My advice- my opinions. Mostly Downtown.

Eat at some of the great amazing independent restaurants. Skip the chains- you can eat there when you are at home. Friday’s is Friday’s anywhere in the country.

Personal favorites: The Blue Moon– great steaks, a $15 hamburger, nice place to take a date- amazing sea food- you don’t have to dress to match the decor- has parking- but you have to know how to get to it.

Pine Club– great steaks. BRING CASH or CHECK- no credit cards. Easy parking. Garlic dressing on salad rocks. The best $7 burger you will ever eat. Lines can be long- they won’t seat a party till everyone is there.

Dublin Pub– St. Paddy’s day madness- great sandwiches, Irish food. Used to be a Shell station- but you’d never know it. Easy parking.

Pizza- I have 2 favorites- Flying Pizza has great thick, Sicilian slices- with garlic. The downtown location is only open till 7pm- but worth it. Parking is a pain- unless you can walk 150 feet from a meter.

Pizza Factory– they will deliver to the Marriott, Crowne Plaza and the Doubletree downtown- amazing funky pizzas for the bold- personal favorites- the Reuben, the Pesto Pizzaz, Chicken Cordon Bleu- and then they have the tamer- Classic Italian- a white pizza that rocks (get it without the Italian Sausage for a great veggie option). They have a dine in- with beer- that is open till 11 on Fri and Sat- easy parking at 1301 Wayne- watch out- the carry out is 2 blocks from the dine in. Easy to get confused.

Thai 9 in the Oregon District is the coolest place for Sushi and Thai. Parking is easy- if you find the lot off E. 5th street.

Drinking- I like the 3 downtown non-smoking places- Gillys, Pacchia Jazz Room and the Therapy Cafe. (everyplace is now non-smoking)

Dancing: Either Pearl or the Foundry. I’ve heard good things about Masque but haven’t been there. The smoke takes the fun out of them for me. Dayton is still backwards- and can’t pass a smoke free ordinance.

Museums: The Dayton Art Institute is one of my favorite museums- anywhere in the world. I’ve been to some of the best- and other than the Guggenheim in NYC- I don’t think I’ve ever felt more connected with art than at the DAI. The museum is free- but the Princess Dianna exhibit that is there now costs extra.
There is also the Air Force Museum. You’ll never make it through in a day- but it’s super cool- and free! They have an iMax there- and it’s only like $5 a seat- mostly aviation films.

Want to go somewhere quiet? Go to Woodland Cemetery– see the Wright Brothers plot (boring) or marvel at some of the most pretentious tombstones you’ll ever see- some rich people from Dayton thought they were REALLY important.
Carillon Park is also a nice place to unwind- and you can see a full size version of the Wright B flyer. It’s close to UD Arena.

Saturday night- and no ticket- go see the Dayton Bombers play at the Nutter Center. They’ll get their butts kicked- but you might see some good fights. Tickets are cheap- and the hockey action is the fast thanks to the new rules.

This isn’t a comprehensive list- but if you are here watching Basketball- you still gotta eat. Enjoy! Welcome to Dayton, Basketball fans.