Shanghai has 10 cocktail bars in the BarMagazine directory, and Pony Up leads the pack. This guide covers the cocktail bars specifically; the full Shanghai picture, all 10 bars of it, lives on the city page. Each listing is verified, with the address, opening hours and what to order.
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, chequered 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.
Jay Khan's agave mission came to the mainland in March 2022: Coa Shanghai spreads over three floors of a renovated house, La Cantina at street level, El Salon and its terrace above, and the invite-only El Atico tasting room on top, designed after Mexico's modern mezcalerías. A compact list runs Mexican flavors over spirits Khan sources through relationships with traditional producers. No.95 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026; sister of Hong Kong's Coa, three-time No.1 in Asia.
Cross Yu's neighborhood bar in the former French Concession has been doing 'epic shit', the house motto, since late 2014: exposed brick, stained wood, hedonistic disco energy and an Espresso Martini section that never leaves the menu. In 2021 it became the first mainland-China bar to win the Campari One To Watch award and entered the World's 50 Best at No.41.
Order this: Festen (Campari, Yunnan beeswax-infused Scotch, elderflower liqueur, chocolate bitters)
A rooftop restaurant and bar on the 58th floor of The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong, with indoor and split-level terrace seating looking over the Huangpu River, the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Puxi skyline. The kitchen serves Southeast Asian small plates alongside a craft cocktail list. Evening service is restricted to guests aged 18 and over.
In the former French Concession, Phoebe Han's Healer draws on Chinese fusions and traditional Chinese medicine for its flavors, and champions baijiu, pouring from the owner's collection sourced across China's regions into drinks that give the once-dismissed spirit an international stage.
A small, deliberately minimalist cocktail bar on Nanchang Road with a stripped-back interior and a tightly edited drinks list. The cocktails pair southern Chinese and Cantonese ingredients with Nordic kitchen techniques, drawing on flavors such as magnolia, pandan, bael fruit and coffee.
Part of the Latin party-bar brand Revolucion Cocktail, 'Drinks, Music and Shows!', known for themed parties from beach to jungle, DJ sets and flair bartending complete with the occasional fire-breathing.
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.42 on the World's 50 Best Bars 2020 and No.5 in Asia 2021, with a Tales of the Cocktail award for Best International Restaurant Bar.
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.
A Japanese-style cocktail bar on Huashan Road, opened by the team behind Shanghai's Bar Alocase. The drinks program is led by Ginza-trained bartender Toshiya Suzuki, who previously worked under Takao Mori at Y&M Bar Kisling in Tokyo. The list combines classics, with the Martini singled out as a house strength, and Suzuki's own signatures.
The Waldorf Astoria's Long Bar recreates the storied bar of the Shanghai Club, which occupied this neoclassical Bund building with a 34-meter counter, panelling and bar reproduced from photographic records. The house classic is the Shanghai Buck (golden rum, ginger beer, lime), the drink of the club's 1920s heyday; the room also hosts Pink Oyster, an eight-seat oyster omakase.
Order this: Shanghai Buck (golden rum, ginger beer, lime)
These are the cocktail bars specifically. The full Shanghai guide ranks the best bars of every style, and the directory lists all 10 with a map and filters.
Best bars in Shanghai