We've had some great bar openings this year. Here are some of our picks! And if you haven't tried these places, you should.
Capital Spirits Bar and Distillery
In the wake of all of so many bar and restaurant closures, this one was very welcome news. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the new bar is a mash-up of two popular hutong bars that were bricked over during the local government’s ‘beautification’ campaign. But Capital Spirits and The Distillery are back – now, together. The new location is just across from the old ‘D,’ and considering the two were owned and operated by the same dudes, the merge makes a lot sense. Now, when your friends visit Beijing, you only have to stop at one place, where you can grab a Baijiu Sour (RMB40) for them and a martini (RMB60) for you. Altogether, it's an exciting start, yet the bar’s enduring appeal comes down to its lack of gimmickry. Sure, it’s “the baijiu bar,” and also “the gin bar,” but mostly, it’s just a damn fine place to spend an evening.
See a listing for Capital Spirits Bar and Distillery and read a full review
Equis
Equis is definitely one of the hottest openings of the year. The space is celeb-ready and massive, featuring both expansive terraces and hidden VIP rooms. (Equis offers four, four, levels of VIP membership.) Equis is the latest, boldest project by the Four Seasons Beijing, and is divided into five sections: The Library, The Cellar, The Lounge, The Courtyard and The Imperial Room, which is for VIP members only. Yes, the rooms’ names are proper nouns. Capital-c Champagne is everywhere here. And yet, there’s also a talented bar staff serving an extensive drinks menu. Drink prices aren’t as expensive as you might think for a bar this lavish – we (plural)knock back several for under RMB250, and during happy hour (which runs until 9pm), the house cocktails are only RMB60. Alongside all this booze, try the bar’s tapas-style bites, with an emphasis on seafood.
See a listing for Equis (The Four Seasons Hotel Beijing) and read a full review
The Black Moth
The Black Moth is more than just another high-end cocktail lounge in Beijing. Becuase nothing at The Black Moth is typical. Indeed, the assortment of conversation starters on display here leads us to dub this place A Great Spot For a Date, albeit a date you’re willing to spend RMB100 per cocktail on. Make that RMB120, by the way, if it's the Truffle Martini you're after. We love the undeniably sultry Cumin Gin Sour (RMB85), the Hot & Numbing Margarita (RMB85) and the Mandarin Old Fashioned (RMB120).
See a listing for The Black Moth and read a full review
Mokihi No. 3
No. 3 opened up earlier this year in 3.3 Mall (get it?). One might term this a ‘speakeasy.’ And yet, this Sanlitun local is veritably convenient. They continue to serve up creative cocktails (from RMB80-95) with style and substance. Plus, the nicest bartenders you’ll ever meet. Make sure to try the Delay in M (RMB90), a classed-up gin-and-juice with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Yeah, you heard us – parmesan.
See a listing for Mokihi No. 3 and read a full review
Good Bait
What we love about Good Bait is that it puts on a huge calendar of live jazz shows and its menu has 90 (!!!) original cocktails. This is a book-length cocktail menu, with chapters devoted to different base spirits. It’s filled with photos of jazz musicians and inspirational quotes about music. Cocktails go for around RMB100.
See a listing for Good Bait and read a full review
Press Release
OK, perhaps we have an affinity for this bar because we’re writers. The bar’s decor features vintage typewriters and indie magazines. And we like that. But it also has bangin' drinks. The sous-vide cocktails are out of this world. The Dazed – a red wine cocktail with vodka, vanilla and mango – is just as good as any drink from a Sanlitun bar. But at RMB75, it’s cheaper. A glass of house wine (RMB50) will totally sell you on this place, but the Italian vintage (RMB65) will blow your mind.
See a listing for Press Release and read a full review
Red Dog
The decor at Red Dog is Thai Full Moon Party meets Parisian gentlemen’s lounge. It’s like if Jackson Pollock had a thing for tasteful nudes. It’s your middle school art teacher meets drugged-out bohemian hippie. Red Dog is as unexpected as the quality of its cocktails – solid, potent drinks developed by a bar manager with experience at Beijing’s shrine-to-mixology, Botany. We enjoy the sake-based Pacific Conference (RMB75) – light and fruity yet still packing a punch. The Cucumber Cooler (RMB75) is a slightly sweeter Tom Collins mix. As for another mix – does Spotify have a curated playlist called ‘twee’? Because that’s the only way we can describe the music selection.
See a listing for Red Dog and read a full review
InfraRouge
A club that has long defined Shanghai's Bund nightlife scene, Bar Rouge has shone a light up north to the capital with the opening of gastrolounge InfraRouge. The night-to-day concept serves cocktails, Western food and party time from the top floor of Taikoo Li Sanlitun.
See a listing for InfraRouge
One Third
One Third has all the trappings of a notorious Gongti club – a prime location on Gongti Xilu, metal detectors and squads of security guards at the entrance, hot girls parading around Champagne bottles, lit up with LED lights. But it’s also different. The drinks menu here is world-class, with holdovers from the owners’ days at former cocktail institution BBC (Bottle, Boot & Cigar). The club’s expert bartenders serve barrel-aged, well, everything – barrel-aged Hemingway Daiquiris (RMB110), barrel-aged Vieux Carrés (RMB130), barrel-aged Negronis (RMB90). Our barrel-aged Old Fashioned (RMB90) is excellent – as is our Coppertone Girl (RMB100, surprisingly not barrel-aged). We’re more used to sipping these kind of drinks to a subdued jazz soundtrack, not blaring EDM. But hey – after a couple whiskeys, the weirdness of it fades away.
See a listing for One Third
Jing-A Brewpub
This is definitely one of the most exciting openings of the year. There is a lot to like about Jing-A's new brewpub: it is damn big, with dining tables in the front, a taproom in the middle and a bar near the back. There’s even hallway seating, because why the hell not? Essentially, the brewpub takes all the good stuff from the original taproom – delicious beer, red bricks – and adds a heap of other great stuff, like Texas-style barbecue, room to move and double the number of bathrooms. But if you’re not into beer, there’s whisky, rum, wine and even cocktails on tap (RMB50, including mixes by Mao Mao Chong and the Tiki Bungalow). On the food side there is barbecue meat (RMB70-400), BBQ brisket sandwich (RMB70), mac’n’ cheese (RMB40), crispy Brussels sprouts (RMB30) and so much more.
See a listing for Jing-A Brewpub and read a full review
Nina
Nina is the lovechild of two Fangjia Hutong refugees, popular French hangout Jiao Bar and Italian pop-up Cartoccio, who aren’t letting the bricking of their beloved former ’tong stop them from serving European food and drinks at laudable prices. Nina marries Jiao’s wine and spritzes with Cartoccio’s Italian street food, and the menu offers plenty of options including mini pizzas (RMB55-60) and RMB30 spritzes during happy hour.
See a listing for Nina and read a full review
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