Where do you usually go for an Outing? Do you have a favourite place?
Do you take your Sims for a walk in the park or do you take them to a bar/restaurant, etc?

I usually take my whole Legacy Family (and their friends) on a " "social outing" stroke meal" to The Hub. I have no idea why, but I love taking my Sims to The Hub, especially when there are lots of them and they spread over two or three tables
Probably because it's eating outside, on the roof, and it's not covered in trees every two tiles (cough, Bernard's Botanical Dining )

I think you're confused. Midnight Flows is all indoors. Unless you've remodeled.

I do "just for fun" rather than scored outings when it's under my control, and I vary the venue to the season and the composition. Teens and children go to one of my parks - especially Drama Acres Park - in the summer and warmer portions of fall and spring, to bowling alleys and roller rinks in inclement weather, and to an ice rink I built myself in the winter. Adults depend on the type of group. "Arty Sims" may go to the Deja Vu Art Museum, the sculpture park, and the arts and crafts hobby lot, while "Old Frats" will probably hit a restaurant and a dance floor, "Business Sims" will go someplace slightly stodgy like Sims Gone Wired, "Musical Sims" will go somewhere with a stage in addition to a dance floor (I've added musical instruments to Midnight Flows), and so on.

For called outings, following up on dream dates or on the first evening in a new house, I have a tendency to go to Londoste - for adults - because it has an eight-person table and everyone can be seated together - or to Speedy's or Sim Bowl - for teens - because there'll be enough room to eat and the bowling and pool will keep people occupied appropriately while the protagonist for the outing schmoozes the person who called him.

I never, ever go to Rodney's Hideout and don't often go to Midnight Flows on outings, because those are the two venues most likely to claim they haven't got enough seats.

The two types of Sm I play most often are super-rich, career-topping one-percenters , and medieval/magical types, so I'm fond of LuLu Lounge and the Crypt 'o Night Club. LuLu lounge used to be my standard destination for downtown outings, but I gradually remodeled it so that it became fancier and fancier, and eventually it started to bother me when I would see townies who obviously didn't have such immense fortunes spending time there and getting in the way of my elites. Eventually, a hedge-fund manager in the skyscraper next door decided he'd had enough of that, and bought the club outright. Now only Sims who can afford the $100/hour cover charge make an appearance at this most elite of nightclubs...

I like Londoste for a date-night restaurant, and for reputation building and networking, I actually really like the Go Here Sunshine Park, but apart from that, most of the EA-built lots bore me... my Sims have higher standards than Maxis does, apparently.

I primarily use community lots I built myself, and a few that I've downloaded. I only turn to the ones included in the game when it's a lot I use very rarely and therefore don't feel it's worth taking the time to build myself. Mainly one of the bowling alleys, but I don't know the name.

Like Peni I rarely use the scored outing, I just use them to keep Sims together. Where Sims go depends on their age and their location. Sims at university are the most likely to go on outings together, and targets include things like the coffee shop, the local pool or the mall.

Since I don't use the Maxis Downtown, I don't use the community lots there. I make my own, or have occasionally downloaded a few over the years. I tend to favor nightclubs, bars or restaurants, or all-in-one shopping complexes. Oh, and either 2x1 or 1x1 coffee shops. For some reason, my parks, museums, public pools and bowling alleys seem scarce in comparison. And my rule is one pool table per lot, if I use a table. No pool halls. If I download a lot with multiple pool tables, I take all but one out.

My dorms are somewhat of an exception with outings. I make several community lot buildings where they can skill and often, grab a quick cup of coffee. In my current lot, I have a theater, fine arts building, culinary center, tech and science building and music building. I know there are science, culinary, dancing and art Maxis lots, but with the exception of the drafting tables in the Maxis art lot (and as far as I know, there isn't "a mod for that" allowing me to put drafting tables on my own lots), I kind of favor mine. All are welcome!

I think I've used scored outings all of a few times since I started playing in 2006. I think of my outings as a time when my Sims can just kick up their heels and have some fun. No pressure.

I build my own lots too. I have none of the Maxis ones.
All of them are owned community lots. So I just create new spots as I go. According to what I think my people would enjoy.

I don't do outings a whole lot, timed or untimed. I'm most likely to use them to send a whole family out to dinner together, in which case it'd be a "for fun" outing, but I don't do that all that often because my families tend to be large and cash-poor, and eating out is a luxury. Plus, not all of them have the same schedules. But when I do send Sims on outings, I like Red's 50s Diner, myself. There's food there with plenty of tables and also a pool table, which I like because I'll have outing members hustle each other. I have someone turn on the jukebox to the oldies station, and I dig the atmosphere. I like FM for the karaoke+restaurant combo. I also like the Lucky Shack, for both the card tables and the karaoke, although in my mind that's a seedier, "adults-and-up only" sort of place, so I don't send teens there. If teens are involved, I'll often send them to a bowling alley. Or to FM or Red's, too.

I pretty much use the same places for dates, too, adding in the 1-2-3 Cafe for better-than-diner-food dining and Londoste for special things like engagements and such. Pretty much every other building in the Maxis downtown gets demolished, except for the parks where my downtown-dwellers go to fish, and replaced with apartment buildings and lots I build myself. I keep telling myself I'm going to remodel the buildings I leave standing, but to date that hasn't happened.

I usually make my sims throw outings in their own house.

I thought the best thing was to ask my Sims.

Andrew and Julian tell me that their favourite downtown venue is The Hub. You can dance downstairs and then go upstairs for a good meal. The alcove tables by the windows are nice for little intimate moments too. Plus there's a bit of nostalgia, because it's the first place they went together downtown. (Andrew's mum didn't want him to go to the Crypt O'Night Club because she thought it sounded the sort of place the grand vampires might hang out, and she didn't want him to get bitten.) For a really posh meal out, it's hard to beat Londoste, and it's just across the road from The Hub. They might like the One-Two-Five Café, but it does have unfortunate memories of being the place they ran into Mrs Crumplebottom on their Valentines outing last year. The sight of two gay teen boys dancing together nearly naked in a respectable family restaurant was a bit much for Mrs C.!

At home in Veronaville (without going downtown) their favourite destination is the Swim Centre (pic below) with its poolside restaurant. It's the first lot that I built myself, but it has been improved since it first opened. "The toilets weren't even completed the first time I went," remembers Andrew, "and I got caught short! It's a lot better now." It's also the very first place they went to together, and where they had their very first tentative friendly hug by the poolside. "I really only invited you to go swimming because I wanted to see you with your clothes off!" admits Julian. Today they also have the choice of the comparatively new Club Venezia (also my own build), which offers dining and dancing without having to go downtown.



Mostly I use unscored outings "just for fun", though I find that the Energy level falls more slowly on a scored outing. Now though my community lots are nearly all getting the CC vending machines that sell the fantastic energy drinks. That is especially helpful at nightclubs so my Sims can dance and dance and dance all night!

My Sims like to do outings in different places - or rather, those Sims who do outings do. The most common preferences seem to be the SimHampton Youth Centre (sports are very fun), Studio Goth (the local gallery) and U-Sink or U-Swim (the university swimming baths).

Whoops! I did mean The Hub (Always thought it was Midnight Flows...), because I only use the outside!
Thanks for telling me

Believe it or not, my Sims favorite 'hangouts' are at other Sims homes (weekend cookouts/parties, sleepovers/play dates).

But when they are not doing that, they enjoy spending time at the local coffee shop, library, gym, park, community garden, bakery/breakfast shop and beach. I do not use any of the lots that came with the game, so I tend to build a lot of community lots.

I rarely go on outings, but for dates, I like the Botanical Garden Restaurant

It depends really.

For sorority sisters/fraternity brothers Sunday gatherings, they usually stay at the house of the person who invites them.

As for other outings, I sometimes do take them to community lots, mostly Allison's Bowling Alley, or Midnight Fun (Nightclub). I had a new Diner open up next to Townie Place Mall, which is another place I like to take my sims to. Back to the diner, Denine's Diner, I have had several siblings go out on an outing and go to this diner. I like how it turned out with the seating booths.

I don't have a Downtown because my neighborhood is already filled with a large no. of sims and the size of the neighbhood folder itself is increasing in size (almost 1.5 GB, or less by a bit). Also, I don't want vampires biting everyone around, at least not now.

I adore Red's 50's Diner! Everytime a sim calls up one of my minds and asks them out on a date or vice versa, I always go there. I'll admit that while it might be the ideal date spot for teenagers, it's amateur for my 'older' sims. Especially the 'classy' and/or 'posh' ones. But I dunno, I just love the 50's theme and the lot. Plus I know that whatever wants that are rolled date wise can be easily fulfilled. You wanna dance? Done.Dine out? Done. You can't do anything at Londoste other than eat (Correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't been there in a while) even though if I want to aim more romantic I'll send sims there.

I've also taken a liking to Lucky Shack, because of the Punch Spray bar and the ability to gamble and sing karaoke Plus the super attractive Maxis sim in the dress whose name is re-generated with every new game. She's a bonus for my boys.

Crypt' O' Night Club of course. Sugar Lanes Bowling or whatever it's called. Those are the favored ones I can think of at the moment, though there are more. I give lots I haven't ever been to a try as well, I like to be surprised.

Londoste has darts in the back. Or maybe I added those? In any case it's easy to modify a lot to contain more date-want-filling items.

I have just realised, when reading this thread tonight, that the restaurant at The Hub, my Sims' favourite Downtown destination, is largely outdoors. I always thought those seating bays were in windows. Clearly my Sims (at least Andrew and Julian) like al fresco eating, since both their favourite eateries feature outdoor seating!

Peni is right about Londoste. It has two unusual outdoor dartboards in a little courtyard at the back. They'd be very easy to miss in playing; you have to go out one of the back doors to reach them. There are also two chess tables on the right as you go into the restaurant, so there is something else to do besides eating.

Red's 50 Diner is usually the first one I grab out of downtown and plunk it into my main hood. Then it gets remodeled to a very cozy, romantic, upscale restaurant for dream dates. The layout is perfect without any structural changes. Other than that it's usually crypt O night for most of my sims because it just seems to be the place where I can get alot of townies to show up weirdly enough.

I usually prefer restaurants, but it depends on the "personality" of the sim I'm playing and who is coming along. If I'm playing Don Lothario and Dina is with him, I doubt I would send them to a library.

I like the Crypt'O night club, because I love clubbing and it vaguely reminds me of some of the clubs I went to when I was younger, the decor reminds me a bit of Gregorys, and the layout reminds me of Valentinos (both clubs I used to go to when I was at college). I like watching my sims dance and have fun. I get a bit annoyed with the dining side of things, because when my sims want to eat, the food takes ages to arrive, and when my sims are trying to flirt with someone else, that sim will often sit down to eat and totally ignore my sim, ruining my matchmaking!

For some reason I also quite like the Deh'Javu art gallery. I don't know why I like it really, but there's always enough sims there to meet, and you can talk to other sims quite easily.

I am actually surprised that most of you are doing more or less the same as I do. I have the same 4-5 Places I go with my sims - and there
are still Places I have never really been (even after playing 3½ years). And I thought it was me being lazy !
I love the Lucky Shack especially for newer sims that needs friends. I have put in a photobooth for my romance sims - put it in to the left
of the entrance where I took away the table there. In a new Hood I am making right now one gay romance sim is trying to fullfill his LTW
autonoumously .. I have not played long and he is already at 7.
The Hub I like a lot too .. I have made a roof over it - but no Windows - so it is semi-outside dining you can say.
I was just tired of the rain coming right after they got their food.
Then of course the 50's Diner is a great place to go too. I have been at 3-4 other Places but those 3 are my absolute favorites.

I haven't been playing for as long as zoozeegirl, but there are a lot of Downtown venues that my Sims have yet to visit too. I suppose it's reasonable that, when you find a place you like, you keep going back. My Sims tend to visit nightclubs, restaurants, and, of course, clothes shops. They haven't been so often to bowls or karaoke bars, the latter in part because I often have to play without sound. Myself I've never been very interested in alcohol or card playing, but It sounds like my Sims are missing out by not going to Luck Shack Cards and Drinks. I'll make a mental note to let someone go there!

I don't have Seasons, which in part explains how I never noticed that my Sims were eating outside at The Hub, but it's still pretty unobservant of me!

I make a conscious effort to visit all the lots, but specifically for outings and dates you want certain things because you can expect certain behaviors. If you're on a date and want to progress to the higher-level erotic wants it's prudent to go to a restaurant, as it frequently happens that one or other party to a date will get stuck at the lower-level ones until after the "eat out" want is satisfied. If you're on a scored outing, it's also prudent to go to a restaurant with sufficient seating, as you can't count on all the members of the outing sitting down otherwise, and eating together is a major social interaction; besides, the outing members are likely to start with a lowish hunger bar, and you don't want people dropping out due to low motives. I don't take large outings or dates to Han's Trapdoor Company anymore because I installed elevators to get to a restaurant, night club, and spa on the upper floors, and large outings and dates get into traffic jams trying to get to the upper floors. It's a great place to pick people up, though.

If you make solo trips out to community lots a part of your routine, as I do, you have an incentive to try different lots, as you get bored going to the same ones all the time. Also, to modify the ones that have problems. I was just thinking last night that it's time to tweak the Trapdoor Company again. I didn't know nearly as much about building when I remodeled it as I do now. It's possible to take, say, Sugar Cube Bowling and make it into every bit as good an outing venue as Red's. You just have to think about what features you want and make the time to build.

Is that something to do with the Flamin' Bog (as I call it)?

It depends on the sim for me, but my most common is anywhere but restaurants. For some reason stupid things always happen when my sims visit them- they all decide to sit at different places, there aren't enough chairs, I want my sim to talk to someone and they can't because they're at a table. I mostly like the clubs, parks and museums because that way my sims can interact freely. My favorite out of those would probably be parks because I enjoy making them as well as visiting them, and they can be used for so many things. I built a park dedicated to weddings, including a banquet hall made with the long buffet tables which I like because they charge for the food (which I use as the rental cost for the grounds)