If not downtown, where........ (Miami, Springfield: house, restaurants, club)

[plattsburgher]

would there be a place that has an assortment of adult nightlife, restaurants, dance, bands, etc. in the area..........I keep hearing that downtown is NOT the place to look for any of that. Even if we have to drive 30 to 45 minutes, can you give suggestions for local bands/nightlife that are not dives. Thanks.

[TREE4309]

There's still an assortment of nightlife downtown, it's just a little spread out with exception of the Bay Street Entertainment District, which has four bar/dance clubs (Ivy Ultra Lounge, Mark's, Dive Bar, TSI), there's a couple spots at the corner of Ocean & Adams (London Bridge British Pub, Burrito Gallery's bar and outside patio), there's Twisted Martini and Maverick's at the Landing, there's The Pearl dance club and Shantytown Pub just north of downtown in Springfield. Then a whopping 2-3 minutes from downtown you have even more venues in San Marco (Locals, Square One, Jack Rabbits, etc.) and in Riverside/Five Points (Starlite Cafe, Wall Street, O'Brothers Irish Pub, Walkers Wine Bar, Kickbacks Gastropub, etc.). If you can't find a place to have a good time in and around downtown, then you've got issues.

[projectmaximus]

Originally Posted by plattsburgher

would there be a place that has an assortment of adult nightlife, restaurants, dance, bands, etc. in the area..........I keep hearing that downtown is NOT the place to look for any of that. Even if we have to drive 30 to 45 minutes, can you give suggestions for local bands/nightlife that are not dives. Thanks.

Miami?

No, seriously, tree gave you a good rundown. Some of those places could be "dives" though depending on what your definition is.

I think there's also a few clusters of nightlife out at the beaches.

[plattsburgher]

Are most of those clubs you mentioned (thank you very much for the rundown....!) all-ages friendly? Are there any that are more set up for the twenty-something crowd? We were on a cruise ship a few months ago that seemed to cater to that particular age group and many clubs do......nothing wrong with that, but we would feel more comfortable in a club that isn't techno/hip-hop 24/7. Is that possible? Are there any of the ones you mentioned that would be better for 40 to 50 age group? We aren't Bobby Darin/Elvis either.............more like the type of groups at all the House of Blues/Hard Rocks........lots of all ages.
Thanks a bunch.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by plattsburgher

Are most of those clubs you mentioned (thank you very much for the rundown....!) all-ages friendly? Are there any that are more set up for the twenty-something crowd? We were on a cruise ship a few months ago that seemed to cater to that particular age group and many clubs do......nothing wrong with that, but we would feel more comfortable in a club that isn't techno/hip-hop 24/7. Is that possible? Are there any of the ones you mentioned that would be better for 40 to 50 age group? We aren't Bobby Darin/Elvis either.............more like the type of groups at all the House of Blues/Hard Rocks........lots of all ages.
Thanks a bunch.

That was a good list from Tree. For the 40+ crowd, I think you'd like Mark's (downtown) and maybe London Bridge (though it's a bit dive-y ). A lot of the downtown scene is for the youngsters though .

In San Marco you'll probably see more of the 40 year old crowd. If Square One/Pom's is still open (weren't they shutting down the club portion??), that's a good one. Also try The Grotto, it's a nice wine bar and it's just next door to Square One.

If you venture out to the beach, there is a cluster of pubs along the beach. Fionn MacCool's is mellow. Lynch's is across the street and while not mellow, anyone can walk in there and be comfortable (read: kind of a dive, but fun ). There's also Fly's Tie, Culhane's...

[TREE4309]

Square One is very much still open...Pom's (the Thai restaurant upstairs from Square One) was sold...not sure if it's closed or another restaurant opened in it's place. If I was 40-50 and hanging out in and around downtown, I'd be at Square One (San Marco), The Brick (Avondale), Orsay (Avondale), Mark's (Bay St.), Bold City Brewery (Riverside), Walker's Wine Bar (Riverside), Layla's (San Marco) or O'Brothers (5 Points).