Die Krake reads its room the way a good bartender reads a guest, slowly and with intent. The cocktail bar sits at Reichenbachstrasse 22 in the Glockenbachviertel, the address that Bar Reichenbach once held, and the octopus on its logo sets the tone: eight arms, one menu, plenty of reach.
The name translates as "the octopus," and the bar leans into it. Since opening in 2018 it has built a reputation on cocktails poured with care and a soundtrack that turns the back half of the night into a dance floor. The bar bills itself as Munich's bar of the year since 2019, and the cocktail-course platform Konfetti lists it among its top 30 bars in Germany for mixing classes.
The room is dark and close, with a long bar where the bartenders work in plain sight. A separate hidden room sits behind the main floor for private events, which keeps the front bar loose and conversational early before the DJ takes over. Live DJ sets run on the open nights, Thursday through Saturday, so the energy climbs in stages rather than all at once.
What to order starts at the bar's strength: a built-to-order classic. The drinks list runs through the canon and the bartenders take requests, so a sharp Daiquiri or a stirred Negroni plays to the house style of fresh juice and clean balance. Ask for a dealer's choice when the bar is quiet and name a spirit you like, since the crew here would rather build to your taste than read off a card.
The crowd is a Glockenbach after-work mix early in the evening, the kind of neighbourhood drinkers who come for one good cocktail and stay for three. It turns younger and louder once the music lifts past 10pm, a Tanzbar in the bar's own words. The pull is the combination, a serious drink and a room that wants to move.
Who is it for. After-work drinkers who want a proper cocktail with a pulse, anyone who likes a DJ rather than a playlist, and the cocktail-curious who fancy a class before a night out. Skip it on a quiet weeknight, since the bar only opens Thursday to Saturday and the dance-floor half of its character needs the weekend crowd.
Best time to go is early on a Thursday for the after-work hour, when the bartenders have time to talk through the list before the floor fills. The bar opens at 7pm and runs to 1am on Thursday and to 3am on Friday and Saturday, so a late arrival lands you squarely in the DJ stretch.
A practical note: reservations run through the bar's own site and matter on Friday and Saturday, when the room fills fast and the hidden room is often booked out. Glockenbach sits a short walk from Fraunhoferstrasse on the U1 and U2 lines, an easy hop from the city centre.
For the wider field, our guide to the best after-work bars in Munich sets this dance-floor cocktail bar against the quieter rooms nearby, and the Munich bar guide maps where to drink around Gärtnerplatz. Cocktail drinkers should read our pillar on the best cocktail bars in Munich, and travellers comparing rooms can scan the global after-work bars collection.
The bar also runs cocktail courses through the day, a side of the business that doubles as a calling card. Konfetti ranks it among Germany's top 30 venues for the format, which tells you the bartenders can teach the drinks as well as pour them. That training shows in the steadiness of the classics across a busy Friday, when a lesser bar would cut corners to keep up.
Sources: Die Krake official site, diekrakebar.com (2026); Falstaff, Die Krake, Munich; Konfetti, Top 30 bars for cocktail courses; Die Krake Instagram, @diekrake.bar.
