Looking for a cheap night out in Taipei after teaching or after class? If you're an English (or other language) teacher or an exchange student in Taiwan, AI DARTS in the East District is worth a look: a darts bar with self-service boards 24 hours a day, no minimum spend and NT$100 beers. The Hotdogray counter inside serves hot dogs from NT$50 on Tuesday to Friday evenings, 8 pm to around midnight, plus every other Saturday. You're welcome to drop in.
A cheap night out in Taipei: what it costs here
Numbers first, since that's what matters on a teacher's or student's budget. There's no minimum spend, weekday or weekend, so nobody makes you order anything. If you do order, prices come straight from the menu:
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Beer, one bottle (Taiwan Beer, Budweiser or Heineken) | NT$100 |
| Plain hot dog | NT$50 |
| Signature seared cheese and meat sauce hot dog | NT$100 |
| Fries | from NT$50 |
| Sparkling drink | NT$65 |
One beer and a plain hot dog comes to NT$150. There are cocktails too; what's available is whatever the bar has on the day. To spend even less, you can bring your own drinks: during counter hours, more than 3 bottles of alcohol per person is a NT$50 cleaning fee, and up to 3 is free. The dartboards are coin-operated at NT$10 to 30 per game, depending on the game and number of legs (the machine shows the exact price); questions go to LINE. Our cost guide covers the rest, and the full menu is here.
Open 24 hours, so a late class is no problem
AI DARTS is open 24 hours, every day of the year. If your class or buxiban (cram school) shift runs late, exams just finished, or you're simply not ready to go home, this is one of the easier things to do in Taipei at that hour: walk in whenever you like, with no closing time to beat. The dartboards run around the clock. Hotdogray serves Tuesday to Friday from 8 pm to around midnight, plus every other Saturday, so for food pick one of those nights and check the notice at the venue or on LINE.
Darts works without a shared language
Darts is one of the few games you can play without speaking the local language: throw, watch the score, take turns, and a bit of pointing covers the rest. The boards here are Phoenix electronic dartboards. You don't need to know how to play, and staff can show you the basics. Start with Count-Up, which just adds up your points over a set number of rounds. With a bigger group, try Cricket, where the turns keep rotating and nobody sits out. The rules are in our Cricket and 501 guide.
American hot dogs for when you miss something familiar
Hotdogray, the hot dog counter inside AI DARTS, began in 2017, and its first customers were foreigners living in Taiwan. It's American-style: a big sausage, a toasted bun and plenty of sauce, for anyone who misses a proper hot dog. For a first order, try the signature seared cheese and meat sauce hot dog (NT$100), or keep it simple with a plain one (NT$50). How it all started is in our Hotdogray story.
Finding the place
The address is No.1, Aly. 15, Ln. 345, Sec. 4, Ren'ai Rd, Da'an District, Taipei 106, a short walk from the Bannan Line between Zhongxiao Dunhua and Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall stations. The lanes here are quiet. Not sure about the route, or the food hours that day? Ask on LINE.
After work, after class or after exams, come by. No minimum spend, and the boards never close.