What College Students Can Do In Downtown Arlington

Coming from a different perspective and growing up in a different area of Texas, I love this city and truly appreciate what it has to offer.

I spend if not all my spare time, most of it, venturing out in downtown Arlington. It has many, many great places that even a local might not know about. There are many small business, local bars and traditions.

One of my favorite places to go to in downtown Arlington is J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill. Their customer service is fantastic. If you go there enough owner Randy Ford and the rest of his gang will begin to serve you your “regular” and call you by name. I have found that J. Gilligan’s is great for families on the restaurant side, and great for catching up with friends over a few beers on the bar side. I have also loved that they offer free Wi-Fi in both sides of their restaurant, which makes it great for college students to meet up for group projects and while enjoying their famous Irish Nachos.

Another fantastic place I enjoy going to, is the Levitt Pavilion. If you like picnics and live music, this is definitely for you! What a great place to relieve some stress from studying than to take a day off and enjoy a free concert on their lawn. If you’re interested in these great concerts, be sure to check out the Levitt Pavilion schedule for upcoming performances. This is a great way to get outside with your friends, enjoy good music and some munchies.

Lastly, Tin Cup is your place for lunch. It’s a small, ‘mom and pop’ style sandwich shop. Their staff is fantastic and genuine with their customers. They invite people to come in enjoy their meals with friends, or even for small study groups to meet up. It is conveniently located just around the corner from UT Arlington, so makes for a nice short walk

So tell me, wouldn’t you love to spend your free time at these places?

These are just a few places that are great for college students, and some of my personal favorites. There are so many more around, so I highly encourage for you and your friends to get out and explore what Arlington has to offer.

Yaritza Vasquez is a full-time student studying journalism at UTA. She is design editor for The Shorthorn student newspaper.