Princeton University - Nightlife

Type: Bicker. Cap & Gown Club (Cap) is generally the club athletes join—especially the track and field, softball, football, and field hockey teams—but it is starting to diversify to include more campus groups. Cap easily has the best salad bar on the Street (Prospect Avenue). Noted alumni include Dean Cain ’88 and Brooke Shields ’87.

Type: Bicker. Ivy has always had the reputation for being the stomping grounds of Princeton’s social aristocracy. While it is the only eating club whose members are served dinner on a nightly basis, using tablecloths nonetheless, its events are generally open to all students. Popular events include the annual T.I.-Ivy Olympics.

Type: Bicker. Modeled as a combination of a country cottage and an urban clubhouse, Cottage has tried in recent years to receive historic site status because of its role in the literature of former member F. Scott Fitzgerald ’17, who wrote sections of This Side of Paradise in Cottage’s library, as well as its famous alumni, including former Senator Bill Bradley ’65. Cottage’s membership is primarily composed of student athletes as members of the Greek community.

Type: Bicker. Tiger Inn, or T.I., is the closest thing Princeton has to Animal House. Drawing from some of the more notoriously rowdy athletic teams, such as the men’s lacrosse and wrestling teams, and Greek organizations, T.I. is the best place for late night partying. Many legends surround the T.I. cuisine, usually noting how members chose to eat hot dogs for a month rather than to go without Beast for the last month of school.

Type: Bicker. Tower is home to the majority of the campus politicians and thespians as well as some of the best desserts on the Street. The deck in the backyard allows Tower to throw parties almost every night during Freshman Week before most clubs are open. Members can elect to pay dues based on how much alcohol they consume. Those who claim to be “heavy drinkers” often can be found playing on one of the several Beirut tables in the tap room.

Type: Sign-In. After almost folding in 2000, Colonial Club was taken over by members of the Class of 2002 and has enjoyed a soaring membership in the past few years. Bragging weekly pub nights with homemade pizza and quesadillas, Colonial provides a combination of members-only events, such as an annual wine tasting, as well as open events, including a bevy of opportunities to see DJ Bob.

Type: Sign-In. Also known as the “boaters and floaters” club, Cloister’s hot tub and healthy cuisine draws students primarily from the crew and swim teams. Popular events include “Boaters vs. Floaters” races and competitions. Aside from the notorious Cloister hot tub, the outgoing officers brought in a mechanical bull to celebrate sign-ins week.

Type: Sign-In. Charter used to be home to the majority of the University’s engineers because of its proximity to the E-Quad, but its weekly pub nights and quality food have enabled the membership to expand. Charter members favor live bands to weekly DJs, and recent acts have included American Hi-Fi.

Type: Sign-In. Constantly seeking alternatives to DJs, Quad tends to favor live bands, including Lifehouse, as well as some local bands.

Type: Sign-In. Terrace provides an alternative environment to the other eating clubs. Not only is it the only club not located along Prospect, but it is the only club that permits cigarette smoking in the dining room. The tap room is painted black, and members tend to be a bit more artsy than the average Princeton student.

Because of its proximity to Firestone Library, the Annex is popular with both students and faculty. The food and drinks are affordable, and the happy hour specials are difficult to pass. The Annex also hosts pub nights for the senior class each year.

D-Bar, in the basement of Pyne Tower, is a student-run, members-only bar for Graduate College students. One of the only non-profit bars in the country, the D-bar offers cheap drinks (everything is sold at cost), live music, DJs, and karaoke.

Most students will not go to the Yankee Doodle Tap Room during their undergraduate career, as it is mostly Nassau Inn patrons who go there. The cocktails are relatively expensive for a student budget, and it has the definite feel of a hotel bar.

The Ivy Inn, not to be confused with the Ivy Club, is conveniently adjacent to Hoagie Haven. Featuring nightly specials, the Ivy Inn does not even pretend to have any class, and it is a good place to go as an alternative to the Street.

While the beer and cocktails may be more expensive than what other bars in town have to offer, the atmosphere at Triumph is worth the cost. Whereas Winberie’s is popular for young professionals in their 30s, local twenty-somethings flock to Triumph. The beer is made on-site, and the food is fantastic.

Winberie’s is popular with local thirty-somethings at happy hour, but the bar is not a regular hang out for University undergrads. The bar is only a small component of Winberie’s, which means that it gets crowded easily.

Even if you are under 21, you can sometimes gain admission to Princeton’s eating clubs, but they sometimes check IDs before serving alcohol. Princeton itself provides Blackbox Inc., a nightclub in the basement of Wilson college for students only. They throw theme parties and have live music, but serve only non-alcoholic drinks.