Most Budapest guide books feature the places below, meaning that throngs of tourists flock to them. Although lack of locals is normally a warning sign, these restaurants, bars, and cafés haven't actually turned into tourist traps. Price-points may be a little higher than usual, but they have retained their native spirit that made them famous in the first place.
If you've spent at least 5 minutes researching the city's nightlife, then you may have come across Szimpla Kert, Budapest's iconic ruin bar. Likely you're also familiar with the ruin bar (romkocsma) concept: makeshift bars inside dilapidated pre-war buildings, furnished with quirky furniture assembled from clearance sales, and all in all exuding an inexplicably cool atmosphere.