Sometimes you and your friends are like, ‘Damn, I just don’t feel like doing the bars tonight.’ And everyone stands around and agrees but then no one can think of anything better, so you end up waiting in line for the Cha Cha anyway while some jerk blows his American Spirit in your face. Good news. We’ve compiled a brief list of alternative ideas for nightlife activities.

Shatto 39 Lanes (3255 W. 4th St. L.A 90020)
Long ago, Star Lanes (the Big Lebowski bowling alley) reigned as Ghetto Bowl Supreme. But today, it’s been torn down to make way for a school, so we have Shatto. The games are cheap, and the crowd ranges from Asian gang members to tattooed hipsters. It’s seriously old school: the balls are returned to you on a wooden rack, no fancy electronic set up, so the leagues prefer to skip this one, meaning you can get a lane on the busiest nights. And if you have to wait, no biggie: they have a really awesome arcade (formerly home to a G’N’R pinball machine, which some collector bought) and incredibly cheap drinks (we’re talking four dollar jack and coke, poured generously into a plastic cup.) It even has the scariest parking lot ever so you can feel like a real rebel conquering the urban jungle that is Little Armenia.

The Regency Theater Insomniac Cinema (7907 Beverly Blvd. L.A 90048)
Sometimes we want to get drunk and rowdy at a movie we know and love on a Saturday night, and we really do not want that movie to be The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Regency has been screening your favorites for years: Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Starship Troopers (it’s someone’s favorite, admit it) Army of Darkness…for eight bucks, at midnight. Recite scenes from Teen Witch. Be horrified at the amount of people in the audience who appear unfamiliar with The Goonies.

Koreatown Karaoke
There are about eight thousand of these places scattered around Koreatown. I personally prefer the old fashioned ‘drunk and making a moron out of myself in front of strangers at a bar/bowling alley’ routine, but I know there are many of you who prefer to keep your singing skills restricted to a small group of friends. These karaoke places rent rooms by the hour, ranging from reasonable to ungodly expensive, and liquor can be costly, although you can easily sneak your own in.

For more on Skip the Bar, Go Off Beat, check out part 2.