Once again, your boy is back on the streets, checking out some new places for drinking in the city. These are not cocktail reviews. Vibes, music, conversation, stories, and sound take priority. The search is on for characters, good chat, challenging drinks, grandpa drinks in rocks glasses, and loud glassware.
But first, some bar news!
Bar Closures, News, Whispers, Hunches
Sad news for house music and clubs in neighborhoods. Roam has suddenly closed after two years in the game. On Sunday night, the three-story combination restaurant/lounge/bar/small-club near Jing'an Kerry Center held their last party, "Happy Ending". This comes after they did some major renovation for much of May and reopened in late June.
Across town on Yuyuan Lu, The Cannery closed their doors after ten years of serving up grilled fish, drinks, and Canadian vibes. The venue plans to use the space to revive a brand that they set up at Three on the Bund back in 2019 - the K-bbq joint, Juju.
And what's easily the longest-running spot in this list (31 years!), the House of Blues and Jazz, closed their iconic location on Fuzhou Lu in July, but there's good news here - they've just respawned in the same district, over at 600 Jiujiang Lu. From their WeChat account: "Year 31, our fifth rebirth... From No. 60 Fuzhou Road to No. 600 Jiujiang Road... It feels like a stroke of fate, much like the endless improvisation of jazz - an ending is never a final stop."
Alma Luna
Alma Luna is the much-anticipated Cuban bar from Yao Lu (Union Trading Co.), now open on this once-rowdy stretch of Xiangyang Lu, right next to where ALL Club was. They've applied the Cuban theme across all dimensions here, from the floor tiles and photos on the wall, to the drink menu (Hemingway Daiquiris, Cuba Libres), to the food that they serve until like 1:45am (Cuban sandwiches, chocolate pot desserts), the low-key music, and decor.
You can tell a lot about a bar by how well they treat solo customers, their playlists, how often they pour your water, and how good the chat with the bartenders is. On a rainy Saturday night, alone and anonymous, I wandered through the fog-frosted door and found excellence and warmth across all these categories and more. For example:
Me: "Yooo, that monster shaped bottle is crazy - what's in that?"
Bartender: "Rum. It's kinda sweet. You wanna try a shot?"
[Ten minutes later] Me: "Oh dammmn, you got a frozen drinks machine? Love frozen drinks. What is that, a margarita?"
Bartender: "Miami Vice - half daiquiri, half piña colada."
Me: "Danger, danger. Strong?"
Bartender: "Nahhhh, not that strong" [pours whole glass of blue and white freeze for me to try then we talk about frozen drink machines and ALL Club].
Good cocktails are common – a great experience is rare, and I gotta say this place killed it, plus the espresso martini was fire.
The whole Cuban theme is subtle and really well done. Cocktails average around 100rmb. This is a place for solo excursions, dates, or exploring the menu with a few companions, and definitely more of a sit down and chat kinda place. Will return for sure to try that sandwich.
Candyshop
Coming straight from Alma Luna, I got lost trying to find Candyshop and ended up in a large elevator with 20 young men who were all at least 187cm tall and looked like anime characters. They seemed to be working at some kind of duck bar called "Honey Trap" in the building next to Candyshop and had no idea about the "hip hop club" this confused looking white boy was asking about. That was the most memorable part about my night at Candyshop, a new lounge from some of the folks behind Ninja.
Besides Hush and La Fin, there's really no clubs dedicated to playing hip hop downtown, so this one sounded intriguing. I grabbed a bottle of Asahi and headed to the small dancefloor and admired the horse painting on the wall and the chandelier above. The DJ booth stood in the middle of the floor like an island, surrounded by other little islands of couches and tables like little private parties for international students and kids in their 20s - a little archipelago of turn up and shisha. This night was a celebration of 50 years of hip hop, which might have explained the playlists that hadn't changed since Ninja closed. "Old Town Road" in 2026 feels two thousand and late, but it was cool to see the bartender do the Soulja Boy dance.
The fact that this is attached to the Howard Johnson hotel probably explains the lack of subwoofers, a difficult prospect for the genre. Still, the location is classic, and I can imagine some fun times here with the right promoter and DJs.
VICE
Over on Yongjia Lu, a few blocks south of IAPM, VICE is this new-ish two-floor lounge/bistro/bar by Raffe Ibrahamian (Cantina Agave) with Carlos Sotomayor (High Yaki The Sea, Elefante) in charge of the kitchen and a J. Boroski alumnus running the bar.
The food is a fusion of Peruvian, Western European, and Asian flavors. At around 11pm on a random Tuesday, they were only serving up drinks and a short menu of bar bites. Initially a little quiet, the conversation started when I expressed disappointment that the "Seven Colors Potatoes" were not actually seven different colors. The bartenders were cracking up at that and started pouring shots of rose-infused vodka, which ranged from subtle to paint-stripping. The latter would go great with soda. Both the potatoes and the kung-pao chicken bites (obviously had to order that) tasted like Longchamp opening a street food stall in Putuo. I'd come back for either.
The bartender, who used to work in a Harry Potter themed bar on Yongkang Lu, showed me a hidden feature I nearly missed - this balcony overlooking Yongjia Lu. It might be the best feature of the whole place.
VICE feels like it's in the same lane as somewhere like The Cannery - nice enough for a client dinner but casual enough for a date. But the one element holding this place back is the sad and infuriating playlist of light-EDM covers of songs like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (possibly AI slop?). They could easily elevate this joint by taking the food menu's fusion approach to the playlists - a little city pop, some Latin deep cuts, somegood surprises.
Tip: there's a secret noodle menu. Didn't try it, but it sounds intriguing.
Eros
Opened in 2026 in Green Station, upstairs from Heim, Eros is a comfy, low-key lounge for the boys and men (but definitely open to all who are chill) with exposed brick, red lighting, leather sofas, two floors, a little outdoor seating, and a neon sign with the handsome God of Love himself.
The soundtrack matches the red leather, ranging from Britney and Charli to Italo disco and Hi-NRG. Drinks are coming in strong and priced fairly (the signature spritz at 88rmb is nice and heavy), plus they pour signature shots with playful, risqué names that invite you to do something on someone's something.
On a warm June night, the crowd leaned a little more mature (late 20s-40s and some daddies), chill, split fairly evenly between foreign and local. The place was already quite full around 11pm, with more of a mature man's house party vibe. A spiral staircase leads to an upstairs area, and there's a nice balcony for smoking. The place feels suited to long conversations and meeting people, and could be equally good with a few friends or rolling solo, thanks to an approachable crowd and genuinely friendly bar staff.
Could easily see this as a pre-game spot before hitting one of the hundreds of other options within walking distance.
Horse & Cow
Here's yet another new option on Xiangyang Lu, across from ALL, next to the famous convenience store. Horse & Cow is a cozy and affordable little wine bar from Ottimo Group (Ottimo, SOiF, Suzie), which pulls its name from a contemporary Chinese slang term (牛马) that you could translate as a white-collar wage slave/working stiff/corporate drone.
They've got a big selection of wines on the wall, mostly new world, but there's really two main draws here. One is the fact that it's streetside on a great block for chilling and people watching. Second, and more importantly, is their 99rmb-for-two-hours-of-free-flow wine deal. The free-flow wine selection includes six or seven wines, and they offer this deal all day every day.
They also serve pasta, which can come in handy in free-flow wine situations. Thankfully, they also have beer, and it's draft Kirin for 28rmb a glass. On a recent Tuesday night, the joint was basically empty but friendly, and they turned on a Bluetooth speaker and started bumping some new trap music – kind of a surprise there, but a welcome one.
Overall, a solid choice for a summer night with a friend or just pulling up solo and working like a 牛马 on their wi-fi or reading if you're outside and don't wanna go home.
