Date night ideas in Scranton

Scranton punches above its weight for a small city. Between the Electric City's dive bars, live-music lounges, and one genuinely upscale speakeasy, you can build a very different night depending on the mood — here's how we'd sort it.

Live music nights

If the plan is a show, start by checking who's playing. Sergei's LIVE runs an upscale live-music lounge with cocktails and late-night DJs, and it's 21+ on event nights, so it feels like a proper night out. For something rawer, The Bog is the Scranton crowd favorite — a dive bar with weekly live music and cheap drafts. Or do the local thing at The V-Spot Bar, which runs live bands Fridays and Saturdays, duos on Thursdays, and karaoke or line dancing most other nights of the week.

Low-key drinks

When you want to actually talk to each other, head to Madame Jenny's — a hidden cocktail speakeasy inside Ale Mary's with a jazz band on Fridays. For the opposite end of the spectrum, Normandie Bar & Grill is a cash-only corner dive with a 9,000-track jukebox and $2–3 drafts, and Poor Richard's Pub (inside South Side Bowl) does Saturday karaoke with DJ Honey Do at 9:30pm.

Active & fun

• Bartari — retro arcade and pinball plus a real cocktail bar; easy to lose two hours in here
• Idle Hours North — cosmic bowling Friday and Saturday nights, glow mini golf, VR, and a giant arcade
• The Hatchet Factory — instructor-led axe throwing in Forty Fort, BYOB, and genuinely competitive in the best way

Late night

If you want to dress up a little, Scranton Cultural Center (Masonic Temple) hosts Broadway touring shows and concerts in a restored 1930 building. Afterward, Breakers inside Mohegan Pennsylvania keeps live bands going till 12:30am on weekends, or catch a jazz set at River Street Jazz Cafe, running since 1993 about ten minutes from Kingston.