Rick's is a dump.
It has the reputation of being the place where people finish their night, after they're already hammered. Â There's two sides at the place. Â One has a DJ and dancing, the other has tables, tvs, etc. Â Both sides are a mess at night,
You have to go at least once while a student at MSU. Â Some people love it; I'm not one of them.
Okay.
First things first, this is a typical college dive bar so expectations need to be managed. It's dark, it's dirty, it's smelly. I wouldn't use the bathrooms if someone paid me. It can take forever to get a drink and you will usually see at least one crying girl in a corner.
But it is an East Lansing staple and a great place to go after a football game if you want to brave the crowds. It's not a place to go and have drinks and conversation. It's a place to end a bar crawl because you will be too "happy" to remember that you braved the stairs to enter this dungeon.
Rick's is SO DIRTY...toilet seats broken, throw up everywhere, smells like rotten eggs, Â cockroach ran across the bar the last time I was there. Â Really us MSU students should know better then to go to this dive. Â They pack in 500 people into a place that cannot hold that many people. Â And, not interested in drinking with freshman ladies who are not 21. Â Get a bug company and I might come back.
Review Source:One star. And I love dive bars.
But just because this bar smells like vomit and pee, hasn't cleaned their bathrooms in ten years, and is in the basement - does not make it an ideal dive bar.
Its filled with sorority and frat boys who want to pretend they like dive bars.
Plus, I can't see any appeal in a place where it takes more than 20 minutes to get a drink. I came to get my drink on...not stand and be shoved by children while I sober.
Hated it when I went there, continue to hate it.
I don't want to say I hate this place....but I hate this place. Admittedly, everytime I go, I have a good time. But it's because the ONLY time I would go was because my co-workers chose it to be part of our bar crawl. I would NEVER choose to go here myself. And I had fun because of the people I was with, not because this place is any fun AT ALL. One time I was kicked out for spilling my drink. The bartender didn't say anything to me, I apologized, she handed me my bill (faster than either of the drinks I ordered from her over the night), then handed my credit card right to a bouncer who lead me out the door. I told him, "I don't understand, I'm just clumsy." He didn't really have an answer for me. He just shrugged and said "sorry". Oh well. I don't like this place anyway, but if you decide to go just be super careful to not make a common mistake and spill your beer at a CROWDED bar where people are DANCING and SWINGING their arms and BUMPING into you. This same night also was a Saturday and they had a pitcher hanging over every single one of their taps. They were out of everything!!! What an awful place.
Also the people who go here are gross and it smells bad. It's a meat market and some yucky guys come to try and grind on strange college girls because they assume that if you're at Rick's you must be:
1. Really trashy
2. Probably slutty
3. Really hammered
And let's just face it; If you're standing outside a bar waiting in line during the winter with no shirt or pants on, it's hard for me to defend you.
Prove them (and me) wrong and go to a good bar where you can have drinks (and a conversation) with people you DO want to be around in a place that's not a dungeon. Seriously, I can't believe idiots wait in line to get into this hell hole when there are plenty of way better bars you can walk right into, sit at the bar, and have a drink (and most definitely meet better bed companions if that's your thang ;)
I was amused to find out that there is a Rick's American Cafe in both EL and Ann Arbor. This one is more of a normal bar while the Rick's in AA is more of a dance bar. The thing that is the same about both of these Rick's is that they're both dirty, super loud and where all of the students go. I'm sure there wasn't anyone over 25 in that place.
I had fun, because we went there for my friend's birthday. The problem is that as much as I don't mind bars, I prefer to be able to talk if I can't dance. If it's too loud to talk and there's no room to dance, it's probably not going to get much business from me. I did enjoy the look of it though. The walls were covered in posters and plaques, which made it feel more welcoming.
I like to describe this as the place that if you did not have a sexually transmitted disease walking into the place, you definitely will catch one just walking into the place.
Even as an undergraduate at MSU I hated this bar. Â It takes forever to get a drink, the bathrooms are disgusting, and just walking into the bar it smells of vomit. Â It is a creepy bar for sad drunks, lecherous people, and trashy girls.
Don't go here if you need a bar that won't charge you a cover. Â They definitely charge an obscene cover of $5 which is way over priced. Â I'd also like to know where that money goes because the place doesn't look like it has been cleaned in years, especially the restrooms.
If you are over the undergraduate age then stay far FAR away from Rick's. Â Mostly so you don't waste $5 because I can promise from the minute you step in there you'll leave in less than a half an hour.
If you're over the age of 25, don't go to Rick's. You won't like it. The bathrooms are gross. It takes forever to get a shot. Â And good luck getting a table unless you're there super early on a Friday or Saturday before the rush.
But maybe this is exactly why me and the 40,000 other college kids in this town love this place. If you're under the age of 25, go to Rick's. You'll love it. It's dirty and loud. Drinks are cheap. They run drink specials every night. You'll always run into someone you know which can be either good or bad. And the food is super greasy which is perfect when you need something to hold down that Irish Car Bomb.
Albeit, I experienced my 21st birthday at this bar so it holds a special place in my heart, but it is an East Lansing tradition. Best nights to go to Rick's you ask? After or during any Michigan State sporting event, especially football games. But honestly, when is it not a good time to go to the bar?
I went there completely blasted, but I still had a good time. A lot of the reviews seem to be negative because it's the college crowd. I guess you're not into that, then it's not your place. Â However, if that's what you're looking for, it's great.
It's loaded with lots of people, drinks are flowing, and it's a large basement with a big dance floor. They also had a live band playing. I had a good time.
They did have a $5 cover though and wrote the last digits of my ID onto my hand for some reason.
This place is god-awful. Â It's only redeeming factor is that it's so awful it's funny. Â For some reason, that seems to work for the Rick's in Ann Arbor, but for the East Lansing venue that excuse doesn't cut it. Â I can't imagine ever finding a reason to hit up Rick's unless it was some sort of out-bluffing situation, or maybe as a joke taken too far or something.
Review Source:It saddens me a bit to review Rick's because as a MSU alumni, there were moments where Rick's was at least a weekly stop. Â This is where I went on my 21st birthday and it was a regular stop on Friday afternoons for cheap pitchers and free pizza. Â
That said, I don't think I'd ever go back there. Â Rick's is purely part of the college experience and now that I've been out of college for a few years, I know better. Â If you are in undergrad, Rick's is it- as evidenced by the long lines on busy nights. Â The drink specials aren't as great as other EL bar's so if you are trying to drink on the cheap, you probably have a better choice somewhere around the corner.
Ah, good old Rick's. Last stop on the bar crawls, first in my heart.
When you descend into the basement-y Rick's Cafe, you should expect to have a good time - if you're not too picky. This is a college bar. People go here usually when they are already drunk. Get in line early, get to know the bouncers so you don't have to pay the normally outrageous cover, be aggressive at the bar, and have fun.The bigger the group the better, considering most guys here are looking to take chicks home. It's just a good place to meet up with people and get ridiculous. Dress ranges from bar crawl t-shirts to all-out dresses and heels. It's pretty much up to you. There's two sides, one with a dance floor/bar and one with more seating and another bar. Coat check is hit or miss, except in winter when they always have it. And yes, if you're over about 22/23 years old, this is not the place for you.
My recommendation-- go here thursday nights. $3 everything is the greatest. And Jedi Mind Trip plays great live covers with good DJ-ing in between sets.
Yeah, Rick's bathrooms are not meant for anyone sober to use, and you may have to wait a while to get a drink. But I'm not gonna lie, it is a fun place, and everyone's goal is to have a good time.
If I could give this place 0 stars, I would.
I was in East Lansing this past weekend, and while I was living there, I generally held my ground and said that I would never go back to Ricks. Â This last weekend, I must have slipped because some how we ended up there.
Now for people that just turned 21, or people that are just trying to get their freak on, I can see the appeal of this place. Â As a person pretty far removed from school, I no longer see that appeal.
The thing I hate most about this place- the smell. Â It always smells like puke in this place. Â I guess if you're drunk, you might not notice it as much, but damn, this place was wreeking on Sat. Â Plus they had some crappy "dj" there on Sat. Â I'm sorry, creating a play list on your computer does not make you a dj. Â If my friends ever try and go back, I think I'll just walk home.
Rick's, why is it always Rick's? Whenever my wife's vet school buds want to go out it has to be Rick's, the worst damn place for anyone out of undergrad to hang out. If you're plastered it might be fun, but then again so is every other bar in the world.
I'm not a fan of the music here, and the drinks aren't nearly cheap enough, nor are there enough bartenders to serve them fast enough. I can't get a buzz here because the wait is too long, and that's a killer.
Guess I'm too old.
Ahh..the classic "tale of 2 bars" scenario. When I was younger I would have most likely said "Rick's Kicks Ass! Now that I am a few years older I am more likely to say "Rick's Licks Ass! I can't say that I haven't had SOME good memories of being at Rick's...I think I must have forgotten the rest to alcohol haze. Please, for your own good don't try to go to Rick's if you are over 25. You will feel like the crypt-keeper. The music is good sometimes, the beer is cheap most of the time, the lines are long all of the time. Rick's is one of the only bars I have ever been to where you have to pick the glass out of the bottom of your shoes after you leave (the sound of drunks people dropping bottles of beer is reminiscent of fireworks).. BUT, if you are 25 or younger you will more than likely enjoy the atmosphere.
Review Source:Why all the hate for Rick's? There was a time when stumbling from Crunchy's for lunch to Rick's for the 3pm happy hour was the highlight of my week.
Back when I was young enough to go here, they had $2.25 pitchers and free pizza before 9pm.
It is just as packed on Monday night as it is on Friday and Saturday. What i wouldn't give to be in college again.
I appreciate this place more now that I have to pay San Francisco prices for drinks.
I got into a barfight at Rick's.
I was traipsing my way across the dancefloor and this guy randomly grabbed my ass and I told him to cut it out. Â He grabbed it again so I clocked him. Â Guess who got thrown out....
Anyway, you can see the kind of clientele you get at Rick's. Â Monday and Wednesday nights tend to be booty nights, Â Mondays attract more Lansing Locals than usual, so the crowd can get a little....rowdy. Â It's still kind of a frat-boyish bar and you are guaranteed to have cheap beer spilled all over you at some point and time during the night. Â
The music is top 40, the bathroom and floors are filthy, it reeks of underground damnpess, but the drinks are cheap, so if you can put up with all the other crap for that, then sure g'head and check it out. Â
If not, come chill with me (on  Wednesdays)  upstairs at half-off-wine-night (hereby known as H-Own) at Beggar's.
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