Editorial
The 10 best after work bars in Beirut cluster in Mar Mikhael, Hamra and Gemmayze, where the first drink starts early and the street stays open late. We read each list for what it does at six in the evening, the arak highball, the manhattan, the wine flight. These are the rooms our editors point you to when the office empties out and the night is still wide open.
The rebuilt strip along Armenia and Pharaon streets holds the densest run of bars in the city, most of them pouring from early evening.
West and south, Hamra keeps its old guard, while Saifi and Gemmayze hold a quieter pair of rooms for the first drink.
For an early round, Central Station and Anise show what Beirut does behind the bar at the top of the form. El Cafetin and Electromechanique carry the Mar Mikhael strip, Bar Tartine pours the wine, and Mayrig brings the arak highball to Saifi. Start in the east and let the street take you west.
Priya Nair is barsforKings' senior cocktail editor and a former Punch contributor. She reads a bar by its menu first: how the list is built, the house spirits, and the one drink worth ordering.