College Station - The ideal college town

If you are here for school, recruiting, or visiting, there is ALWAYS something to do (college students never rest).

Not to miss:

Northgate - the big group of bars on University Drive across from Texas A&M...

Aggie Football games - The loudest crowds in the world! (or at least we think so!)

The Bonfire Memorial/Bonfire. A national tradegy... I have never been so touched by so much outpouring of emotion when it happened - November 18, 1999 will forever reside in every Aggie's heart. 2002 should bring a new Bonfire tradition, but we will always remember.

George Bush Presidential Library - big enough and grand enough to make any Texan proud. Don't miss the mockup of Air Force One!

Go country dancing - if you're gonna do it, do it right at Harry's or The Texas Hall of Fame ("The Hall"). Some of the best dancing you'll ever see.

Quick Tips:

Parking at A&M is no picnic. Visitors get special priveleges (remember that if you get a parking ticket on campus). As for parking on Northgate: If you get there early (before 10), you can park on the street. If not, there's a pay lot (/hour) behind all the bars.

Keep an open mind: You've heard all the Aggie jokes and that A&M (College Station) is full of hicks. It's really not. Sure, there are some good-ol-boys walking around, but that's true of anywhere in Texas. But A&M is not called "the friendliest university" for nothing! It's a great place with great people just looking to have a good time.

Best Way To Get Around:

Driving is the best way to get around, but walking is a necessity on campus and on Northgate.

The food is cheap and the margaritas are VERY good and cheap($2 during happy hour... till 7 PM) and it's all served up in a very fun atmosphere. If there is a wait (usually weekends), it's not as bad as most other restaurants in CS, and you actually notice the progression of people constantly being seated. Regardless of the wait, you can hang out in the bar where there are a few tables and TVs and have a couple of their margaritas (lime, strawberry (ask for sugar on the rim!), sangria, or twisted).

The entire restaurant is painted in hues of oranges, pinks, greens, and turquoises with christmas lights strung everywhere along with colorful paintings and other mexican crafts. Very festive and fun. There is a large indoor seating area inside and a fairly sizeable covered porch area (WONDERFUL when the weather is nice).

Their food consists of the typical mexican food fare. I am particulary fond of their quesadillas and i hear their sour cream enchiladas are good. Chips & salsa are also served immediatly upon your seating. I do recommend their "apple sizzler pie" (or whatever it's called...) - it is excellent. Yum.

The story of Freebird's... Supposedly there was a student at a school in CA that wrote his senior marketing thesis about his vision of "building your own burrito" establishment. After he graduated, he opened the first Freebird's in CA. The second Freebirds (I think) is the one on Northgate (on University) in College Station. He originally said he would only build them in college towns, and now there are 3 in College Station and one in Austin and I hear they are franchising now.

Anyway, the way it works is you stand in a line, looking at the decor: brick walls, hanging motorcycles/life-size Statue of Liberty holding a burrito, aluminum foil creatures and sculptures by the patrons lining the walls, and writing on the walls is encouraged at the one on Northgate... The lines are usually long, especially on football weekends. When you make it up to the counter, someone will ask to help you and you choose your size (regular, monster, or super-monster) and type of tortilla (flour, spinach, wheat, or cayenne), and then you choose all your fillings (rice, type of beans, cheese, steak, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, guac, sour cream, etc.) and sauce (hot, mild, habenera, or BBQ). Everyone has their own "burrito" and you will learn what you like. At the end of the "line" you check out and get a cup for your drink. And then, if you don't finish it, they provide all the aluminum foil you need to re-wrap it and take it home. It's almost better re-heated. They also serve tacos, quesadillas, and other stuff. The quesadillas are greasy, but good. However, it's a tradition to "embaress" anyone who orders anything but a burrito by calling their name over the loudspeaker when their food is ready (more of a big deal at the Northgate location).

I do not even like the "real" Mexican burritos, but these are nothing like that. They are GOOD.

Just ask all the air force pilots who stop here on test flights JUST to go to Freebirds!!

Before I became the big margarita buff that I am, Fajita Rita's was my favorite restaurant in College Station. Their food is just excellent. They make their own tortillas in the middle of the restaurant and they are so good: soft and fluffy... yum! Based on their tortillas, I always get fajitas (they will always bring you more tortillas for free!). Their fajitas are very good and cheap ($7 for one, $12 for two, etc). They come with three "sides" (cheese, sour cream, guac, or whatever you want), and then beans and rice, so it's an excellent deal! The atmosphere is very upbeat and their decor is very lively and colorful, consisting of typical bar-fare, texas stuff, and Mexican restaurant stuff. The walls are painted in all different colors. There is also a bar with a few TVs in the center of the restaurant.

Ok, but like I said before: I don't go here much anymore. Their margaritas are just ok. They taste alright, but they don't have much alcohol in them. Garcia's and Ninfa's are the best place in town for good margaritas. However, Fajita Rita's is a great place to go for Mexican food, on a date, with a big group, or with your family.

Antonio's Pizza is a Northeast transplant. There are three Antonio's Pizza locations in the world: two in Boston and one in College Station, TX. Why College Station? I have no idea, but I'm happy they are there.

Located on a side street off the "main drag" in CS, the storefront is not much to look at, and the inside decor consists of nothing fancy. They do have the requisite Texas A&M garb and a mural adorning the walls, and a place for college kids to write their names.

So, the food. At the counter, you can see all the pizzas they have sitting out. There's also a menu on the wall so you can see the names of all the pizzas, including the specialty pizza of the day (chicken cordon bleu pizza is a recurring one). All the pizza is NY-style (i.e. thin crust), and it's SO GOOD. Once you decide what kind you want, you point it out to the friendly server, and he throws it on two paper plates (each slice is too big for a single plate), and throws it in the oven to heat it up. Our favorite pizzas are the Hawaiian (I always get a slice of it when I go), beef taco, potato bacon, the Bomb, and Tomato Pesto. The only "bad" slice I ever had involved artichokes, portabella mushrooms, and red peppers - it was the specialty pizza of the day. I just didn't like the taste of it, but I did eat the entire piece because bad pizza from Antonio's is still GOOD!

Each slice costs $2-3 or an entire pizza costs $9-15. You pay at the counter and take note of whatever clever sign (made out of a paper plate) they have on their tip jar. It will make you want to tip them for being so creative.

Soft drinks, Sobe, and bottled water are the drinks available here, although you may see drunk college kids here if you are here on the weekend after 2am. It's a popular late night spot since it's located near the bars.

Anyways, this is the best pizza I've ever had in Texas (the best I've had was in Boston, actually, but I'm going to Chicago in two months, so we'll see if I find something better!).

Coupe's is a shot bar that has over 100 shots available that are all listed on the wall and they will make any shot that you want. It's a great place to "start" before you go to other bars. It's 21 and up, and very narrow (3 to 5 foot walkway through the whole bar)... It's dark, wet (the roof leaks, I guess) and they play techno and popular music. The best thing about this place, however, are the guys serving up the shots (there are also shot girls that walk around)... Apparently it's a requirement to have NICE arms and wear wife-beaters, cuz they all do. They are really nice and are willing to make up a shot with whatever your favorite liquor is.

If it's your birthday, tell them... you get a free shot... (It's this way with almost every bar on Northgate, but Coupe's is the best)

Located in the center of the strip of bars called "Northgate," across from Texas A&M University, The Chicken is the best known bar in College Station. The beer is cheap, and it is always packed.

It has been around almost as long as A&M itself, and I don't think they've dusted in all that time. The wooden walls are covered in all kinds of bar paraphernalia and dead animals, and the tables are covered in carvings. It is a college crowd... although parents and Old Ags often venture in to reminisce. This is the primary hangout of the "Aggie Corps of Cadets," so you will always see a lot of them in there.

The food at the Chicken is served in the back kitchen and consists of hamburgers and "Tiajuana Fries" (cheese covered fries with ranch).... It's cheap and GOOD.

A well-circulated "fact" is that more beer is served each night per square foot of the Chicken than any other bar in the world.

The bathrooms are a little icky... go to another bar if you have to go.

If you get the chance, you should definitely go. Kyle Field has two sections: the Students, and the Alumni. The student side is the side that stands the whole game (to represent the 12th man) and the "Alumni" get to sit. There are also sometimes fans from the opposing team, but they are usually a small fraction of the crowd.
Aggie football fans are notorious for their noise level. The opposing teams often have a hard time concentrating because of this, and it's amazing to hear. If you've ever watched an Aggie game on tv, you know you can hear us. The school spirit consists of many "yells" that are directed by the "yell leaders" every few minutes or so. Each one has a reason, and EVERY student knows all the words. Anywhere in CS, you always know when a football game is going on (the town is almost empty and you can hear it!).
At halftime, you get to watch the Amazing Aggie Band. They put on one of the best shows and you definitely don't want to miss it. They march entirely in sync, and it's just amazingly impressive.
The stadium (with the addition of the new Zone) holds over 80,000 people, and it continues to set records for the largest football crowd in Texas.

There are several country & western dancing places in CS. The "place" to go varies from semester to semester, but Harry's is always cool. Located almost directly across from campus, it is one of the most well-known places to drink and dance in CS and in a great location. Thursday nights are "dancing nights" for most of the Texas A&M students.

There are special cover charges every Thursday night ("Ladies get in Free," "Aggie Ring Night," or "18 & up free before 10"), all designed with the budgeting college student in mind! Drink special range from 50 cent well drinks/$1 beers till 11 to $1 jello shots all night. Even without drink specials, the beers and drinks are never more than $2.50 and even the biggest mixed drink (a large Long Island) is $7.

Harry’s started out as one dance floor and then around ‘95, they expanded to more than twice the original size. Regulars refer to the two areas as the "old side" or "new side." The "old side" is smaller, with a well-worn small wooden dance floor, two bars, several booths on the dance floor, and a few off to the side, a few pool tables, and a small space to walk around the dance floor. The "new side" is larger and "upstairs" (8 steps up), it's A/C works better, it has a bigger wooden dance floor, two bars, several booths, a couple pool tables, the DJ booth, and an upstairs "hanging out" area. For some reason, the "new side" seems to attract the people who don't dance at all (they sit in the booths over there) and the REALLY good dancers (the dance floor is usually not as crowded). The "old side" attracts the regulars and almost everyone I seemed to know, and the good dancers. Both sides are decorated with the requisite-College Station bar stuff: dead, dusty, stuffed animals, beer neon signs, and antique signs.

Dancing is a serious thing at Harry's. Almost everyone there can two-step, polka, waltz, and jitterbug. Some are members of Texas A&M dancing teams. If it's a fast song and you don't know what you're doing, you'll get run over! During slow songs, most of the GOOD dancers get off the floor to cool down and let the people who can only two-step fight their way through the crowds of people who rush the floor during slower songs. Harry's also plays a set of rap/dance/hip-hop music for about 20 minutes of every hour. It's a good mix.

Harry's is a great place on Thursdays (get there early on "peak" nights like the first Thurs after classes start!). It's also great with a group of friends on a Saturday night also. Fridays are kinda EH. But, it's a fun time with cheap drinks and a fun atmosphere. If you're into country music, and maybe even if you're not, you'll have a great time!