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The 5 Best Bars in Shanghai

Shanghai's best bars sit in the former French Concession and around it. The best bars in Shanghai start on Jinxian Road at Pony Up, 19th on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026, which opened in late 2023, runs two bars from 1pm and puts Sichuan pepper and baijiu into its drinks. On Fuxing Middle Road, Speak Low is reached through a hidden door inside OCHO, a bar-tool shop; Shingo Gokan's bar was No. 10 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2017. Across the road, COA, the agave-focused sister of COA Hong Kong, reopened in 2024 with a 12-seat mezcalería on its top floor and is No. 95 on Asia's 51-100 list for 2026. Sober Company, Gokan's two-floor bar by Fuxing Park, moves from sober to tipsy, and Union Trading Company, run since 2014 by chef Austin Hu and bartender Yao Lu, mixes Guangdong pineapple beer and rice wine into its drinks. Pony Up, Union Trading Company and COA are walk-in only. These are the five we would start with.

Browse every Shanghai barBest cocktail bars in Shanghai
  1. Pony Up
    ASIA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar

    Pony Up

    A cocktail bar on Jinxian Road, a street known for its concentration of small independent bars and eateries. The room is fitted out with timber panelling, checkered tiling and leather stools, and the bar serves cocktails alongside a short menu of noodles, corn dogs and seasoned fries. The latest lists place it at No. 19 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

    230 Jinxian Road, Huangpu DistrictDaily from 13:00
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  2. Sober Company
    50 BESTSpeakeasy

    Sober Company

    Shingo Gokan's Sober Company relaunched in November 2023 with a new brief, come sober, leave tipsy, moving through three areas named Kissa, Izakaya and Sakaba, a journey steeped in Japanese drinking culture. Its original incarnation (café, kitchen, cocktail society and the hidden Tipsy speakeasy) reached No. 39 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2021 and No. 5 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2021, with a Tales of the Cocktail award for Best International Restaurant Bar.

    109 Yandang Road, Huangpu, Shanghai
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  3. Union Trading Company
    50 BESTCocktail Bar

    Union Trading Company

    A collaboration between chef Austin Hu and bartender Yao Lu, Union Trading Company keeps Hengshan Road in fun, frivolous drinks with a serious flair for flavor and presentation, the list changes constantly. It reached No.31 on Asia's 50 Best Bars and No.47 in the world in 2021.

    306 Hengshan Road, Xuhui District, ShanghaiDaily evenings
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  4. Speak Low
    50 BESTCocktail Bar

    Speak Low

    The bar that launched Shingo Gokan's SG Group in Shanghai: slide the bookshelf inside the OCHO cocktail-equipment shop and Speak Low climbs through three floors, a New York-energy second floor, a London-meets-Japanese-whisky third, and a members-only top floor of rare bottles. Prohibition America is the theme; it reached No.2 on Asia's 50 Best Bars and No.10 in the world in 2017.

    579 Fuxing Zhong Lu, Huangpu, ShanghaiDaily evenings
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  5. COA
    ASIA'S 50 BESTCocktail Bar

    COA

    Jay Khan brought his agave mission to the mainland in 2022, and after the original Jing an site was cleared for a municipal renewal project, Coa reopened in July 2024 on Middle Fuxing Road with four floors and four ideas. Taqueria serves street-style Mexican food and slushies at pavement level, Cantina recreates a Mexican bar of the 1930s and 40s, Salon carries the elevated service of the Hong Kong original, and the Mezcaleria on top is a small Japanese-style agave counter. A compact list runs Mexican flavors over spirits Khan sources directly from traditional producers. No. 95 on the Asia's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026; sister to Hong Kong Coa, three times No.1 in Asia.

    580 Fuxing Zhong Lu, Huangpu, ShanghaiTue-Sun evenings
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