Discover Brixton’s best bars with this handy guide. These are the bougiest places to booze in the neighbourhood.
Brixton’s nightlife scene is popping. Although it’s always had plenty of drinking options, the last few years have seen a proliferation of cool bars opening in the area.
As regular perusers of Brixton’s food and drink scene, we know this area like the backs of our hands – yet it never ceases to surprise us.
There’s always a new bar (or three) to explore, a late-night hangout that hasn’t quite reached most peoples’ radar yet.
Looking for the best bars in Brixton? These are the places you shouldn’t miss.
The Best Bars in Brixton
Shrub & Shutter
Before the Shrub & Shutter Brixton’s cocktail bar scene wasn’t the perkiest. There were a few bars that would mix up a pretty good sip but that was about it… until the Shrub & Shutter came along in 2014 and shook things up.
It’s thrived ever since – thanks to the expertly-made cocktails, relaxed vibe and friendly peeps behind the bar. Even today, you’ll be hard pushed to find better cocktails in Brixton. Unlike many of the bars in the area, they also offer a full food menu that’s equally tasty.
The Whisky Tumbler
The Whisky Tumbler had a rough landing. They opened for business the day before the country went into national lockdown for the pandemic. They pulled through though (luck of the Irish perhaps) and we’re glad for it.
This boozer is classically Irish themed, lots of greens, lots of good music – including a fair bit of live stuff – and plenty of people drunk on whisky.
In a break from tradition, they tend to serve it in the form of some experimental cocktails. Expect to see drinks served under domes of smoke or given some extra bit of flare. There is of course Guiness on tap if you want to keep things old school.
Supercute
Supercute has a lot going for it. £5 cocktails, charming staff, that small-space vibe that forces everyone together to have a good time, and a bit of community spirit from its location in Brixton Village.
They have semi-regular nights of live music and sometimes a DJ or two to spin records. It’s a super chilled place for a drink, but with good vibes like this, and drinks that cheap you may end up staying later than you intended.
It’s also primely located next to Lion Records, that regularly draws crowds of dancers and drinkers outside their record store as they spin vinyl late into the night.
Beast of Brixton
The Beast of Brixton is something of a rarity – a Brixton bar that still manages to escape the notice of the visiting hordes that swell the area’s population come weekend. Perhaps it’s the location on Acre Lane – a bit out of the way of the main throng. Perhaps its because locals love Beast so much they point-blank refuse to tell outsiders about it.
It’s a bit quirky, a bit fabulous and is the kind of date-night location that will give you serious kudos with whoever you bring.
Pop Brixton
Actually more like one of those food-and-drink hubs, Pop Brixton is a bunch of shipping containers perched on top of a roof that are packed out with local businesses, mostly restaurants and bars.
Two of the bars we love up there are ABV Brixton, a new (ish) cocktail concept with a strong focus on the run-based drinks and, round of applause, sustainability. Cocktails not your thing? Pop over to Specialist Cellars for a glass of new-world vino.
The area is covered in winter and open in the summer so you can party on down come rain or shine.
Lost in Brixton
Opening last year, Lost in Brixton brings the fun of summer drinking havens Pergola on the Roof and The Prince to a cool spot perched at the top of Brixton Village.
Once you find the secret stairway in Brixton Village, one of Brixton’s best-hidden gems and London’s coolest outdoor bars awaits. It’s surprisingly massive. With 440 covers and tonnes of different areas, don’t be surprised if you get the tiniest bit lost – everyone does.
Drinks-wise, the draught beer is fresh from Camden Town Brewery. The cocktail menu is much more exotic – with a Latin American / Caribbean-inspired that features ever-so-drinkable concoctions like Tropic Ting – a potent mix of Wray & Nephew overproof rum, Campari, passionfruit and Ting.
Round it off with food ordered by app from the traders down in the Village and you get one hell of a Brixton hangout and an amazing South London rooftop bar.
Rum Kitchen
It’s pretty much sacrilege to come to Brixton and not have something laced with copious amounts of rum – where better than Rum Kitchen? Carnival might have been cancelled this year – you wouldn’t know it from the banging dancehall tunes blaring out the speakers though.
Oh yeah and the rum – there’s more than 100 of them behind the bar. Plenty of fuel for the hearty cocktail list.
Insider tip: the folks at The Rum Kitchen reckon The Zombie might be the strongest cocktail in London. We gave it a try… they may be right.
Courtesan
It used to be that you could stroll past Courtesan without paying much attention – not so since their renovation last year which put the g in glamorous. It’s part dim sum restaurant (upstairs), part bar (downstairs)- but one where you are genuinely as welcome to pop in for a few drinks as for food.
Inspired by the clubs of Shanghai in the twenties, the downstairs bar doubles up as a cabaret club with a host of live music, DJ sets and burlesque nights. At the heart of it all sits a wine and spirit list with drinks exclusively produced or grown by women.
Three Eight Four
Another iteration of the cocktail bar meets small plates joint, the six types of Negroni at Three Eight Four (so named as it sits at 384 Coldharbour Lane) are the surest indication that this is a bar that takes its cocktail menu very seriously.
The cocktail menu extends well beyond that – and the small plates a bang-on-trend cornucopia of flavour-packed morsels.
The bar itself rocks an industrial-chic look – having quickly established itself as a neighbourhood favourite, it’s been pretty busy ever since. Reservations recommended.
Canova Hall
Buzzy Canova Hall is something of a mish-mash – part restaurant, part bar and with some banging tunes, the folks at this place sure know how to bring the party. Luckily for all of us, their cocktails are as good as their (legendary) pizzas – there’s even gin distilled on-site to mix things up.
It’s pretty relaxed during the day but things get a bit livelier at night – when DJs hop on the decks and cocktail-fuelled revellers throw a shape or two.
The Terrace at the Prince of Wales
Downstairs might feel like a pub but the rooftop terrace is very much in bar come club territory – so much so that we’ve featured it in our guide to London’s best clubs.
In normal summer months, The Prince of Wales terrace really pops – with parties hosted by the likes of Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay, plus some of the biggest house and techno DJs in London. Things are (understandably) a bit quieter this summer but they’re still keeping things lively with jazz on the roof, drag brunches and filthy bingo.
Cattivo
Cattivo is the sister bar to aforementioned Canova Hall and can be found directly opposite. The vibe here is similar, with good drinking food and a menu of pretty delicious cocktails.
They also have a late night licence, so Cattivo tends to become a bit of a party spot as the night gets long.
If you’re not partying here till 2am, chances are you’ll be getting sloshed on their bottomless brunch, accompanied by a DJ and a bunch of other people that may well have been here with you into the early hours the night before.
There’s also the chance you’ve popped in for one of their cocktail masterclasses…
