The Crimson Sports Grille may be packed tonight, but it's not necessarily the busiest night of the week.

Although some students still hit the books on Thursday nights, the pre-weekend evening has become increasingly popular with revelers at Harvard Square bars.

"It's a good night to get sloshed," says a Quincy sophomore who asked not to be identified.

Opinions differ as to whether Thursday night is the biggest social evening of the week. There are few on-campus parties, but many students do find off-campus entertainment alternatives.

"Thursday is not as big as Friday or Saturday," Winthrop resident Kathy E. Macias '94-'95 said recently as she exited her house's production, Look Back in Anger. "But its probably bigger than other week nights."

"People usually go to bars to drink," says Quincy House resident Lindsay L. Davison '97. "But there isn't much happening on campus."

Other Schools

According to the local night spots, not all Thursday night partiers are Harvard students. Many come from other area schools where, perhaps, the academics are less rigorous.

"On Thursday nights the crowd is more from Bentley and Tufts," says Sean Anton '95, a bouncer at the Spaghetti Club.

"There aren't too many people here from Harvard," Anton says. "One reason might be because it gets crowded with students from other colleges, and Harvard students prefer to go elsewhere."

Many Harvard students say the College is not amenable to Thursday night partying.

"People have Orgo and Chem 10 and other academic commitments," says a Dunster House junior. "Harvard is not a friendly place to party on the week nights."

"My [final] club won't have parties on Thursdays because they'd break up to early," says one final club member who asked not to be identified.

One reason for the discrepancy between Harvard and area colleges is that many other schools seem to support partying in the Square on Thursday nights.

Thursday revelers say Bentley College, for one, sponsors shuttle buses to the Square from its campus.

"It's pretty easy to come to the Square on Thursday night because Bentley has a bus running from Bentley to Harvard," says Anthony M. Nibert, a Bentley senior.

But Harvard students or not, bar owners say crowds in the Square on Thursdays rival the size of Friday and Saturday night hordes.

"The size of the crowd is about the same as Friday," says Erik R. Tumasz, a bartender at the Spaghetti Club. "We hold about 200 and generally get about 500 to 600 over the course of the night."

Christopher Campana, head of security at the House of Blues, says here, too, Thursday nights are better for customers than weekends.

"People here seem to have a better time on Thursdays because there's more room to dance," Campana says. "By the end we'll have just as many people, but they won't come in as fast.

Prices are lower, crowds are smaller, and the fact that the band was billed on Thursday instead of Friday doesn't mean a thing. We had Dr. John come on November 24, so you can see that the bands are just as good."