Destination USA

The USA Nightlife can be extremely different from state to state. For instance, “Last call“, or the time just a bit before a bar closes can be as early as 12:45 a.m., or as late as 5 a.m.. (Use the link to check out the one for your state). Also, within the state itself, cities and towns often have the right to impose their own restrictions. The same is valid for the sale of alcohol: each has its own hours during which alcohol can be sold in bars, or out of the bars. (This Wiki article lists the regulations.) For those reasons, nightclubs might start filling up as early as 10 p.m., or as late as 12-1 a.m..

In brief: to inform yourself of the nightlife available around your future residence, you should do your own research as it’s impossible to summarize the entire information.

Nevertheless, there are a couple of things you should remember. The sale of alcohol to persons under 21 is illegal in all of the states. For this reason, many bars will limit the entrance of clubs to those whose age is below. Others will have a “18 to enter, 21 to drink” policy. Certain dining places which turn into bars at night will be accessible during day to those who are underage, and then will impose the restrictions after a certain evening hour.

In places where the available nightlife is not too “prosperous” (in other words places which have many restrictions, or, simply, not a great variety of possible places to go to), an alternative/supplement to nightlife might be house parties (people organizing an after-party after last call at their house), or fraternity parties for college students. The advantage of fraternity parties is that students who don’t even have 18 years might enter them. Nevertheless, they might also have hour restrictions, and they are often notorious as indecent.

Finally, a last thing to have in mind is the dress code required for nightlife. Large cities who often have crowded nightclubs might have very high requirements concerning the looks of the individuals who enter. For instance, to enter a good quality club in NYC or South Beach Miami, you must “polish” yourself. There’ll most likely be a queue, so you’ll have to wait to enter: a good idea is then to arrive early. In smaller towns, all of that might not be needed. Again, make your own little research depending on where you’ll be living to know exactly what to expect.