Where to Drink in Taipei at Night: Bars, Beer Halls and the Local Way

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The best bars in Taipei by vibe: cocktail bars, craft beer, expat pubs, Xinyi clubs, riverside beers and rechao with Taiwan Beer, plus prices and rules.

Bars in Taipei: the scene is better than its reputation

Taipei doesn't have one big party street like Bangkok or Seoul, so newcomers sometimes assume the nightlife is quiet. It isn't. It's spread out. The bars in Taipei include some of the best cocktail bars in Asia, a craft beer scene that went from almost nothing to dozens of taprooms in ten years, a handful of loud expat pubs, glossy clubs in Xinyi, and, best of all, the noisy stir-fry restaurants where Taiwanese people actually drink.

Here's where to go, organized by mood, with our picks at the end.

Rechao: the most Taiwanese night out (start here)

If you only do one thing on this list, do this. A rechao (熱炒, "hot stir-fry") is a no-frills restaurant with plastic stools, fluorescent lights, a wall menu of dishes that mostly cost a few hundred NT dollars each, and a fridge full of Taiwan Beer. Groups order five or six plates to share (clams with basil, three-cup chicken, salt and pepper fried tofu, stir-fried water spinach), grab beer from the fridge themselves, and stay for hours. It's loud, cheap and very friendly.

How it works: sit down, mark dishes on the paper order sheet (point at other tables if the menu is Chinese only), and take bottles from the fridge. Staff count your empties at the end, so leave them on or under the table. Many rechao have beer promotion staff for Taiwan Beer or Heineken who will happily keep you topped up.

Where: they're everywhere, but look for the 100 plus seat places with big signs and full tables after 7pm. Areas around Xinyi Anhe, Minsheng Community and Linsen North Road are full of them. Go with at least four people so you can try more dishes.

A bottle of Taiwan Beer Classic next to a plate of fried egg tofu on a restaurant table

Photo: Lirrel boyman via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cocktail bars: Taipei's real strength

Taipei bars show up on Asia's 50 Best Bars every year, and a cocktail here costs far less than in Singapore or Hong Kong. Expect around NT$400 to 500 per drink plus a 10% service charge. Many top bars take reservations by Instagram DM, and walking in after 10pm on a Friday is a gamble.

The best concentration is in Da'an, around Zhongxiao Dunhua and Xinyi Anhe MRT stations:

For whisky, the Zhongshan area (Zhongshan and Shuanglian MRT, including the small lanes around Chifeng Street) has quiet Japanese style basement bars, and MUD Bar under the Amba Hotel on Zhongshan North Road is a reliable speakeasy style choice. Order a Kavalan while you're there: it's Taiwan's own award-winning single malt from Yilan, and bars here usually carry several expressions.

Craft beer taprooms

Pints usually run a bit cheaper than cocktails, roughly NT$200 to 300 depending on the beer.

Expat pubs and sports bars

When there's a rugby final, the Premier League or the Super Bowl on, these are the places:

These are also the easiest places to meet other foreigners in your first weeks.

A spot we know well: AI DARTS

Full disclosure: this one is ours. AI DARTS is a darts bar run by the same team as TRA, at No. 1, Alley 15, Lane 345, Section 4, Ren'ai Road, a short walk between Zhongxiao Dunhua and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall MRT stations, so it fits easily into a night around the Lane 160 cocktail bars or On Tap.

Xinyi: clubs and big nights

Around Taipei 101 is where Taipei goes to dress up. The ATT 4 FUN building near Taipei 101/World Trade Center and City Hall MRT stations stacks restaurants, bars, a rooftop venue and clubs on top of each other, and OMNI is the flagship EDM superclub (roughly Wednesday to Saturday, from about 10:30pm until 4:30am). Dress smart, expect cover charges and table minimums, and expect the crowd to arrive after midnight. It's fun once. It's not where you'll spend most of your nights.

Taipei 101 and the Xinyi district skyline lit up at night

Photo: Ocean taiwan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ximending: young, cheap, chaotic

Ximending is full of students, tourists, cheap bars and late snacks. The open-air bars behind the Red House are the heart of Taipei's LGBTQ+ nightlife and are welcoming to everyone. Good for a casual, low-cost night.

The budget move: convenience store beer by the river

Drinking in public is legal in Taiwan, and it's completely normal to buy a few cans at 7-Eleven or FamilyMart (around NT$40 to 60 for Taiwan Beer, more for imports) and sit somewhere nice. Our favorite spot is Dadaocheng Wharf (walk from Beimen or Daqiaotou MRT): river breeze, sunset, and in summer, food stalls and fireworks events. Riverside parks all along the Tamsui River work too. Just don't drink inside the MRT paid area, where eating and drinking are banned.

Night view of the Taipei skyline from Dadaocheng Wharf beside the river

Photo: 偷你哥(Tony Ge) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Not sure what else your local store can do? See what convenience stores in Taiwan can actually do.

KTV: where the night ends

Karaoke in Taiwan means private rooms, not singing in front of strangers. Cashbox (錢櫃) and Holiday KTV (好樂迪) are the big chains, open late or 24 hours, with drink and food menus and plenty of English songs. Late night time slots are much cheaper than prime time, and splitting a room between six people is a bargain.

What to drink

Rules that actually matter

For more on getting around, read our MRT and EasyCard guide and driving and scooters in Taiwan.

Our picks

Opening hours and rankings change, so check a bar's Instagram or Google Maps before heading over, especially on Mondays when many smaller places close.

If you're still looking for an apartment and want to live close to the neighborhoods you'll actually go out in, TRA can help you find the right place in Taipei.

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