The good news is that there are officially fewer than 10 class days left until Thanksgiving break, and the final week of the semester ends one week after that. The bad news is that with the approach of the winter break comes an onslaught of exams, final projects and all-nighters.
When your room won’t do as an all-night study spot, it can help to stretch your legs and keep the coffee flowing at one of downtown’s few restaurants that stay open late.
Midnight
South Shepherd Drive and Richmond Avenue have many late night restaurants with free wireless connections.
This reviewer recommends catching a filling dinner at Freebirds World Burrito, which is open until 11 p.m., and then moving to Amy’s Ice Cream next door until it closes at midnight.
Thanks to great food, friendly employees, free wireless and plenty of places to plug in laptops, these places are superb for late-night procrastinators.
The Teahouse on Shepherd Drive and Westheimer Road offers a metropolitan, if over-crowded, study space. Despite the abrasive neon lighting and rowdy early evening crowds, some students may prefer to keep themselves awake with a cup of bubble tea rather than a caffeine-filled espresso or soda.
Local darling T’eacute; House of Tea at Fairview Street and Woodhead Street always has chocolate crepes and teakettles ready for late-night cramming sessions. However, frantic crammers should head elsewhere during their lively Saturday swing dance lessons and popular open mic nights Mondays.
2 a.m.
Agora at 1712 Westheimer Rd. has the best lighting of most Houston late-night eateries.
Rather than the blaring fluorescent lights of certain dives, Agora is well lit by soft candlelight and lamps. With free wireless and several quiet retreats where students can read notes on their laptops for hours, this caf’eacute; is one of Houston’s best late-night study spots.
However, be sure to avoid this place on crowded weekend nights and Wednesday nights when the belly dancers arrive.
All Night
All-night study spots in Houston are hard to come by.
While grabbing snacks at beloved favorites such as Late Nite Pie, Chacho’s, Bebe’s and House of Pies are practically rites of passage for university students, most of these places are crowded with loud clientele by the end of the night, particularly on weekends. These places are engineered to be social spots where friends can gather after a long night of reveling.
However, should your room be completely out of the question as a place to concentrate on your final deadlines, there are two late-night eateries that come to mind.
Katz’s at 616 Westheimer Rd. is usually crowded, but it is one of the few places in Houston that truly never closes. Students who would rather snack than fill themselves with coffee can keep up their energy on a steady diet of fried pickles and cake.
Students should steer clear of the 24-hour Starbucks located at 2521 Post Oak Blvd. in the Galleria area. While this Starbucks does provide comfy couches to sit and drink coffee, this reviewer has never seen the place look less than overwhelmed with procrastinators who all swarmed one of the few 24-hour locations in downtown. Plus, clients have to pay to use the wireless.
Paying to use wireless in a noisy fluorescent-lit room seems like a poor deal when the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library has a 24-hour lobby open with wireless available for free to all students and vending machines full of soda and snacks.’ As a side note, the entire M.D. Anderson Memorial Library will open its doors all night during finals week.
Surprisingly, finding a cozy study retreat is difficult in Houston. The Heights and Montrose have plenty of undiscovered caf’eacute;s and nooks that could be great hideaways for students.
The trick is to visit these places after their regular crowd leaves and ask about their schedules to ensure that you don’t attempt to read a week’s worth of homework during an open mic night.
