Places to go near me open late

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For some, the evening doesn't begin until after 10 p.m. When you're planning a date, however, this can sometimes be problematic, as some restaurants and entertainment centers start to shut down around that time. Fortunately, for others, the night is just beginning, especially if you live near a big city. Even if you don't, some creativity and adventure is all you need.

Food Fun

Depending on where you live, you may have several options for a late night dinner date. To make the date exciting, go to a restaurant for just appetizer and drinks. Go to a different restaurant for the main meal, and then head to one known for its amazing desserts. Don't go for your usual dessert, either. Be spontaneous and get the restaurant's signature or your server's suggestion. Try a gourmet dark-chocolate, whipped-cream cake, creme brulee or a plate of petit fours. Some diners have excellent food, and you can spot your usual group of neighborhood pals. Many are open 24 hours a day. The interesting people you are bound to see walk through the doors late at night are sure to entertain. See who can come up with the funniest backstory on the other people in the diner.

Recreation

Plenty of recreational activities exist for you and your date late at night. On weekend nights, many bowling alleys stay open until midnight or beyond, serve adult beverages and have glow-in-the-dark bowling. Some even have a D.J. to spin the latest tunes. Karaoke bars are always open late and makes for a hilarious date experience, especially if one or both of you are not strong singers. Another idea is to create a scavenger hunt that you and your date can do together. You can find generic scavenger hunt lists from a number of websites, which include lists for nighttime scavenger hunts. Print one out and see how many items you can find or tasks you can complete together for the most random adventure date ever.

The Great Outdoors

If you live near the beach, have a nighttime beach date. Using flashlights or camping lanterns to see and bring a picnic meal to enjoy on the sand, while listening to the crashing waves in the background. You can also get playful with each other on the beach. Have a sand foot race, or a sand castle competition. Stay out of the water, however. A spontaneous dip in the ocean might sound cool, but it is downright dangerous at night with no lifeguards around. Another idea is to see if any zip line companies near you have nighttime ziplining experience, such as ZipQuest in Fayetteville, North Carolina or Adventure Ziplines of Branson in Missouri. Stay close to home and pitch a tent in your backyard. If you have a fire pit, you and your date could roast marshmallows, and then tell ghost stories around the fire. Hop into the tent for a romantic rendezvous.

Entertainment

If you and your date are excited about a blockbuster movie coming out, plan a date to go to the midnight screening on the day it is released. Choose the best theater in town and get your tickets as soon as they go on sale. Plan movie trivia questions to keep yourselves entertained while you wait in line. If the movie is part of a major franchise, you're likely to be in line with a bunch of super fans, some who may be dressed in costumes, which only adds to the fun. Another late night experience that's almost always a blast is going to a music concert. Skip the pricey headliner concert at a stadium, and opt for a band playing at a local dive bar or nightclub, making the experience more intimate and cool.

When it's 2 a.m. and you’ve drank, danced, and debauched into the wee hours — or maybe you were pulling a late-night study sesh — all you want is food. Whether cravings are kicking in for cheese-covered anything, preferably delivered in a pizza box directly to your door, or your after-midnight palate is a little more discerning, there’s a late-night restaurant in the Valley for you. Yes, even at 4 a.m. Here are 12 metro Phoenix restaurants that stay open way past midnight.

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Slice it up at Slices on Mill.

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Slices on Mill

Slices on Mill serves pizza with a side of people watching. This is the place to go when the Tempe bars let out. The late-night line can be bananas, as in long and a little crazy. You might spot someone asleep at a table or too drunk to count out his or her money. Good thing slices only take about a minute to fire up. Not that this food should only be eaten on a beer stomach. Pizza is foldable and formidable, with standouts like chicken Caesar salad pizza and shrimp and bacon. Plus there's a cauliflower crust option, and brag-worthy, build-your-own-calzones, all served Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. Bonus: ASU students can score two slices and a drink for 8.99 with their student card, not including game days.

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La Frontera 1's carme asada tacos.

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La Frontera 1

There’s no better place to crush a late-night taco craving than La Frontera 1, a Phoenix food truck fixture that’s been turning out perfectly-grilled street tacos well into the night for 32 years. Tender cuts of thinly sliced carne asada are tightly packed on soft, warm corn tortillas, topped with shredded cabbage and diced onion with a side of chunky cucumbers. Pro tip: request a side of grilled onions and peppers. You can also order burritos, quesadillas, tortas, tacos, and vampiros stuffed with lengua, chorizo, al pastor, tripe, buche, and more – there are no wrong choices. You won’t regret capping the night with a huge cup of house-made horchata. And no, you won’t be alone. Open Sunday to Tuesday 8 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. and Wednesday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 1:45 a.m., this place has a loyal following of late-night noshers.

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Order a party on a table at 5 & Diner.

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5 & Diner

Looking for a party after the party? Follow the neon lights to 5 & Diner, the iconic '50s-style diner at 16th and Colter Streets known for its signature burgers, malts and milkshakes, meatloaf, and chicken fried steak. The vibe is a total throwback, complete with Formica tabletops, laminated booths, and a checkered floor. The portions are hefty, and the seasoned night crew, a fast, friendly, no-nonsense bunch, have seen it all. And where else can you order a Reuben piled with fresh corned beef, sauerkraut, and melted Swiss on grilled rye or a banana split topped with whipped cream and cherries practically around the clock? The place is open every day from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.

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The Smokehouse is sweet, spicy, and a little messy — like your drunk self.

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Chickadees

When fried chicken cravings come calling after hours, the recently opened Chickadees is there to heed the cluck. A standout in the Scottsdale bar district, it looks all polished and new with its sparkling yellow subway tile interior. The menu of saucy, stacked chicken sandwiches and Southern-style sides including potato salad, queso mac, waffle fries, and slaw, more than defies drunk food. Whether you go with the crunchy, coated OG Chickadee or the much spicier Southern Heat, expect a juicy sandwich that sings with house-made sauces. Along with local chicken and slab pickles, a rich challah bun holds it all together. Open 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.

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Carelessly consuming late-night dogs at Lupita's.

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Lupita’s Hot Dogs

Night owls roll into Lupita’s Hot Dogs for one reason: To score a beloved Sonoran hot dog. The dog comes with diced tomatoes, grilled onions, pinto beans, guac, jalapeno sauce, mustard, and ketchup under a blizzard of cotija cheese and drizzle of mayo on a toasted, billowy bun. Of course, you take matters into your own hands at the condiment bar, adding pickles, diced onions, cheese sauce, salsas, and pickled jalapenos for an even saucier stacked dog. But on its own, this is a crumbly, salty, savory, just-right bite that’s both thrown together and perfectly balanced — much like the hybrid hot dog stand restaurant itself. Pick your favorite house-made agua fresca to wash it down. Open Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m. and the rest of the week 1 a.m. Pro tip: bring cash to avoid the $1 card charge.

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El Paisano brings late night Mexican delights.

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El Paisano

The menu at El Paisano, or El P’s for those in the know, includes Cheetos. There are the Hot Cheetos Nachos, the El Gran Cheetos Nachos, and the Hot Cheetos Burrito. Plus expect stuffed tacos, oversized burritos, and cheesy quesadillas. This is serious drunk food, and with two Tempe locations — El Paisano Market tucked in a neighborhood convenience store and El Paisano Restaurant at the Rise located on the ground floor of the Rise on Apache apartments — ASU students and the like don’t have to stumble far for after-hours, Cheetos-infused eats, which are available 8 a.m. to 4 a.m.

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Spinelli's buffalo chicken comes with breaded chicken, hot sauce, Fritos, and housemade ranch.

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Spinelli’s Pizzeria

Spinelli’s Pizzeria in Tempe is a go-big-or-go-home kind of joint. There’s the place itself, a two-story industrial-style palace clad in punk graffiti and chandeliers. And then there’s the pizza, gargantuan thin-crust pies that come in one size: enormous. Even the slices are monstrous, like bigger than your head big, with crust so flavorful and flaky it demands to be dipped. Pro tip: get ranch or extra sauce for this pursuit. What’s more, the cheesesteak sandwich is all Philly, big and bold with meat and rolls flown in directly from the City of Brotherly Love. Don’t get us started on the Fried Oreos. Pig out in person until 3 a.m. Thursday to Saturday or get the gluttony delivered.

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Original Geno’s is pie-fection.

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Original Geno’s

Original Geno’s is like the mullet of restaurants. The front of the house is all business, buttoned-up, and corporate-looking with its cleanliness, orderly menu board, and fancy fountain drink machine. But the food is all party. Pizzas come good and greasy, wings all saucy and sassy, oven-baked subs come super stuffed on scratch-made bread, and then there are the loaded fries, baked extravaganzas in flavors like Buffalo chicken, chicken bacon ranch, and Greek, that elevate the humble spud from side dish to full-on meal — all served until 3 a.m. every day.

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Manny Aguilar spins dough like a pro at Zio's.

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Zio’s Pizza & Wings

Zio’s, a strip-mall standout on University Drive, has the late-night eats covered: Cheese-drenched pizza? Check. Saucy wings bathed in every conceivable level of mouth burn? Check. An endless menu that satisfies your late-night lust for everything from fries to Philly cheesesteaks? Tripple check. So what sets it apart? The bros who own it. Nico and Manny Aguilar have been spinning pizza dough longer than most of us have been old enough to drink and it shows in their just-right crust that tastes delish drunk or not. Get slices all the way up to 32-inch pies until 3 a.m. daily.

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Find late-night slices at Gus's New York Pizza Lounge.

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Gus’ New York Pizza Lounge

It’s not totally out of the ordinary to see gals in barely-there clothing or dudes on the prowl ordering pizza at the counter at Gus’ New York Pizza Lounge. This place is in bar central, after all, with the nonstop thump-thump-thump of bass constantly going. Customers stumble in for a slice or order a whole pie any night of the week until 2:30 a.m. Neither the menu nor the no-frills vibe is going to win any prizes, but at least the pizzas, wings, and toasted subs will soak up some of that alcohol to make the next day a little more tolerable.

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Slices at Joe's New York Pizza.

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Joe’s New York Pizza

Battling with pizza supremacy — or at least decency — with Gus’ is Joe's, another New York-style pizza joint just a few yards away in Old Town’s bar district. Both arguably serve more sloshed customers than sober, but neither has a breathalyzer to prove it. Both dish up calzones, strombolis, wings, salads, and subs. But Joe’s wins for cleanliness by a landslide, plus the pizza gets extra points for chewiness and foldable softness. Oh, and they serve up slices until 4 a.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

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"Inhale responsibly" is a selfie must at Oasis Cafe.

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Oasis Cafe

Sometimes a slice won’t cut it. Sometimes counter ordering won’t cut it. Sometimes you want a legit late-night oasis with plush booths, mood lighting, and a total VIP vibe where you’re waited on until 4 a.m. on weekends. The aptly named Oasis Cafe is your place, a hybrid hookah lounge, bar, and restaurant that lets you keep the buzz going well past last call. A new menu of upscale bar eats includes nachos, gyro wraps, and street tacos. Cap it off with a puff of flavored tobacco alongside your pleasure-seeking counterparts and revel in the resplendence of it all.