Bologna’s bustling bar scene is set to please cocktail connoisseurs on a night out. There’s an array of craft establishments to quench your thirst if you’re venturing into Emilia Romagna’s food-obsessed capital city.
To help you in your nightly explorations, here are a selection of the best venues in Bologna for craft cocktails (and a bonus amari bar for fellow enthusiasts).
Photo credit: Coral Sisk
Pastis by Mercato delle Erbe
Pastis is the go-to spot for classic craft cocktails and small bites in Bologna. The name comes from the famous French anise liquor, which they use in a lot of their cocktails. They also have the classics like the Spritz and Whisky Sour, along with some great locally inspired cocktails like the Daiquiri Bolognese with Amarena sour cherries!
You come to Pastis for the late-night vibe too, lots of locals/students/young professionals dwell here on weekend evenings.
Choice spot for chill outdoor drinking, too.
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday: 5pm-1am; Friday-Sunday: 5pm-3am
Address: Via Belvedere, 7/C
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pastis-Bologna/715969811822860
photo credit: Casa Minghetti Facebook
Casa Minghetti
At Casa Minghetti, candles burn on every surface and lanterns made of zinc light up the patio. The bartenders do not limit their creativity to well-made classics invented by others. Their signature Dolce Vita (whisky, cedar juice, almond and Morello cherry syrups, soda water) or the Californication (gin, cranberry liquor, melon juice, jalapeño and Mexican bitter) both delight repeat customers. If you’re hell-bent on the classics through, order the bar’s favorite, the Martini, which can be tailor-made and mixed according to individual tastes and requests. Cocktails cost €9.
Classified as a ristopub, Casa Minghetti also serves small bites alongside its cocktails like vegetable and fruit caponata, grilled salmon and eggplant burgers and desserts like mint marinated melon with ricotta mousse and pistachio and almond brittle. Other treats include mixed cutting boards, piadine (flatbreads) with local prosciutto and mortadella, pinzimonio (seasonal vegetables with olive oil), as well as daily first and second course specials.
Come here for a sophisticated lunch on the patio or in the evening for date drinks.
Opening hours: Monday-Sunday: 8:30am-1am; Friday-Saturday: 8:30am-midnight
Address: Piazza Minghetti, 1A
Photo credit: Bar Vanilla & Comics
Vanilla & Comics
Best described as a dive bar, but in a good way, Vanilla & Comics is where you go to recapture your teens. Darth Vader's action figures line the walls and comic books cover every surface. They’re also on sale for discerning customers on bookcases made from fruit crates. Vanilla & Comics is really a comic book shop that serves craft/IPA beers, cured meats and crescenti, fried balls of dough served with cold cuts. The cocktails are unpretentious and colorful. Try the Lucky Luciano, which is made with Martini bitters and vodka.
New owners recently refurbished the place and have thrown all of their efforts into entertainment, so you can expect regular DJ sets, comic book readings, book signings and other events.
Come here if you don’t mind the feeling that everyone is just a little edgier than you.
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday: 7:30am-1am; Friday: 7:30am-2am; Saturday: 8:30am-2am; Sunday: closed
Address: Via del Pratello
Photo credit: Ruggine
Ruggine
Missing Brooklyn? Head to Bologna’s favorite hipster bar, Ruggine. Hidden in a small alley in the heart of Bologna, the space was once a warehouse and bicycle workshop and the vibe is decidedly ‘berliner’ with exposed brick, shabby chic furniture and old movie posters, exactly what you’d expect from young owners and friends Ricky, Don, Jack and Davo (the main bartender).
Open for lunch and dinner, the menu is sparse, but worldly and fresh with plenty of vibrantly colored dishes and Italo-Asia fusion flare. Think quinoa and chickpea salads, Thai chicken wings and eggplant hamburgers (first and second courses €8, salads €7). In the evening, there’s good wine, cutting boards with locally sourced cheese and cold cuts and good classic cocktails (try the Moscow Mule served in copper bowls or the Bloody Mary in tomato jars).
Come here for a relaxed evening with friends that’s nothing fancy.
Opening hours: every day: midday-3pm; 6pm- 12:30am
Address: Vicolo Alemagna, 2/C
Website: http://www.ruggine.bo.it/
Photo credit: Osteria Marsalino
Osteria Marsalino
What started as a tea house, has transformed into a cozy bar renowned for its crostini and cacio e pepe pasta. The highlight at Osteria Marsalino is its incredible selection of Spritzs. The bar adds its own twist to the classic Italian cocktail by mixing up the liquors. The version made with Cynar, a bitter artichoke amaro is particularly promising. Keep an eye out for the rotation of unique cocktails too. They recently started serving Bonsai, a craft cocktail made with Saint Germain elderflower liquor, vodka, matcha, lime, egg white and pink salt. The Bugiardo N2 with gin, pink grapefruit, Peychaud’s aromatic bitters and Campari soda sounds delish too.
Come here for beautiful cocktails served with creative flair in an unabashedly boys’ club atmosphere - the owners are four very rambunctious young men.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday: midday-1am; Sunday: 6pm-1am
Address: Via Marsala, 13
Website: https://www.facebook.com/osteria.marsalino/
Photo credit: Coral Sisk/Curious Appetite
Caffe Rubik
A quirky hole in the wall that’s more of an amaro bar than a caffe, despite the name. The goal here is pretty simple. When you walk into a restaurant and ask for a glass of wine, you’re immediately asked whether you want something red, white, sparkling, fruity or dry. Caffe Rubik wants to do the same for amaro, celebrating Italian bitters, its small-producers and its “sfumature” or the tones and aromas that separate one brand from another.
Amaro is an Italian ritual. Italian for "bitter", it’s a herbal liquor that’s commonly consumed as an after-dinner digestif. It usually has a bitter-sweet flavour.
The space packs a lot of character into a tiny space. Cassette tapes and old school lunch boxes line the walls and the owners will often display works by local artists. The dive bar espresso – among Bologna's best – is unexpectedly served in Japanese porcelain, so don’t skip it.
Come here if you feel like something whimsical and want to discover the wonderful world of Italian amaro.
Opening hours: every day: 7am-1am
Address: Via Marsala, 31/D
Website: https://www.cafferubik.com
Photo credit: Nu Lounge Bar
Nu Lounge Bar
Tiki bars get a bad rap. It doesn’t matter where you are, you always feel like you’re on a sundeck in a bad ‘70s movie set in Hawaii. That said, Nu Lounge Bar brings quintessential Italian flair to this classic cocktail style and was opened in 2000. The interior is true to its Tiki roots - think carved wooden masks, plenty of grass skirts and coconuts. But if you’re starting to think that this is some tacky tourist trap, hold up.
The presentation might be fun, but head bartender Daniele Pola is not messing around. He’s one of the world’s most famous Tiki cocktail makers and a true celebrity on the mixology scene. Nu Lounge is one of the few bars in Bologna to make its own syrups and blends using them in cocktails like the Outrigger Canoe, which is served in a literal canoe and comes to the table aflame with a sophisticated blend of orange juice and rum. The creatively named Cobra’s Poison is a combination of Pogo mix, lime, angostura, absinthe, al dorado 5 and plantation OFTD overproof. Then there’s a literal treasure chest of rum that is perfect for you and five friends.
Nu Lounge Bar also serves a selection of Caribbean and Mexican influenced dishes like fresh tuna tartare with sesame, soy, avocado and sakura mixed salad and a range of different tacos. They also do more local dishes like traditional lasagna with green pastry and tortellacci (big ravioli) stuffed with goat cheese and mint on a parmesan fondue.
Come here for a surprisingly posh evening and super fun cocktails served with plenty of dry ice.
Opening hours: Monday-Thursday: 6:30pm-2am; Friday: 6:30am-3am; Saturday: midday-3am; Sunday: midday-2am
Address: Via de' Musei, 6,
Website: http://www.nuloungebar.com/en/
Bizarre Cocktail Lounge
Bizarre only has 12 seats, so it is the height of luxury. The interior is decidedly roaring ‘20s vintage with hand-painted bar stools and gold accents as far as the eye can see. Bartender Enrico Scarzella is one of the most famous bartenders in Italy with stints at Casa Minghetti, King Sole L'Inde Le Palais and Il Rialto. He chose such a small location primarily because he wanted to create an experience. In fact, their signature cocktail is served hot with a napkin, spoon and iced porcelain dish. The drink is poured on the plate and the difference in temperature causes the cocktail to solidify, which can then be eaten. It’s a one of a kind dining experience.
Boutique is also about educating the customer. So Scarzella avoids the classic and more popular drinks, including vodkas, preferring to serve Italian, Norwegian and Japanese gin, but also a selection of rums, mezcal and whiskeys. All of the cocktails on the menu are mouthwatering, but the Tamarindo (Tequila reposado, dry curacao, lime juice, tamarind syrup, pink grapefruit juice and a partial crust of salt, flowers with lime) takes the cake for most sublime.
Come here for the true cocktail experience with impeccable service and a chance to watch a master in his element.
Opening hours: Tuesday: midday-3pm, 6pm-3am; Wednesday-Friday: 6pm-3am; Saturday: 6pm-midnight; Sunday-Monday: closed
Address: Via Belvedere, 4/a
Website: https://www.bizarrebologna.com/
Photo credit: Bar Volare
Bar Volare
Bar Volare is a dip back into the ‘60s. A unique environment packed with antiques from the era, from the counter to the juke box. On the menu, all the classics from the Americano (prepared exclusively with Martini Rosso) to the negroni (with white vermouth, bianco sarti and grappa) through to the martini cocktail. You’ll also see the welcome return of retro favorites like rosolio (an Italian liqueur made from a base of alcohol, sugar and water) or a barrel-aged cherry in your whiskey.
As for its name, Bar Volare is of course inspired by the very famous Domenico Modugno song, which gets a healthy rotation on the aforementioned juke box.
Opening hours: Every day - 6pm to 2am
Address: Via Belvedere, 10/d
Website: https://www.instagram.com/volarebologna/
Bar Macondo
From the same team that brought you Bar Volare, Bar Macondo is a cocktail and live music venue. It also has some great snack food and burgers.
Opening hours: Every day - 6pm to 2am
Address: Via del Pratello, 22
Website: https://www.facebook.com/MacondoBologna/
Gran Bar
For something old school, you can’t beat Gran Bar. It’s an iconic traditional Italian bar in Bologna known as much for its sausages, cheese and cold cuts as for its classic aperitivos with beautifully prepared Spritzs and finger food buffets. On the drinks side of things, the selection is pretty standard. Prosecco, gin and tonics and a few beers on tap.
Come here if you want to mix with the locals, eat some great finger food and not have to Google every ingredient in your cocktail just to find out what you’re drinking.
Opening hours: every day 7am- 10pm
Address: Via D'Azeglio, 7/8
Website: https://www.facebook.com/GranBarViaDAzeglioBologna/
Photo credit: Bologna Cocktail Week
Bologna Cocktail Week
If you’re in Bologna and want to discover more of its vibrant after-dark scene, don’t miss Bologna Cocktail Week. Each year, the city’s best cocktail bars participate in the festival, offering customers a menu of 6-12 special and creative cocktails every evening that celebrate the world of mixology in Italy. All you have to do is show up at one of the participating cocktail bars, open the cocktail menu and let your bartender work his or her magic.
Check the website for special events throughout the week. They range from masterclasses to aperitivos or theme nights, food pairing dinners and competitions. The highlights are the daily cocktail bike tours through Bologna’s Old Town with stops at the best cocktail bars in the city.
Opening hours: October each year
Address: Various locations around Bologna
Website: https://www.bolognacocktailweek.com/
