Best Bar: Bear’s Lair Pub

Let’s be real. Bear’s Lair Pub doesn’t offer the best beer selection, nor is it a particularly classy joint. But if you ever need an excuse to day drink, this is it. Though lacking a full bar (despite this category being “Best Bar”), Bear’s Lair makes up for it with its punny slogan – “Go Beers” – and the collection of confiscated fake IDs hanging above the bar.

Apparently, Bear’s Lair also has daily happy hours ($2.50 pints!). But it’s better known for its crowded Friday afternoons, and the pub’s weekly Beat the Clock is the way to start off your weekend shenanigans.

It’s always an ordeal to get past the no-nonsense bouncers, through the always-crowded patio of newly-turned 21-year-olds and slip by the occasional older creeper. But once you actually make it to the bar, grab yourself a pitcher and a plastic cup and feel the solidarity around you of students whose only goal is to get fucked up. Might as well join in, since you’ll probably run into everyone you ever met at Cal who you never needed to see again. The best part? You’re in bed by 9 p.m. Oh, and the food isn’t bad, either.

-Jessie Tseng