Moonbow in Bologna's Centro Storico is the Antonio Lai speakeasy cocktail bar, with a 12-seat bar standing crowd, smoked-and-aged classics and a no-walk-in policy after 23:00.
Tip: Book three days ahead online; the bar seats 12 and walk-ins are accepted only before 22:00.
Address: Via dei Mille 25, 40121 Bologna BO
Freakout Club in Bologna's San Vitale is the late-night cocktail bar with rotating DJs, modern Italian cocktails and the standing crowd from 23:00 to 04:00 Friday and Saturday.
Try: Cocktails, snacks
Tip: Walk-in only; the bar runs 22:00 to 04:00 Friday and Saturday and 22:00 to 02:00 mid-week.
Tamburini in Bologna's Quadrilatero runs the self-service food hall until 22:00 with salumi taglieri, the daily-changing pasta-by-weight tray and the aperitivo cocktail bar from 18:00.
Try: Salumi tagliere, daily pasta
Tip: Self-service runs 11:00 to 22:00; aperitivo starts at 18:00. The kitchen stops at 21:30.
Le Stanze in Bologna near Via Indipendenza is the cocktail bar built into a 16th-century chapel with the late-night cocktail carte to 02:00 Friday and Saturday and the small-plates kitchen.
Try: Cocktail carte, small plates
Tip: Walk-in works for the bar; the late-night cocktail crowd takes over after 23:00. The dining room closes at 23:30.
Nu Lounge Bar in Bologna's Centro Storico is the city's pioneering tiki cocktail bar from Daniele Dalla Pola, with a daily tiki carte, the late-night standing crowd and the kitchen to 01:00.
Try: Tiki cocktails, late-night snacks
Tip: Walk-in works; the late-night standing crowd takes over after 22:30. The Mai Tai and the tiki carte are the order.
Kebab Mercato Zamboni in Bologna's University quarter is the late-night doner kebab counter on Via Zamboni, serving lamb kebab in pita and falafel wraps to the post-bar student crowd.
Try: Doner kebab, falafel
Tip: Cash only; the counter runs 11:00 to 04:00 daily and the queue is steady after 23:00 with the student crowd.
Pizzeria Altero on Via dell'Indipendenza in Bologna is the 1957-founded pizza-al-taglio counter, an old-school Bolognese counter serving slabs of pizza rossa, pizza bianca and crescentine.
Try: Pizza al taglio
Tip: Take-away counter runs 11:00 to 22:00; the pizza rossa is 3 euros per slab and the queue thins after the lunch peak.
