The 12 Best Cocktail Bars in Beirut

1. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Cocktail Bar – Middle East & Africa

Named after the gentle bull from the children's book, this neighborhood cocktail bar on Hamra Street earns the reference with a room that actually feels calm and unhurried. The back bar holds a serious single malt collection, and the cocktail list runs from classics to house originals that lean floral and bright. Burgers and steak sandwiches keep things grounded. A Discovery from The 50 list.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery
2. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Cocktail Bar – Middle East & Africa

1. Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Cocktail Bar – Middle East & Africa

The neon glow and a vinyl-driven soundtrack set the tone at this Gemmayze bar, where the concept lands somewhere between a Tokyo listening bar and a Beirut night out. Cocktails lean on Japanese ingredients, the sake list rewards patience, and an izakaya-style menu runs from sandos to bao for when the drinks demand ballast. It earned a spot on The 50 Discovery list, which is about right for a room this quietly sure of itself.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

Reborn from the wreckage of its predecessor with a new name and a new address on Monot Street, The Terrible Prince is the kind of burger and cocktail joint that has a whole city rooting for it before anyone takes a bite. The team behind it built much of Beirut's modern dining scene, and this place carries that history without wearing it on its sleeve. Casual, crowd-friendly, and a little defiant by design.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

A rooftop cocktail bar on the sixth floor of Le Gray hotel, with a pool on the terrace that runs right up to the indoor bar's windows. The room curves in white with cherry prints on the walls, and the views take in most of Beirut and a sliver of sea beyond. DJs most evenings keep things from getting too contemplative. The cocktail list leans toward crowd-pleasers but slips in a few inventive options for anyone who bothers to look past the obvious.

1. Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide

Herb bundles and infusion jars in the window give Dragonfly away before you even open the door. This cocktail bar on Gouraud Street occupies a former bakery, and the barrel-vaulted ceilings of the old building make it feel like somewhere worth lingering. The menu follows through on what the bar setup promises, and the music policy skips the standard Beiruti dance-pop entirely, running late enough that Umm Kulthum might come on.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

Perched on the top floor of the An Nahar building overlooking Martyrs Square, this upscale cocktail bar opens for summer nights only, which somehow makes it feel more like a party you were lucky to find than a place that was always there. White sofas, long tables, and the lights scattered across the hills behind Beirut set the mood. The short cocktail list runs fruity; by midnight the tables clear and the whole thing tilts toward a proper night out.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

White columns and swaying palms frame this poolside lounge at the Phoenicia Hotel, with marina views and megayachts doing their best to distract you from your drink. Swinging daybeds, soft draperies, and movies projected over the water lean hard into a retro-colonial mood. The spirits list is quietly serious for a place this pretty: 30 rums, 35 tequilas, and mezcal for whoever wanders over from the deep end.

1. Difford's Guide 3 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 3 stars · Difford's Guide

A vaulted Ottoman shop-front on Gouraud Street that goes much deeper than it looks from the outside. Torino Express is a cocktail bar doing coffee and sandwiches by day before pivoting, hard, to drinks once the neighborhood fills up. There's no cocktail menu, which tells you everything about the vibe: the bartenders just make drinks. Post-club, pre-club, and a few people who genuinely cannot explain what brought them here pack the place nightly.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide