The university gives Osnabrück a café scene that punches above its size. The Innenstadt has the usual range of coffee places, but the area around the Lagerhalle and the university quarter is where things get livelier after dark, with a mix of student bars, independent venues, and places that function as café by day and bar by night. None of it is especially glamorous, but it is genuine and affordable.
Korn — the local grain schnapps made from rye or wheat — is the traditional spirit of the Westphalian region, and in older bars it arrives without ceremony alongside a beer. It is an acquired taste but worth acquiring in its proper context. Local breweries supply the beer in most traditional establishments, and the drinking culture here skews sociable and unpretentious rather than craft-beer precious.