The university campus and the streets around the Königsstrasse give Kassel a livelier evening scene than many similarly sized German cities. Café Nenninger is the venerable cake-and-coffee institution. Sandershaus, in a vast restored industrial building south of the centre, is a creative-quarter hub with a beer garden and live music.
Wirtshaus zur Klosterkirche in the old town serves regional beers in a half-timbered building with one of the prettiest courtyards in central Kassel. The Lolita Bar on Wilhelmshöher Allee is the place for cocktails. Late-night dancing happens around the Kulturzentrum Schlachthof, in the old slaughterhouse buildings.