Where To Drink With The Locals: The 33 Best Bars In Budapest

By Tas TobiasLast updated: Apr. 1, 2023

Follow us on

People, rather than interior designers give soul to these unfussy Budapest bars — expect plenty of locals, wallet-friendly drinks, and an increasingly lively atmosphere as the night progresses. Most places are near one another in the Jewish Quarter and District 8, so nothing should stop you from bar-hopping until the wee hours.

#1 Kisüzem

Those looking to passionately debate Hungarian political history will find themselves at home in this bar set along what used to be a quiet street in the Jewish Quarter. The tranquil, chess-playing and tea-sipping crowd in the afternoons is deceiving — come night-time and Kisüzem fills to capacity so that earning a place at the bar can be a challenge. Local artists, Budapest's left-wing intelligentsia, and international students comprise the regular customers.

#2 Fekete Kutya

If you'd like to escape the rowdy bachelor-party tourists in Budapest's party district but stay in the neighborhood, make your way to Fekete Kutya. Despite its location alarmingly near Kazinczy Street, the main artery of the area, Fekete Kutya somehow flies under tourists' radars and remains an unfussy bar still mainly frequented by local Millennials.

#3 Lumen Café Budapest

Head to Lumen Café if you'd like to avoid the tourist-heavy streets of the Jewish Quarter but still get a cup of specialty coffee or craft beer in a hip neighborhood. With egg-based breakfast dishes, a full-service kitchen, and a sleek interior featuring plenty of greens, concrete, and wood finishes, Lumen is more than your average neighborhood café. But it's the patrons — students, artists, and local bohemians — who give soul to the place.

#4 BÉLA

Part café, part restaurant, and part bar, BÉLA is a laid back, all-welcoming neighborhood joint located on the increasingly fashionable Bartók Béla Boulevard on the Buda side. The snug interior features terra cotta-colored walls, wooden floors, Persian carpets, and lots of greenery dangling from the high ceiling. There are plenty of nooks and crannies — look upstairs and in the back — meaning that BÉLA works well for dates nights; in fact, it works well for pretty much anything, which is why it fills to capacity most evenings.

#5 Rácskert

If you'd like to hang out with the next generation of Hungarian actors and actresses while sipping wallet-friendly beers and spritzers (fröccs), look no further than Rácskert, located in the heart of the old Jewish Quarter. Here, many current and former students from the University of Theatre and Film Arts go to unwind. A food truck stationed on the premises can help you slow the rise in blood alcohol levels (with vegan options, too). While Rácskert is mainly prized as a summer destination, there's a small indoor area for the colder months where you can run into high-energy Hungarian folk dance performances.

#6 Három Holló

Amid downtown Budapest's overpriced tourist traps and dime a dozen “Irish pubs” hides Három Holló, a bar with an entirely different philosophy. Named after the favorite watering hole of Endre Ady, one of Hungary’s poet laureates from the early 20th century, Három Holló occupies a three-story space that fuses a cafe with an exhibition space and a concert venue. On any week, there might be a photography pop-up and a couple of contemporary jazz concerts. (See their packed event calendar.)

#7 Nemdebár

Buda is better known for its rolling hills and tranquil streets than for its lively bars. Even the denser, urban sections are short on places that are worth trekking out to from the Pest side. One of the exceptions is Nemdebár, a dim neighborhood joint drawing an eclectic local crowd of hip college students, office workers, and favorite-uncle types.

#8 Gdansk Bookstore Café

Eastern European bohemian-intellectual vibes ooze from Gdansk Bookstore Café, located on Bartók Béla Boulevard on the Buda side of the city. Run by a Polish native from Gdansk, the port city on the Baltic coast, and her Hungarian husband, this dim and densely furnished bar features cheap vodka selections, Polish and Hungarian craft beers, and bookshelves stacked with Polish books. You're also here for the pickled herring, delivered straight from the Baltic Sea and served with onions and rye bread. Empty tables are rare, closing times flexible, the prices wallet-friendly.

#9 Nappali Kávéház

The bars in Budapest generally fall into two categories: there are low-priced, bare-bones drinking joints on the one hand, and hip cocktail, wine, or craft beer bars on the other. The in-between territory is noticeably thin: a laid-back bar to pop into after a long day’s of work for a well-deserved highball of scotch and soda. And this is what Nappali, which tranlates to "living room," excels at.

#10 Telep

Telep is a hopping Budapest bar in the heart of it all in District 7, the city's main party area. The crowd here will satisfy any hipster cravings you may be harboring — beards, fixie bikes, tote bags, and plenty of good-looking people abound. The interior features low-lying sofas and a massive freestanding wooden counter as if you were at the house party of your coolest friend. A DJ spins records on Friday and Saturday nights, when people spill out onto the small square outside the entrance. The upstairs section often hosts exhibits by local artists.

#11 Központ

Part coffee shop, part breakfast restaurant, part bar, Központ is a popular hangout near the entry point of Budapest's party district. During the day, fashionable foreigners linger here with MacBooks and flat whites in hand. Come night-time, the crowd turns more local as journalists, musicians, and people from the fashion industry appear. On Friday and Saturday nights, they often pour out onto the sidewalk until the wee hours.

#12 Hintaló Iszoda

Hintaló is an atmospheric bar located a bit outside the city center in Budapest's District 8. Apart from the low-lit, cozy interior peppered with nooks and crannies — the upstairs is ideal for date nights — you're here for classic cocktails and local craft beers. Several kinds of amaros, gins, and rums are also served. Hintaló tends to fill up most evenings with a mixed crowd of international students and locals.

#13 Lámpás

Lámpás is a lively below-ground bar in Budapest best known for its daily live music performances (mostly rock, jazz, and blues). Oddly, this gritty, and by no means mainstream bar is opposite Gozsdu Udvar, the tourist-heavy passage teeming with pricey restaurants and wine bars. Lámpás, where you can get a beer and a spritzer (fröccs) for €5, feels a world away — a little gem in the heart of it all. If things get too heated and cramped in the concert room, look for a table in the labyrinthine rear section which better caters to conversations. Note that Lámpás scales back its operation during the summer months.

#14 Dzzs Bár

Dzzs, down the block from Kisüzem, is a tiny, high-energy bar attracting an eccentric crowd of twentysomethings. A late night here can feel like being at the house party of your coolest friend — you can meet local film directors, painters, and musicians in this snug, dim space. Unfortunately, the owners have recently jacked up the prices, leading to a rapid erosion of longtime regulars.

#15 Kiadó Kocsma

Kiadó is a cozy, unfussy bar nestled in a quiet side street near Andrássy Avenue. Regular patrons comprise local artists, office workers, and international grad students, but some wandering tourists with a nose for hidden treasures also stumble in from Andrássy. Matters of the heart are best addressed in the low-lit nooks upstairs, led up to by a curving staircase lined with ornate wooden balustrades. Although food is also served, most people come here for coffee and drinks. Compared with similarly minded, unpretentious bars in the area, like Kisüzem and Fekete Kutya, Kiadó is a bit quieter and hence works better for dates or meetings.

#16 Hivatal Kávézó

Hivatal, which opened in 2010, was an early bird on Madách tér, the entry point of Budapest’s party district. This area is home to many hipster bars (Központ and Telep, for example), but Hivatal has remained a laid-back, unpretentious spot with friendly price points. Inside, communist-era slogans on the walls remind customers of the value of hard work ("hivatal" means "office" in Hungarian). Apart from drinks, there are also tasty toasted sandwiches. During the warmer months, the crowd spills out to the stairs of the neighboring office building, lending the area a block-party feel.

#17 Pótkulcs Budapest

Trust me, the address is accurate — persist in your search and you'll be handsomely rewarded. Pótkulcs bar is hidden inside a former light engineering workshop in Budapest's District 6; once you find the nondescript entrance, proceed through the leefy patio to the adorably gritty, art-laden interior. Attached to the main section is a cavernous performance hall where they host live music concerts almost every evening (with a lineup heavy on Hungarian folk music). During the warmer months, the action shifts to the outdoor patio.

#18 Mélypont Presszó

Mélypont is a cavernous, below-ground bar situated on a quiet backstreet in downtown Budapest. The inside features a mishmash of worn-out, communist-era furniture and usually fills to capacity with students from the nearby law and political science colleges of Eötvös Loránd University. It's a small miracle that this college bar continues to exist in an otherwise expensive neighborhood — let's hope it stays that way.

#19 Ibolya Espresso

Opened in 1968, Ibolya Espresso is an iconic café in Budapest's downtown. Ibolya is deeply anchored in Budapest's collective memory as two generations of locals have been coming to this unpretentious drinking joint for everything from first dates to business meetings to class reunions. The interior is a throwback to the Communist era (1947-1989), featuring Mid-century modern-inspired light fixtures with orange plexiglass and curvilinear chairs topped with red faux leather upholstery.

#20 Cafe Zsivago

Zsivágó is an adorable café and bar nestled on a quiet side street in District 6, under the radar of most people even though it's just a short block from the high-end boutiques of Andrássy Avenue — every time I'm here, I feel a sense of discovery. The snug interior features antique furnishings, maroon and white floral wallpapers, dense carpeting, and small, round tables. In the afternoons, freelancers tend to camp out with their laptops; come evening, a local crowd shows up and spirited chatter fills the high-ceilinged room. Plenty of nooks and crannies, both on the ground floor and upstairs, make Zsivágó an ideal date spot. Besides wine, beer, and tea, there's also hot chocolate, and Polish pierogies.

#21 Kőleves Kert (Outdoor Only)

Bars on the tourist-heavy Kazinczy Street must be taken with a grain of salt, but you can still find some worthy places here (rule of thumb: avoid spots emblazoned with "Hungarian goulash" signs). Kőleves Kert, which isn’t to be mistaken with the popular Kőleves restaurant next door, is one of those summertime treasures in the form of a laid-back, all-welcoming outdoor bar. Order at the wooden shed, then trek through the ankle-deep gravel to find yourself an open seat at the colorful tables canopied by overhanging trees.

#22 Bambi Eszpresszó

If you're looking to immerse yourself in a deeply local, Communist-era neighborhood cafe and bar (eszpresszó), I can't think of a better place than Bambi on the Buda side. What makes Bambi the real deal? It isn’t trying to show off an artificial (retro), unremembered past – it’s a genuine throwback.

#23 Macska Budapest

Located a bit outside the city center in District 8, Macska is a cozy and laid-back neighborhood bar. There's craft beers, vegan dishes, but best of all is the dim, secluded upstairs designed for wholehearted conversations. Like any excellent bar, Macska draws a mixed crowd — you'll find everyone from students to graying regulars. Once here, you could also stop by Hintaló Iszoda or Auróra, lively bars just minutes away.

#24 Fahéj Kávézó

Fahéj is an adorable café and bar on a quiet backstreet in Budapest's downtown. Fahéj eschews the trendy vibes and the tourist-centered approach of other places in the neighborhood, relying instead on a loyal group of regulars, both young and old. The two softly glowing, high-ceilinged rooms fitted with wooden floors, bookshelves, and small round tables works well for a casual weeknight drink, a date, or a heart-to-heart over a bottle of wine. Affordable hot wine and rum-laced tea during the colder months; tasty toasted sandwiches throughout the year.

#25 Szabad Bisztró

Szabad is a laid-back vegan bar and restaurant with an adorably bohemian spirit. Szabad translates to "free" in Hungarian, a moniker open to everyone's own interpretation according to the owners. Customers are local regulars, most of them 30-plus, who all seem to know one another.

#26 Jedermann Café

Founded by the legendary Budapest restaurateur, Hans van Vliet, Jedermann is a snug, all-inviting café and restaurant for all to enjoy (hence "Jedermann," which translates to "everyone"). On any given day, tables might be filled with senior citizens fiercely debating Hungarian politics, students gossiping over a cup of coffee, and a theater director mapping out upcoming projects with the staff. Jedermann is buried on a quiet part of District 9, not far from the city center but away from the throngs clogging the party district.

#27 Grinzingi Borozó

Grinzingi is an unpretentious downtown wine bar with a simple formula that has changed little since its 1983 opening: serve cheap drinks in Budapest's city center that's otherwise teeming with overpriced, tourist-oriented bars. Fast forward 40 years, some of the early patrons still pay repeated visits, as do plenty of college students from nearby universities. Inside, rustic wooden fittings evoke the atmosphere of the bar's namesake Austrian village (Grinzing, known for its wine taverns), and the weathered furniture bears marks of long, alcohol-fueled nights.

#28 Auróra

Auróra is a community center in the outer part of Budapest's District 8, an area with many low-income and minority residents. During the day, there are workshops and discussions on topics related to social justice and civic engagement (they're generally held in Hungarian, but most people will speak English). Come night-time, Auróra transforms into a lively bar and there's a small below-ground concert hall featuring Hungarian folk, jazz, and indie rock bands. The mixed crowd usually includes local artists, community organizers, students, and foreigners — it's a good place for thought-provoking discussions and to meet interesting people.

#29 Gólya Presszó

Gólya is a bar and community center in Budapest best known for the healthy dose of anarchy that radiates through this high-ceilinged industrial space: You’ll find here left-leaning locals and foreign students who deeply care about things like gentrification, climate change, and identity politics. True to its spirit, Gólya is located a bit outside Budapest’s city center in a grittier section of District 8. The late afternoons are often taken up by panel discussions (they’re in Hungarian, but most people will also speak English). If you aren't in so high-minded a mood, trek out here for the nighttime events, which include high-energy concerts of local Hungarian bands.

#30 Klub Vittula

Opened in 2004, Vittula comes closest to delivering a dive-bar experience in Budapest. With an charmingly grungy and labyrinthine layout, the space is actually cooler than your average dive bar. Graffiti and witty scribbles blanket the walls of this below-ground space, and, although it would be a stretch to call Vittula cozy, there are snug corners to hide away.

#31 Pántlika Bistro (Outdoor Only)

Pántlika is an easy-going outdoor bar tucked away on the far end of Budapest's City Park. If you need a break from the nearby tourist attractions — Heroes Square, Vajdahunyad Castle, Széchenyi Thermal Bath — you can refuel here with a cold beer and snacks. Pántlika offers a truly local experience as most tourists don't come all the way to this side of the park. Note that they're open only during the outdoor season (usually from April to mid-October).

#32 Hunnia Bisztró

Hunnia is an adorably grungy, below-ground music bar best known for its Friday and Saturday night concerts, when A and B-level Hungarian bands take over the tiny stage for a high-energy show. Many of the bands who play here were part of Budapest's alternative music scene in the 1970s and 1980s, most famously Mihály Víg and his Balaton group. Today, some of them are still going strong, as are their graying but loyal fans. If you're looking for a deeply local (musical) experience, this is it. Ironically, Hunnia, a decidedly anti-establishment bar, is located inside Budapest's upscale financial district, almost right across the Hungarian Central Bank.

#33 Keret Klub

Since Keret is officially a social club, you'll need to sign up and become a member, a thirty-second exercise, to gain admission to this tiny, dimly lit bar (it's free). The reason for the legal maneuvering is to allow smoking inside. The snug, smoke-filled interior evokes a Prohibition-era ambiance, where the common cause brings out the friendliest side of people. But tobacco isn't the only allure — there are cold beers, grilled sandwiches, and plenty of board games. Also note the paintings on the walls, a positive surprise compared with the check-the-box-type artwork so common in bars these days.

Rankings are based on a combination of food/drink, atmosphere, service, and price. To remain unbiased, I visit all places incognito and pay for my own meals and drinks. I also never accept money in exchange for coverage. But this means I must rely on readers to support my work. If you've enjoyed this article, please consider making a one-time payment (PayPal) or becoming an Offbeat Patron.