nightlife

Here lies the deepest jukebox in the city.

How to score tickets for Harry Potter & the Tri(via) Wizard Tournament.

Entourages rush Lower Broadway ’til the wee hours in designer cowgirl boots and matching tiaras and sashes, hustling veiled brides-to-be in and out of honky-tonks. The walkable strip is boisterous yet safe—Vegas without the sleaze.

You need a code to even browse tickets online for the hottest party on race weekend. Luckily, we have it.

A hilly spot with a skyline view perfect for watching the Fourth of July fireworks over downtown, and the edge Flat 12 Bierwerks has on Sun King.

Eleven parties, festivals, and games you won’t want to miss in 2014.

From vow renewals to a Lucille Ball homage, a smooth R&B concert to a Twist-and-shout “Valentine’s Day Is Stupid” Dance Party, here’s a quartet of V-Day options to get your heart beating one way or another.

Though the core list of spirits is limited at Plat 99, there is a sweet emphasis on boutique boozes and local hard liquors.

As every lounge in town rolls out its pre-Prohibition cocktail list—muddling herbs and berries until their wrists go limp—you get the feeling that it’s no shtick here.

Ordering a cocktail here means sitting back and watching while a dapper bartender in a proper vest and wide-knotted tie tinkers with ice cubes and orange peels. The carefully composed drinks are nothing short of cosmic.

“We restored an icon for the city,” says owner Dan McMichael. “And the city has responded.”

You’ll still find young hipster couples mingling with octogenarians, and councilmen brokering deals over a beer.

The stairway to the 1933 (named for the year Prohibition ended) leads back in time. At the top, waitresses in scandalously small red dresses cater to the suits in a lounge that’s as elegant as it is quiet.

With no windows in sight, hours can disappear at this Monument Circle man cave, one of the last bastions for cigar-smokers in the city.

The cocktail menu changes seasonally, so don’t go looking for “the usual.” And the bar offers high-concept snacks ranging from charcuterie to pickles.