# Where do you use the bathroom if you are in town in a large city **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462 "2013-10-05T21:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/41 "2013-10-08T19:52:54Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > As for the OP’s question about downtown Chicago, use the [Pedway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Pedway). Plenty of restrooms and other interesting stuff. Thx! I had no idea what the Pedway was when I saw it on the elevator’s list at my Dr’s office at 25 E Washington. And I just assumed that everyone in cities uses the stairwells as bathroom facilities. Or so it smells. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/42 "2013-10-08T19:58:29Z")
Hotel lobbies are good for downtown areas if you can look the part. Lots of hotels have conferences, cafes, etc. so a lot of people coming and going (heh). In my younger, scruffier days, I would have been bounced before I got within ten feet of a bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/43 "2013-10-08T20:35:41Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > While I sympathize with the issues they have with non customers using the washrooms as a customer this is truly annoying. If I am alone this means that even to wash my hands I either have to leave my food sitting alone on a table or take it into the washroom with me. Good point - although in the coffee shop I saw it, I reckon you could just order, pay and ask them to delay making your order while you visit the washrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/44 "2013-10-08T21:00:53Z")
> [@11811](#): > > The fast food restaurants in large cities often have to buzz you in. You’re not getting in for free. A lot of fast food restaurants with keys, buzzers, etc. will let you in for free if you ask and don’t look like someone who’s going to make a mess. It depends on the location and the management. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/45 "2013-10-08T21:04:04Z")
I’ve yet to shop at a thrift store (Salvation Army or Goodwill) that didn’t have a public bathroom. And plenty of good bargains for those who feel obligated to buy something. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/46 "2013-10-08T21:26:14Z")
Some arent so picky. A friend who works in retail says she finds Articles That Belong In Toilets in the dressing rooms of her store regularly. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/47 "2013-10-08T23:26:58Z")
> [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > A friend who works in retail says she finds Articles That Belong In Toilets in the dressing rooms of her store regularly. Newspaper articles? Please? ETA: that’s fucking disgusting, plus gross. What happens in a situation like that? HazMat team? Low man on the totem pole? Do I wanna know? ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/48 "2013-10-09T00:02:51Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Hotel lobbies are good for downtown areas if you can look the part. Lots of hotels have conferences, cafes, etc. so a lot of people coming and going (heh). In my younger, scruffier days, I would have been bounced before I got within ten feet of a bathroom. Yup. Hotels are my number one target especially the high end ones, the washrooms are awesome. You just have to walk in there with the confidence that you belong there and you know where you’re going. The first floor and usually the second floor is where conferences are usually held. ---
**Author:** ![StalePhish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@StalePhish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StalePhish)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/49 "2014-08-04T12:11:11Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > What’s a fast food restaurant going to do, chase you down as you walk into the restroom? They don’t know if you’re going to buy anything afterward anyway. Once they find out, joke’s on them because you already went Many fast food restaurants, especially in cities, have to “buzz” you into the bathroom just like you would get buzzed into an apartment building. Others require you to get a physical key from the cashier. Others might have a keypad and a one-use code is printed on your receipt. > [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Train stations, public restrooms, malls, fast food, department stores and perhaps hotels? Don’t think I’ve ever gone there. You get a bit more play with a small kid, most people would rather share than have a puddle on the floor. Sometimes these places with, but other times not. I was just in London and the Victoria train station had toilets that cost 50 cents to use! I also used a bathroom in Paris that cost $1.70 and it was about 100 degrees inside. While I didn’t use it myself, I’ve seen urinals in public (shaped like a phone booth) that I assume were probably free. Unfortunately I have had times where I had to go so incredibly bad after a car trip but couldn’t find a public toilet, so I just found some shrubbery behind a building and ducked behind it to go. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/50 "2014-08-04T20:09:29Z")
At whatever venue was my reason for going to the city in the first place. The last two times in Houston, it was Minute Maid Field. I can make it from one mealtime to the next without a pee break, so usually I can use the can at the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462/51 "2014-08-04T20:37:52Z")
zombie or no big cities have alleys with large dumpsters to hide behind. pay toilets are also function as cheap hotels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-use-the-bathroom-if-you-are-in-town-in-a-large-city/670462.md?page=2)