Nightlife in Lebanon

The casual Irish pub, Finnegan's Wake, alongside its restaurant and lounge area, Finnegan's Revival, fuels stomachs with its 17 draft beers, 10 whiskeys on tap, and Irish and American pub fare. Diners can pull apart gooey Guinness cheese fries, sink forks into a gravy-covered shepherd's pie, or bite into beer-battered fish 'n' chips before flinging pucks down the pub's shuffleboard table or participating in Wednesday-night trivia. On the Revival side, which is decorated to look like a cozy Irish cottage with its mantel-topped fireplace, old-fashioned photos, and leprechaun traps, patrons can snuggle into leather couches while devouring specialty pizzas.

Freezing Missouri winter winds howl outside Tropical Liqueurs' fogged-up windows, but inside, the atmosphere is decidedly beach-like. Palm trees and nautical knickknacks decorate the lively interior, but the true stars of this tropically themed watering hole are the frozen-drink dispensers, which churn with colorful, fruity potations. Bartenders load large styrofoam cups with potent slushies made from creative combinations of juices, liqueurs, and fruit purées. They rotate drink selections regularly, spotlighting a toasted-almond concoction one week—packed with coffee liquor, amaretto, and vanilla ice cream—and a daiquiri with fresh strawberries the next. Icy potations in hand, visitors turn their attention to games of pool or flat-screen televisions, which broadcast local sports games or horror movies where local sports games come to a temporary halt when the mascot turns out to be an actual tiger. During warmer months, visitors loll in the sun out on the wooden patio and enjoy the beverages that Inside Columbia hailed as a "Columbia staple" when it dubbed Tropical Liqueurs the Best Place for a Girls' Night Out in 2012.

With its sleek decor of black leather seats, graphic black prints on white walls, gilded mirrors, and a wall of wine illuminated by cobalt lighting, it’s easy to think The Cosmopolitan Bistro is a chic lounge in the city, not an intimate bistro in the Ozarks. That’s exactly the type of feeling founder Liezl Stevenson-Perme was going for when she opened eatery in April 2011, and it has been so successful that it counts music producer and singer Tony Orlando as one if its patrons.

But the decor isn’t the only appealing thing about The Cosmopolitan Bistro. Oversize white plates arrive at tables topped with artfully arranged entrees of upscale American cuisine, such as new york strip steaks, grilled salmon smothered in rosemary-butter-cream sauce, and seared ahi tuna. On certain nights of the week, the bistro comes to life with the sounds of live jazz music, DJ-spun tracks, or auto-tuned baby laughs.