In the early 1940s, in the formative days of the Beat Generation, students including Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lucien Carr spent hours at the bar discussing their studies and their futures.

[1] In the 1960s, the bar was host to student activists upset about racial discrimination in the area and US foreign policy regarding Vietnam.

[2] In 2004, The West End began brewing its own beers including its very popular, nearly 10% "Ker O'Whack", named for Columbia dropout and author, Jack Kerouac.

The West End in 1990 also became a full-service restaurant, including a widely popular Sunday brunch.

Playboy magazine featured The West End as "College Bar of the Month" in its February 2005 issue.