Cocktail barCafe-bar€€innenstadtMon-Thu 12:00-00:00; Fri-Sat 12:00-01:00; Sun and holidays 10:00-21:00
Café Maingold slides into bar mode after dark at Zeil 1, Frankfurt's low-lit room between the shopping mile and the Innenstadt bars proper, till late.
Signature drink: Spritz at the quiet end of the Zeil
Tip: It is the meeting point before deciding on the real destination, and often the night stays right there until 01:00.
Cocktail barKneipe€€nordendDaily from 16:00; kitchen Mon-Sat 17:00-22:00, Sun 17:00-21:00
Café Größenwahn has been the Nordend's talking bar since 1978, wine and daily plates on a Frankfurt corner that never modernised on purpose.
Signature drink: House wine amid four decades of Nordend debate
Tip: Arrive at 16:00 for a table and stay through dinner; the room's history as a queer and activist hub is the atmosphere.
GermanApfelwein tavern€€sachsenhausenSun-Thu 17:00-00:00; Fri-Sat 17:00-01:00
Ebbelwoi Unser is the apfelwein tavern that drinks like a bar, Sachsenhausen's young crowd holding tables in Frankfurt until 01:00 most nights.
Signature drink: A Bembel of Ebbelwoi, pure or gespritzt
Tip: Order the Bembel and settle in; this is the tavern to treat as a night out rather than a dinner stop.
Latin AmericanCocktail bar€€€innenstadtDaily 12:00-15:00 and 18:00-23:00, last order 22:00; bar from 10:00
GRETA OTO's bar pours pisco and Latin American cocktails from 10:00 daily on Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz, central Frankfurt's easiest good drink before dinner.
Signature drink: Pisco sour at the all-day bar
Tip: The bar takes walk-ins when the dining room is fully booked; a ceviche at the counter is a complete evening in miniature.
MediterraneanRiverside bar-restaurant€€€ostendMon-Fri 17:00-23:00; Sat 12:00-23:00; Sun and holidays 10:00-22:00
OOSTEN's terrace under the old harbour crane doubles as Frankfurt's best riverside drinks deck, skyline sundowners over the Main every clear evening.
Signature drink: A sundowner on the harbour-crane terrace
Tip: Drinks-only guests do best on the upper deck; time it for the hour before sunset and let the ECB tower do the lighting.
CafeCafe-bar€hoechstMon-Sat 10:00-00:00, kitchen until 21:00; Sun 10:00-16:00
Wunderbar is Höchst's bar as well as its cafe, pouring until midnight among half-timbered lanes on Frankfurt's western edge, last orders near midnight.
Signature drink: An evening beer in Höchst's old town
Tip: After the kitchen closes at 21:00 the front room becomes the district's living room; last S-Bahn back runs well past midnight.