Beirut’s Vibrant Nightlife: A Guide

Dubai and Tel Aviv may be today’s party capitals of the Middle East, but Beirut’s reputation for fun has been solid for decades. You’re spoiled for choice in this city, whether you’re looking for glitz (rooftop temples to house music and stilettos) or grit (sticky-floored dive bars with lawn furniture on the patio). Beirutis are known for their hospitality: as a visitor, you’ll easily make friends wherever you end up, and you’ll probably even score an invitation to Sunday lunch with the family in the village.

Beirut started swinging in the 1960s, when French actress Brigitte Bardot and American actor Marlon Brando rubbed shoulders with oil sheikhs and spies at seaside hotel pools. What may surprise the uninitiated is just how raucous nights out still are here. There is no official closing time for bars or clubs, and people seem fine staying out late even on weeknights. It’s a small enough city that you’ll run into people you know even if you’ve just arrived a few hours ago, and neighbourhoods you’ll want to visit are usually a short taxi ride away. In the liveliest districts, bars have opened up within easy walking distance to one another, if not right next door.

Where to Go Clubbing in Beirut

Clubbing in Beirut is a year-round concern, but nights really get thumping in the summer, when most of the city’s clubbing institutions relocate to the BIEL Waterfront (also known as the New Corniche). This multi-acre, post-industrial, brutalist fantasy features great swathes of Tetrapods, which look like giant geometric toy jacks made of poured concrete, waiting for revellers to pose with them for the ‘gram. It juts out into the Mediterranean, providing a divine cool breeze and, for the extremely jolly, sunrise over the sea. House music reigns at BIEL: summer standouts include The Gärten by ü berhaus and AHM, which features a Thursday hip-hop and R&B night, rare in this techno-mad city.

However, there’s no need to despair if you’re visiting in the off-season. Karantina, a district of under-occupied warehouses, hosts galleries and dance halls including the well-established Grand Factory and the rooftop space currently occupied by Baboon (the concept changes every summer).

Beirut’s Best Cocktail Bars

Not everyone in this city drinks, but those who do enjoy unique and innovative beverages. Sip an inventive cocktail made from trendy spirits and housemade bitters with finesse, or dance the night away like you’re 18 again. New variations on the Beirut bar-scene theme open each week, providing an abundance of choices.

The first stop for many thirsty visitors is Anise, a staple of the craft cocktail scene, located in the neighborhood of Mar Mikhaël. Bartenders here forage for herbs during weekend jaunts in the mountains; drinks like Lebanese aniseed spirit arrack are served enhanced with local sage. In east Beirut, consider visiting Dragonfly or Mar Mikhaël’s Kalei Coffee Company, where the cocktails are delightfully crafted.

If the ambiance captures your interest, the Mar Mikhaël sidewalk has attracted the young and social for nearly a decade. It can feel like a catwalk in the evenings, and while the vibe can shift towards seedy as midnight approaches, venues like Internazionale and Radio Beirut remain lively spots.

Finding Craft Beer in Beirut

A beer renaissance is blossoming in Beirut. Previously, the selection was limited to Almaza (a local Heineken imprint, reminiscent of Budweiser in its mediocrity) or the insipid Beirut beer. Nowadays, craft beer options have emerged, including 961 (try the Red Ale), Colonel (visit the brewery on the beach north of Beirut in Batroun) and Brew Inc in Badaro, an area known for its vibrant drinking scene.

Smoking at Beirut’s Shisha Bars

Switch up your vices with an evening spent in one of Beirut’s myriad smoky shisha bars. Partake in tobacco, smoked via a stand up water pipe (called shisha or nargileh), in classic flavors like lemon-mint, grape, or double apple. Be cautious if you’re not accustomed to it: a whole shisha delivers much more, and stronger, nicotine than a cigarette. Café Em Nazih is a Gemmayzeh institution, serving up affordable mezze (Lebanese small plates) and nargileh in a diverse, convivial atmosphere. Kahwet Leila, also in Gemmayzeh, combines nostalgia with shisha, featuring vintage Beirut photographs lining the walls. In Hamra, Ka3kaya is a cozy sidewalk shisha cafe perfect for enjoying the street scene.

If you’re looking for a spot to sober up with a shisha and a snack, Al Falamanki is an excellent choice. Located between Achrafiyeh and downtown Beirut, its leafy garden evokes a Lebanese village house atmosphere and remains open all night. Relaxing on a floral-upholstered chaise longue with a backgammon board and shisha can be a wonderfully civilised conclusion to a lively night out in Beirut.