Nightlife in Dayton

See You Thursday is a winsome Chicago-style troupe of quick-witted improv artists highly experienced at taking the squishy gray clay of the everyday and whittling it into hilarious pieces of glazed and kilned laughter-vases. Over the course of an hour, SYT will perform a wide array of characters subject to audience-suggested themes without a single page of script paper, as everything said and done is an invention of the moment thanks to off-the-cuff comedic wizardry from fast minds and a shared telepathic improvisational energy shared between all of the company members.

After the doors swing open, The Big Bang regales guests with an evening of food, drink, and rambunctious sing-alongs with their crooning cronies. Slap on your party wristband, and you'll receive access to an exclusive party section or patio (weather permitting), a catered buffet, and first-round drinks for only one penny each. Once you've consumed the regulation amount of food and drinks, sing your song onstage in a lilting falsetto or river-dredging baritone. Onstage, a rotating handful of multi-talented melody makers and a team of beer-fueled patrons take turns bleating their favorite bar tunes. Dramatic ivory-fueled combat comes further supplemented by vibrating bass, explosive drums, laser-guided keytars, and other musical weaponry. They'll take any request you like, and their repertoire spans from rollicking rock classics to modern noisemakers such as hip-hop wonder and minor character-actor Xcalade. t the spacious wooden bar for the duration of the party. An energetic, round-the-clock live show encourages hip shaking and feet shuffling under the dim lighting, where the concrete floor lays beaten and defeated from years of foot poundings.

Boston's Bistro and Pub takes beer seriously—17 taps pour a rotating selection of global craft brews, and the beer list teems with more than 100 bottles. A beer garden gives its brews a place to roam outdoors, and an onsite brew school teaches beer enthusiasts the finer points of brewing while instilling etiquette and charm into rowdy porters and stouts. Owner David Boston balances this passion for beer with his family's Hungarian heritage, serving a bistro menu of traditional magyar kolbasz sausage, pork kraut, kosher soft pretzels from Rinaldo's Italian bakery, and Zwack slaw and incorporating European meats and cheeses into paninis, pizzas, and spinach salads.

David Boston and his pub trace their history back through the coal mines of West Virginia and the factories of Ohio, en route to West Dayton, where in 1927 David's ancestors set up their own business, the Ole Time Bar, on Fifth Street. Boston's Bistro and Pub is the family's latest culinary enterprise, now carrying the torch for fine, frothy brews and Magyar delicacies for more than 30 years.

At The Lazy Chameleon, chefs bring out the best in fresh seafood with tropical flourishes: they serve back-fin crab cakes with creole mustard, for instance, and drizzle cilantro-lime sauce over blackened tilapia. The environs are similarly subtropical, with hanging fishnets and verdant plants enlivening the dining room. In keeping with the jovial atmosphere, guests can try out experimental dance moves to the beat of live music four nights a week or feel the adrenaline rush that accompanies winning a card game at euchre night on Tuesday.

BBR Columbus encourages merrymaking with three bars sprawled across 5,000 square feet, contemporary American comfort fare, and 20 beers on tap in a lively, rock 'n' roll–inspired atmosphere. Chefs infuse the menu's fleet of small plates, wood-fired flatbreads, and gourmet burgers with fresh, local ingredients whenever they're available or materialize in the chef's magic hat. Bartenders stationed behind fully stocked bars unleash craft brews from taps while mixing cocktails with such eclectic liquors as blue curacao and cucumber vodka. Black-and-white photos of famous rock stars gaze down upon revelers gathered amidst cushy orange booths and exposed-brick walls, and more than 25 flat-screen TVs imbue the space with a glow as high-definition as a dictionary written by an abstract poet. Live music occasionally replaces a regularly featured DJ, who furnishes dancers with a suitable soundtrack for rhythmic strolls to the roomy patio.