Best Cocktail Bars in Cape Town

Cape Town's most acclaimed cocktail bar. The Orphanage works from a Prohibition-era aesthetic but the drinks are entirely modern: Cape botanicals, African spirits, and seasonal ingredients sourced from Western Cape farms. The bartenders here have consistently placed in Africa's 50 Best Bars. The Roosterkoek cocktail made with rooibos, fynbos gin, and Cape honey is the one to order first.

The ground-floor companion to the Tjing Tjing rooftop, this basement Japanese izakaya bar brings an Asian precision to South African ingredients. The sake and shochu list is extraordinary. The cocktails are clean and technically excellent. The low-ceilinged room has an intimacy that the rooftop lacks. One of the most singular bar experiences on the continent.

Over 400 gins from 35 countries, plus a focused selection of Cape Town craft gins that the market has produced in remarkable numbers over the past decade. The G&T pairings with local botanicals are a proper education. Ocean views included at no extra charge.

Not technically a cocktail bar but South African wine mixed drinks done at a level that earns the inclusion. The wine list alone, all South African and many from producers within 40km of the city, is one of the best in the country.

The most formal cocktail bar on this list. A dedicated champagne and cocktail bar within Cape Town's most prestigious hotel, with views of the V&A Waterfront and Table Mountain beyond. The bar team sources several indigenous spirits not found elsewhere.

A compact neighbourhood bar that punches above its size in cocktail quality. The menu rotates quarterly and draws on seasonal Cape ingredients. A low-key environment that suits serious drinkers who do not need a theatrical backdrop.

Part of The Old Biscuit Mill complex, The Kitchen Bar anchors the Woodstock creative scene with a cocktail list that takes its cue from the market's seasonal produce. The house shrubs, fermented cordials, and locally distilled spirits make it one of the most genuinely Cape Town cocktail experiences available.

A small French-South African bar in the De Waterkant neighbourhood that produces exceptional low-intervention cocktails using Cape wine spirits and Cognac. The pâtisserie connection means the bar snacks are extraordinary. Romantic, unhurried, worth booking.

A gin laboratory bar with over 250 gins, an interactive tasting program, and a bar team that makes gin education genuinely entertaining. Not pretentious, the crew can calibrate their approach to complete beginners or knowledgeable enthusiasts.

A Kloof Street institution that has been doing serious cocktails since before the city caught up. The terrace under tree canopy is the attraction; the drinks menu is ambitious and well-executed.

A neighbourhood cocktail bar for the professional Gardens crowd. The rotating seasonal menu is ambitious and the bartenders take their work seriously without taking themselves seriously.

The bar side of one of Cape Town's best new restaurants. Limited cocktail menu, all exceptional, using house-fermented ingredients. Opens to the public before restaurant service begins.

Primarily a coffee bar but the afternoon cocktail menu, built around cold-brew spirits, coffee liqueurs, and Cape Velvet, is good enough to earn a spot on this list. Especially strong for those who want a caffeine-alcohol hybrid in the late afternoon.

Off-the-beaten-path bars where locals actually drink

Are you a bar owner or manager in Cape Town? We partner with exceptional cocktail venues to reach serious cocktail drinkers worldwide.

A Bree Street all day diner founded in 2011, equal parts breakfast counter and evening cocktail stop. Local guides praise the burgers and the roadside parklet seating. Bree Street

A storytelling cocktail bar on the corner of Bree and Wale that turns local myths into theatrical drinks. Tales of the Cocktail named it a top 10 international honouree in 2025. Bree Street