Dance clubs, live music, rooftop bars, speakeasies, LGBTQ+ venues, listening bars and late-night dives in El Paso.
Dance clubs, live music, rooftop bars, speakeasies, LGBTQ+ nightlife, listening bars and late-night dives across El Paso, with where to go and what is worth the late night.
Ambar Restaurante at the Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park runs Thursday live jazz sessions from 19:00 to 21:00, pairing performances with the bar's 1,100-plus agave spirits collection in a downtown room.
Order: Mezcal cocktail or a glass from the agave spirit wall
Tip: No cover charge but reservation for a table is needed on Thursdays; bar walk-ins are accepted until seating fills.
INTL on West Mills Avenue is El Paso's go-to rooftop bar, with clear views of the Franklin Mountains and the border cityscape, serving margaritas and cocktails from an outdoor terrace in the downtown core.
Order: House margarita with El Paso skyline view
Tip: The sunset hour of 19:00 to 20:00 in summer is the best time; the terrace closes when it hits capacity so arrive early on Fridays.
EP Tasting Room is El Paso's closest thing to a speakeasy: located behind the Lucchese boot store with no street signage, offering guided agave spirits flights in a dim, intimate tasting chamber.
Order: Tequila or mezcal flight guided by the in-house spirits specialist
Tip: Walk through the boot store and ask at the back; first-time visitors always miss the entrance.
Chico's Tacos is El Paso's most important late-night institution: a cash-only counter restaurant serving rolled tacos in tomato broth until 23:30 nightly, packed from midnight onward with after-bar crowds and night workers.
Order: Plate of rolled tacos in tomato broth
Tip: The loudest, most alive table in El Paso after 23:00. Cash only, no exceptions.