Nightlife in Springdale

Ever since Sam Wolfinbarger opened up his downstairs bar in the early '40s, Sam's Cellar has been a favorite watering hole among happy hour crowds, strangers passing through, and neighborhood regulars alike. Guests sip frosty draft glasses and bottles of beer as they dine on wood-fired pizzas, oven-baked penne pastas, and light chicken wraps.

Waxy O'Shea's Irish Pub fortifies merrymakers with a menu filled with hearty, Irish–inspired provisions and flowing libations. Baskets of Waxy's beer-battered Atlantic cod and chips ($9.99) prime thirstpumps for pints of Boulevard ($3.65+), and the irish RLT, stacked with rashers of thick-cut bacon, towers over appetites ($8.99). Sip spoonfuls of bubbly beer-cheese soup ($2.99), and sample authentic edibles with a plate of corned-beef-and-cabbage boxtys, a traditional stuffed pancake drizzled with mustard-tarragon cream sauce ($11.99).

Time Out Sports Bar & Grill sates stomachs with a hearty menu of hunger-busting eats while barkeeps pour on-tap brews and 11 high-def TVs display exciting scenes from gridirons, diamonds, courts, and arenas. Visitors can get their gullets into game shape with a squad of deep-fried spicy pickles ($6.99) or Sex On A Plate, which loads a pile of chili cheese fries with sour cream and guacamole ($7.99). The kitchen's flagship chicken wings can arrive boneless ($7.99), bone-in ($9.99), or brandishing novelty caveman bone clubs. Mandibles test their munching mettle on customizable cheeseburgers, which can tower up to four patties high ($5.99 for one, plus $1.99 per additional patty) and sport a crowning spire of bacon ($0.50 extra), just like Notre Dame Cathedral.

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.

Andy Williams designed his Moon River Theater to echo the beauty of the surrounding Ozark Mountains. The façade sits amid 16 acres of foliage, rock formations, and waterfalls to not only enhance live performances with a sense of natural discovery, but also to speak to conservation. In 1992, the state of Missouri recognized the venue's environmental efforts by granting it the Conservation Award for Developed Land Use. And that sense of conservation seeps into the theater's three lobbies as well. Koi swim through ponds, flora creeps toward the ceiling, art and performance pictures from Andy's private collection grace the walls, and wild rams hold head-butting matches in the restroom.

With iridescent miniature golf courses in malls throughout North America, Glowgolf adds elements of phosphorescent fun to shopping sessions. Courses contain sights such as light-defying blush corals, incandescent animals, and lush foliage reminiscent of the glowing trees on Neptune. Each pass is good for three 18-hole games, giving golfers ample opportunity to get familiar with each hole's obstacles. Equipment is available on the spot, so players won't have to carry around personal clubs or seek out a bioluminescent caddie.