The best U.S. cities for nightlife and late-night cravings

This one goes out to the late-night revelers—the party hoppers who don’t stop dancing until they see the sunrise—there are a lot of you out there. In fact, if you’re taking a Lyft ride after midnight on Friday or Saturday, there’s a better-than-20-percent chance you’re headed out to a bar, club, or other entertainment venue. And when you get home at the crack of dawn, the night isn’t over. After all, that’s when the after-party starts—or, at the very least, when you satisfy those late-late-night (or early-early-morning) cravings.

According to a new Harris poll survey, nearly half of the people who go out regularly said they prefer to take a rideshare home after a night out with friends, while 70% of people who go out regularly think eating afterward is one of the best or better parts of the night. And of those people, more than 70% said they’ve ordered food delivery from their rideshare so it would be waiting for them when they got home—the ultimate late-night hack.

So, where are people going—and what are they ordering on the way home? To find out, Lyft dug into its internal data as well as data from new partner DoorDash to discover the best cities for nightlife, the most popular spots, and the most popular late-night delivery orders.

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Best Cities for Nightlife and Their Late-Night Cravings

Sometimes the best part of going out is satisfying the late-night munchies when you get home. In fact, of adults who go out regularly, more than 40% are already thinking about what they want to order for delivery while they’re out—or before they’ve even left the house.

And according to DoorDash data, that means one thing for most people: french fries. Fries are by far the most popular late-night order. (Surprisingly, crickets are the fifth-most-popular order among the U.S.’s most-hopping nightlife cities. Guess humans aren’t the only ones in need of late-night bites—lizards need snacks too!)

But every city has its unique obsession. So here are the best cities for nightlife, and the foods they love more than any other U.S. city.

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Winner: Austin, Texas

The best city for partying is Austin, Texas, where a whopping 23% of all Lyft rides on weekend nights this past year were to bars and entertainment venues. Austin’s nightlife pedigree can be traced back to at least 1991, when the city proclaimed itself the “Live Music Capital of the World.”

The top-visited late-night bar in Austin is Latchkey, which bills itself as “A Bar and a Daycare Center for Adults.” Austinites stay latest at the Highland Lounge, a gay club where over a third of rides occur after 2 a.m. Locals are most likely to visit Back Lot, a relatively relaxed spot with a patio, pool, and darts. And the hottest late-night destination is the funky live-music joint Mama Dearest, which saw the biggest percentage increase in late-night visitors.

But no matter when Austinites get home, the night is still young—at least judging by how many of them order green tea or a ready-to-drink cocktail so they can keep the energy up and the party going. When it comes to late-night munchies, they bring the heat with spicy tortilla and corn chips, and the sweet with ice cream and gummy candy.

Honorable Mention: Columbus, Ohio

Austin is followed closely by Columbus, Ohio—where nightlife is primarily driven by the OSU student body (campus hits include Out-R-Inn and Midway on High).

And Columbusites are working up an appetite when they go out—of the cities where people order on DoorDash the most, Columbus ranks in the top 15. They particularly love comfort-food favorites like packaged PB&Js—proving you never outgrow the classics!

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Best Cities for Late-Night Glam

Winner: Miami

The 1992 headline “Splashy, Flashy Miami” still holds true. Over 7.5% of rides taken to nightlife destinations in Miami and Miami Beach last year were Lux rides, i.e., a higher-end vehicle. (Perhaps that’s not too surprising, given that Miami was recently deemed the nation’s luxury car capital.) That was particularly the case for rides to clubs like E11EVEN, where one out of every seven Lyft rides was a Lux ride.

But why should the revelry end after the club? According to DoorDash, Miamians are likely to keep the bottle service going with late-night deliveries of vodka. And forgetful travelers are also stocking up on the essentials based on late-night orders for toothbrushes and phone chargers.

Honorable Mention: Atlanta, GA

Miami’s northern neighbor, Atlanta, is next up, with Lux rides accounting for more than 5% of late-night rides. One top destination? The Atlanta nightclub Revel, where celebrities like T-Pain frequently turn up. Atlanta is torn between vodka and tequila for its favorite pour, but it’s not just about the hard stuff—top non-alcoholic orders included lemonade and lemon-lime soda, a refreshing staple to keep it fun and citrus-y at all hours of the night.

The late-night glam isn’t just for the cars. In both Miami and Atlanta, nail polish and nail glue top late-night beauty orders on DoorDash, confirming the perfect manicure might just be the ultimate form of personal pampering.

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Best Cities for the Latest Nights

Winner: Miami

With last call coming in around sunrise (5 a.m.), it’s no surprise that Miami parties the latest––most notably at Club Space, the 24-year-old venue famous for its after-hour parties.

Honorable Mention: New York

Why is the city not sleeping? Because it’s got places to be. Twenty percent of nightlife rides in New York occur after 2 a.m. Some popular late-night venues include Nowadays, which hosts a summer party called Mister Sunday and receives over a quarter of all ride activity after 2 a.m. Meanwhile, the FiDi Irish pub The Dead Rabbit is the fastest-growing bar (300% increase in rides in the past year), and the dance-y Brooklyn gay bar The Rosemont draws regulars every weekend (two visits per rider, on average).

Of course, real New Yorkers know that a great night can be ruined by a rough morning after. That’s why Manhattanites are most likely to hydrate at the end of the evening, replenishing with bottled water and electrolyte-rich sports beverages as their top late-night convenience orders.

All good things must come to an end, even epic nights out. But hey, if anyone needs an excuse to make a quick exit, they’re not alone. The Harris poll found that half of the adults who go out regularly and prefer to call a car home have used their rideshare’s arrival as an excuse to Irish Exit. And with delivery waiting at home, who could blame them? 

Methodology

Sample: The sample includes all Lyft rides between August 2023 and August 2024, for cities with a large number of daily rides. It also includes late-night DoorDash orders between August 2023 and August 2024 across more than 15 U.S. cities.

Definitions:

• Nightlife rides: The percentage of all Lyft rides that are to/from bars, clubs, and entertainment venues and occur between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weekends.
• Glam Nightlife rides: The percentage of all nightlife rides that occur in a Lux vehicle. 
• Late Nightlife rides: The percentage of all nightlife rides that occur between 3 and 5 a.m. 
• Late-night orders: Orders placed between 9 p.m. and 5 p.m.

This story was produced by Lyft and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.