THE 200 BLOCK

Dirty Sixth gets one reputation and it belongs to the 300 and 400 blocks: loud, packed, twenty-somethings bouncing club to club from ten o'clock until the lights come up. That's real, and if that's your night, go get it.

But one block west, between Brazos and San Jacinto, is the block nobody tells you about. The 200 block has everything a full night needs without you ever crossing the street twice. A secret burger bar across from the Driskill. A discreet New York Irish pub. Live blues and rock all day, every day. A doughnut shop. A sports bar with pub food that's better than it has to be, connected to a fried chicken counter, sitting under Redban's comedy club, with a speakeasy the size of a closet hidden behind all of it. A piano bar. A skaters' and dirt bikers' bar with open mics around the clock. The newest live music room on the street. A 24-hour corner store. And at the end of the block, Blindside: tattoos and piercings upstairs from noon to 2am, a dispensary next to them, and a nightclub with an LED ceiling underneath.