Court Avenue is downtown's nightlife and entertainment strip, a few blocks of restored late-19th-century brick warehouses now full of bars, restaurants, and live-music venues. By day it's quiet; by Friday night it's the densest concentration of people in central Iowa.
The eastern end has cocktail bars and gastropubs; the western end is louder and college-leaning. The Court Avenue Brewing Company holds down the south side, El Bait Shop a few blocks west has one of the largest tap lists in the country, and Hessen Haus does German-style steins in a converted train station. Pedestrian-only during weekend evenings in summer.