Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Budapest for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Budapest for grown-ups.
Szimpla Kert on Kazinczy in the Jewish Quarter is Budapest's original ruin bar, opened in 2002 and at this address since 2004 in an old stove factory, the city's iconic.
Signature drink: Pálinka and Hungarian beer
Food: Bar food, street food in inner courtyard
Order: A glass of pálinka with a Dreher beer on the side.
Tip: No reservations, first-come; entry is free, the Sunday farmers' market runs 09:00 to 14:00.
Instant-Fogas on Akacfa utca is a seven-room ruin-bar megaplex with 18 bars and 1200 square metres of dance floor across courtyards in the Jewish Quarter, Budapest.
Signature drink: Cocktails, beer, pálinka
Food: Limited street food
Order: A pálinka shot at the front bar, then move into the back courtyards.
Tip: Daily 18:00 to 06:00, free entry; the back rooms each have a different soundtrack.
Mazel Tov on Akacfa in the Jewish Quarter is a Mediterranean ruin garden in an early 1900s courtyard, with mezze, shawarma and live klezmer most nights in Budapest.
Signature drink: Israeli wine and Hungarian craft beer
Food: Full Mediterranean and Israeli kitchen
Order: An Israeli sauvignon blanc with the mezze plate.
Tip: Open noon to midnight daily; book a week ahead for weekends, glass-roof courtyard fills first.
Boutiq'Bar on Paulay Ede in Terezvaros is one of Budapest's serious cocktail rooms, with classic cocktails poured by a tightly drilled team near the Opera in Pest.
Signature drink: Classic cocktails, Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Old Cuban with a Hungarian pálinka stinger to close.
Tip: Wed 18:00 to 24:00, Thu 18:00 to 01:00, Fri-Sat 18:00 to 02:00; closed Sun, Mon and Tue.
Warm Up on Nagy Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a modern Budapest cocktail bar built on Hungarian spirits like palinka and Unicum, with serious technique and a quiet room.
Signature drink: Modern cocktails on Hungarian spirits
Food: Snacks
Order: The Unicum-and-pálinka highball with a citrus twist.
Tip: Open Tue to Sat from 18:00; book the bar seats for the bartenders' attention.
Kisuzem on Kis Diofa utca in the Jewish Quarter is a long-running local bar with bistro plates, Hungarian wine list and a steady crowd of artists and writers, Budapest.
Signature drink: Hungarian beer and wine
Food: Bistro plates and bar snacks
Order: The duck breast or the daily soup with a glass of Furmint.
Tip: Daily 11:30 to 24:00; the back room is quieter for conversation.
Fekete Kutya on Dob utca pours 25 Hungarian craft beers from rotating taps in a tiny Jewish Quarter front room, where Budapest brewers come to drink.
Signature drink: Hungarian craft beer flights
Food: Bar snacks
Order: A flight of three Hungarian IPAs to compare local brewers.
Tip: Cash and card; the room is tiny, share a table or stand at the bar.
Csendes Létterem on Ferenczy István utca near Astoria is a vintage-junk-shop bar pouring house cocktails and Hungarian beer in a flea-market room with mismatched chairs in downtown Budapest.
Signature drink: House cocktails and Hungarian beer
Food: Burgers, bistro plates
Order: The signature whisky sour with a side of fries.
Tip: Daily 10:00 to 24:00; the back room is the loudest, front room the quietest.
Ellato Kert at the top end of Kazinczy is a Jewish Quarter ruin garden with a Mexican kitchen serving tacos and a cheap-and-cheerful Hungarian beer list in Budapest.
Signature drink: Beer and pálinka
Food: Mexican tacos and bar food
Order: Two tacos and a Soproni beer in the back garden.
Tip: Daily 17:00 to 02:00; the back garden is shaded and fills first on summer nights.
Tuk Tuk on Paulay Ede in the Casati boutique hotel is a tiny dark Terezvaros cocktail bar with purple walls, red silk curtains and Asian-spiced cocktails near the Opera in Budapest.
Signature drink: Cocktails with Asian spices and herbs
Food: Bar snacks
Order: The signature spice-and-ginger highball from the bartender's list.
Tip: Reservations advised, the room is intimate; phone the bar to hold seats on weekend nights.
Szatyor on Bartok Bela ut in Ujbuda is an art-bar with rotating local exhibitions, Hungarian wine and a small Mediterranean food menu shared with Hadik next door, Budapest.
Signature drink: Hungarian wine and cocktails
Food: Hungarian and Mediterranean small plates
Order: A glass of Hungarian dry Furmint with the mixed small-plate selection.
Tip: Daily 11:00 to 24:00; the gallery rotates new local artists monthly.
Peak food season in Budapest is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Budapest rewards trust.