits itself to movies and coffee shops. For students over 21, a number of bars are scattered around campus.
But Molly Alison Howard, a junior in the Inter-College Program, said campus night life involves more parties than bar-hopping.
“It seems to consist of a lot of house parties,” she said. “There’s so many people who would like to be doing something different, yet there are no outlets for them around Dinkytown or Stadium Village except drinking and parties.”
Students can access areas with significant night-life activity, such as downtown and Uptown Minneapolis by bus.
Here is an overview of things to do on campus by neighborhood. Most coffee shops are open seven days a week until midnight, and bars usually close at 1 a.m.

East Bank — Dinkytown
The Dinkytown neighborhood is the home of several bars and restaurants, and it is particularly appreciated for its coffee shops. It’s a popular area for those who want to study.

East Bank — Stadium Village
One of the favorite hangouts for University students is the line of bars, restaurants and coffee shops along Washington Avenue.

West Bank
The West Bank holds an important share of campus night life mainly because of the Cedar-Riverside area, which hosts a number of bars as well as a theater. The area also benefits from an international atmosphere because of its immigrant population.

St. Paul
Night life on the St. Paul campus is limited. The St. Paul Student Center has bowling lanes and billiard tables.

David Anderson covers University communities and welcomes comments at [email protected]