Floor17 ★ 4.1
$$$westDaily 12:00 to 01:00
Floor17 sits atop the Leonardo Hotel Rembrandtpark in west Amsterdam, a 17th-floor bar and restaurant with a wraparound terrace looking across Rembrandtpark and out toward Sloterdijk and the harbour.
Tip: Metro 50 to Postjesweg then ten minutes on foot; sunset bookings fill weeks ahead in summer, walk-ins fine off-season on weeknights.
Tales and Spirits ★ 4.6
$$$centrumTue-Sat 17:30 to 01:00, closed Sun-Mon
Tales and Spirits has run a cocktail bar and restaurant down a quiet alley off Nieuwendijk since 2011, with an extensive playful list served in vintage and custom glassware alongside seasonal small plates from the open kitchen.
Tip: Walk-ins only, no reservations; arrive close to 17:30 opening to beat the queue. Ground-floor bar is first-come, restaurant tables held for late seating.
Door 74 ★ 4.7
$$$centrumDaily 19:00 to 03:00, two seatings
Door 74 opened in November 2008 as Western Europe's first speakeasy bar in a former garage workshop off Reguliersdwarsstraat, with an unmarked black double door, classic pre-Prohibition list and a candlelit, low-seated room.
Tip: Reservation by SMS to the bar's number, then ring the bell at the unmarked door beside the Shiva Indian restaurant. Two seatings nightly from 19:00.
Hiding in Plain Sight ★ 4.5
$$$centrumTue-Sun from 19:00 to 01:00
HPS, short for Hiding in Plain Sight, runs a cocktail room on Rapenburg near Nieuwmarkt with a tightly written menu that swings between pre-Prohibition classics, tiki and bartender originals, served by an internationally trained team.
Tip: Reservations recommended on weekends; the room seats roughly 35 and fills early. Nieuwmarkt metro five minutes away.
Pulitzer's Bar ★ 4.5
$$$$grachtengordelMon-Thu 17:00 to 01:00, Fri-Sat 15:00 to 02:00, Sun 15:00 to 01:00
Pulitzer's Bar sits inside the canal-fronted Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel on the corner of Keizersgracht and Reestraat, running a botanical-led cocktail menu in a classic dark-wood, leather-banquette setting with a small canal terrace.
Tip: Entrance through the hotel lobby on Prinsengracht 323, the bar itself opens onto Keizersgracht. Canal-side outside seats are first-come on warm nights.
LAB111 ★ 4.2
$$oud-westDaily from 16:00 to 01:00 approx, programming varies
LAB111 occupies a former pathological anatomy lab in Oud-West and runs as an independent cult cinema with the Bar Strangelove cocktail room and a small restaurant attached, drawing cinephiles and after-work drinkers alike.
Tip: Tram 7 to Ten Katestraat then five minutes south; bar opens before the first screening and stays open after the last reel. Cash card preferred.