After watching their biker bar in Emmett go up in flames in June 2009, Jona and John Rupnicki found a new location for Ruffnecks Bar in downtown North Topeka. With plenty of cold beer on tap and Jona's Indian tacos featured on Mondays, there's no better place to unwind. The bar's pace picks up with karaoke on Fridays and live music once a month on the weekend. (Updated 11.24.09)

This downtown nightspot stays thumping late with music every night and some of the most entertaining bartenders in town. Wednesdays start with open-mic poetry and comedy shows. Thursdays are 25 and older night. Fridays are college night. Saturdays are 21 and older night.

It doesn't get any better than sports and strippers, and Topeka Sports Cabaret features both. The wood-paneled, 8,200-square-foot club (formerly Snafu's) boasts a 30-foot bar, two stages for dancers, two VIP rooms and a 15-foot big screen among its array of TVs. There are daily drink specials, a food menu ranging from corndogs to ribeye steaks and a Friday food buffet ($7) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nothing takes the edge off the burn of a hot wing like a nice cold beer, and Buffalo Wild Wings offers both the burn and cool remedy. With a bar and a dining room, feel free to bring friends to watch sports on the many screens throughout the restaurant or drag along the family for a fun dining experience.

Baby Dolls is a gentleman's club featuring about 10 girls per night. During race times at nearby Heartland Park Topeka, the bar features up to 50 different girls. There is a big stage for the girls to dance, plus plenty of cushy seating for customers. The full-service kitchen serves steak, shrimp, hamburgers, chicken and salads. Drink specials every day. Lunch specials are every weekday.

If you're looking for a gentlemen's club with beautiful ladies and a party atmosphere, you're looking for Club Orleans. With daily drink specials and a full-service food menu, sit back and enjoy the scene in a cozy captain's chair.

Oscar's is one of the original College Hill bars. It has daily drink and food specials, serving burgers, fries, roast beef, and mashed potatoes and gravy. College students hang out here, but a number of older regulars also frequent Oscar's.

The only place in town where you can kick back with a cold one while your clothes run through the cold cycle. The Ichabod Laundra Bar, around since 1988, is a unique place to wash clothes and drink beer. New owner Dan Padilla has fixed machines and updated the bar. Change for laundry available. The place has more than a dozen washers and driers in different sizes.

Rich in character, The Dutch Goose has been a Topeka tradition for more than 70 years. Frank Butler opened The Dutch Goose on S.W. 10th Street in the 1930s. It is the oldest continuously operated bar in Topeka. Decor includes signs for Rock Chalk Jayhawk and Powercat Alley, the Carpenters & Millwrights Union and the Plumbers & Steamfitters Union.

NOTE: Lynn's Place closed in late 2009. A sign on the door reads: "Closed permanently due to health problems. Thank you for your past business. -- Lynn"

Located in the heart of Oakland, Lynn's Place is a classic neighborhood tavern that has evolved into a popular lunch spot. There is a century-old picture of tavern operators selling tap beer for 16 cents.