O Bom O Mau e O Vilão on Rua do Alecrim is the labyrinth cocktail bar named for the Sergio Leone western, several rooms of sofas, low lamps and a weekly jazz and blues live programme over a long list of drinks.
Tip: Open daily from 19:00 to 02:00, weekends to 03:00. The back rooms are the conversation seats; live jazz Wednesday and Thursday nights, DJ sets weekends.
Address: Rua do Alecrim 21, 1200-014 Lisboa, Lisbon
MusicBox on Rua Nova do Carvalho is the vaulted-arch club under the Pink Street in Cais do Sodré, programming live concerts and DJ sets across rock, indie, electronic and urban music six nights a week.
Tip: Doors Monday to Saturday from 23:00 to 06:00; the Jameson Urban Routes festival lands here every autumn. Cais do Sodré station is one block; the line forms before the live set.
B.Leza on Cais da Ribeira Nova is Lisbon's Lusophone-Africa dance club, programming Cape Verdean funaná, Angolan kizomba, semba, kuduro and Afrobeats on the riverside docks of Cais do Sodré.
Tip: Open Tuesday to Sunday from 23:00; closed Monday. The dancefloor fills late, around 01:00, and the partner-dance crowd is generous to beginners.
Lux Frágil on Avenida Infante Dom Henrique by Santa Apolónia is Lisbon's reference techno and house club, opened in 1998 by Manuel Reis with three floors plus a rooftop bar over the Tagus.
Tip: Doors Thursday to Saturday from 23:30 to around 06:00. Arrive after 02:00 for the headline set on the basement dancefloor; the rooftop is the cool-down room.
MusicBox on Rua Nova do Carvalho is the vaulted-arch club under the Pink Street in Cais do Sodré, programming live concerts and DJ sets across rock, indie, electronic and urban music six nights a week.
Tip: Doors Monday to Saturday from 23:00 to 06:00; the Jameson Urban Routes festival lands here every autumn. Cais do Sodré station is one block; the line forms before the live set.
Ministerium Club on Praça do Comércio runs the vaulted halls of the old Ministry of Finance as a techno and house club since 2012, booking international electronic headliners under stone arches by the Tagus.
Tip: Doors Thursday to Saturday from 23:30 for ticketed events; check the calendar before walking up. The cab rank on Praça do Comércio is the fastest exit at 06:00.
B.Leza on Cais da Ribeira Nova is Lisbon's Lusophone-Africa dance club, programming Cape Verdean funaná, Angolan kizomba, semba, kuduro and Afrobeats on the riverside docks of Cais do Sodré.
Tip: Open Tuesday to Sunday from 23:00; closed Monday. The dancefloor fills late, around 01:00, and the partner-dance crowd is generous to beginners.
A Tasca do Chico on Rua do Diário de Notícias opened in 1993 as the Bairro Alto fado vadio tavern, where amateur and professional fadistas take turns at the bar surrounded by paintings, posters and football scarves.
Tip: Fado sessions run nightly from around 21:00, with Monday and Wednesday the busiest. The room is small and chairs are limited, arrive by 20:30 for a standing spot.
Mesa de Frades on Rua dos Remédios is the 18th-century tiled chapel in Alfama restored as a fixed-menu fado dining room, with sets of three to four fados between courses by rotating fadistas.
Tip: Reservation required, 60 euros set menu; arrive by 20:30 for the first set. The original azulejo panels behind the singer are the photo seat, ask for a wall-facing table.