11 Best Bars in Covent Garden: Happy Hours + Nightlife
Trying to find the best Bars in Covent Garden?
Covent Garden is a cheerful neighbourhood steeped in history and modern classics. While it does have bustling markets, restaurants, and shopping areas, you might just want to plop down and enjoy a cocktail during happy hour or check out the nightlife at one of the best Covent Garden bars!
Luckily, if you’re looking for a long wine list or cocktail bars, Covent Garden London has a few to choose from.
So, if you’re in the mood for aesthetic decor, entertainment, and a drink at the bars, here is where you’ll find it. It has some of the best bars in the West End of London.
A Covent Garden happy hour isn’t dictated by the clock and will sometimes run on for a few hours. So, grab your dancing shoes and get ready to get loose at these top Covent Garden Bars.
The Best Bars in Covent Garden
There are a few cocktail bars in Covent Garden. Each one with its draw that sets them apart and each with drink specials just waiting for you to take advantage of.
1. Dirty Martini
Dirty Martini is an elegant lounge with a fun and playful side. This Covent Garden cocktail club offers indoor and outdoor drinking in Covent Garden, with a long list of alcoholic and non-alcoholic quenchers.
Enjoy the classics or try Dirty Martini’s spin on them, like their blueberry and lavender martinis or their passion fruit margarita. Whether you want a fresh and fruity or rich and velvety flavour, this bar has it.
This swanky bar has extended happy hours every day from 16:00 until 20:00. On Saturdays, happy hours are from 12:00 until 18:00. You can buy a few cocktails and martinis at half price during this time. There are also discounted beers, wines, and Prosecco.
The Dirty Martini is one of the best bars in Covent Garden and a great place to stop by for an early sundowner before you paint the Garden red.
📍 11/12 Russell Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2B 5HZ
2. SUSHISAMBA
This beautiful greenhouse-like bar sits atop the historic Covent Garden Market Building. The market building is in the heart of Covent Garden and is a Grade II listed building. This means it is particularly important to the area and requires preservation.
Much like the beautiful building it sits on top of, Sushisamba is equally as striking. It combines industrial and modern design with naturally lush leaves and plants.
Its glass ceilings and doors provide ample light for all plants hanging from the ceiling and carefully placed greenery throughout the lush venue.
This Covent Garden bar’s food and drinks menu is equally contemporary. The cocktails you find here are inventive and curated over the years by its bar team. While the Covent Garden venue sells these, too, they have signature cocktails exclusive to the nightspot.
Try a fresh Sake Spritz or a Smokey PanDan cocktail while there. If you’re feeling adventurous, try their Sabatini which changes every month as recipe inspiration takes the skilled bar team.
📍 35 The Market, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RF
3. Blame Gloria – Covent Garden
The only way to describe Blame Gloria is to define it as a flamboyant disco celebration with loud music, entertainers, and decor. You’re in for a delight, whether you’re dropping by for their brunch in Covent Garden or their freshly made cocktail concoctions.
Neon lights, mirror walls, and big prints deck out this lively bar on Bedford Street. Here, you can watch the skillful bar team prepare your drinks in front of you.
Break a few moves on the disco dancefloor with a drink in hand or watch a live performance. They also have brilliant boozy brunches on Saturdays with DJs, bingo, bottomless Prosecco, and live music in Covent Garden with tunes from the disco era.
Happy hour at this colourful bar in Covent Garden usually starts at 17:00 and ends at 19:00, except for Thursdays and Fridays. Thursday’s happy hour is an extra hour and begins at 16:00 and carries on until 19:00. On Fridays, it’s from 16:00 to 18:00. Unfortunately, there is no happy hour on Saturdays.
You’re sure to have a ball here and when you wake up with a slight hangover and sore muscles, remember to Blame Gloria.
📍 20 Bedford St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9HP
4. Mr. Fogg’s Covent Garden
Mr Fogg is one of the best bars in Covent Garden and there are a few places you can stop by for drinks in Covent Garden, from a tavern to a gin parlour.
But if you’re looking for a bar, the gin parlour or the cocktail bar in Covent Garden is where you’ll want to visit.
These venues take you back in time to London during the Victorian era. Here, you’ll find antique decor and drink-making accessories like the first automated Negroni-making machine.
4a. Society of Exploration
Stop by the Society of Exploration on Bedford Street for expertly mixed cocktails. This bar takes you on a global journey with its traveller theme and global drinks menu.
Travel around the world through their drink tastes from faraway places like the Sahara Desert and Mount Fuji.
📍 1A Bedford St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9HH
4b. The Gin Parlour
The Gin Parlour near Leicester Square is another well-deserved spot to check out. Here, you can choose from over 200 types of gin at the bar.
This collection ranges from well-known classics to international gins from all corners of the globe. Add their rare and vintage gins to your cocktail bucket lists, but beware, these pack a punch with some having over 43% alcohol.
📍1 New Row, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4EA
5. The Alchemist Covent Garden
The Alchemist on St Martin’s Lane in Covent Garden is a stylish restaurant and cocktail bar. It is just down the lane from the Royal Opera House and the Duke of York Theatre, which means it’s a fine stop for a pre-show drink.
The bar modernises alchemy with lowly lit bulbs and exposed wood and metal to fit the industrial theme. Drinks are served as if concocted in an industrial lab with potion bottles and alchemy beakers as glasses.
They exude mystery and bright colours, with some oozing with actual smoke while others are aflame. Try their ginger and plum Flash Gordon which is on fire (literally), or their group Zombie Apocalypse drink, which serves four people and comes with a side of smoke.
Not every cocktail is smoke and mirrors, and there are a few sweeter drinks for the sweet teeth.
This bar is a fun experimental place that will enchant you with its exciting drink menu and magical serving theatrics.
📍 63-66 St Martin’s, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4JS
6. The Rooftop
The Rooftop is the place to be in Covent Garden for great views and better drinks. This swanky cocktail bar and Covent Garden restaurant is atop The Trafalgar St. James hotel.
It has indoor and outdoor seating with a strict smart-casual dress code. It is open seven days a week until late night or early morning to catch the best sights of the night sky.
The glamorous rooftop bar in Covent Garden serves classic cocktails as well as a few international wines as well. If you’re feeling peckish, you can also order from their food menu.
You can book a glass-enclosed private area for a more intimate night on the rooftop. From here, you’ll have even clearer views of Trafalgar Square and the Covent Garden area.
📍 7th Floor, 2 Spring Gardens, St. James’s, London SW1A 2TS
7. Be At One – Covent Garden Lyceum
Be At One on Wellington Street is a cheerful bar full of colourful cocktails and a bright atmosphere. It is a cosy spot but sees many people coming through its doors as it’s just across from the Lyceum Theatre.
Pop in, and you might find something you enjoy, like their frozen rosé (aka frosé) or their frozen fruit margaritas on a warm night. They also have fun variations on the classics, like a lychee martini. If you’re looking for something less sweet or strong, they also have a selection of wines and low-to-zero percentage alcoholic drinks.
Their Covent Garden drinks specials run from 16:00 to 17:00 from Sundays to Thursdays. On Fridays, happy hour is from 15:00 to 19:00, while on Saturdays, it’s from 14:00 to 18:00.
Of all the best bars in Covent Garden, this might be the one if you’re looking for fun twists on classic cocktails and a buzzing nightlife scene before or after a theatre show.
📍 23 Wellington St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7DA
8. Covent Garden Social Club
Stop by the Covent Garden Social Club at the Arts Theatre for a drink and a live show. Depending on the night, you can see a live band or theatre performance as this piano bar is made up of two bars.
The cocktail club is on the basement floor of the theatre and where you’ll want to be for a nightcap.
The Cocktail Club is a lively place with lively music playing throughout the night. Their cocktails mix classic and modern flavours that they’ve tweaked to match their signature touches. Their flavour profiles go from fresh to smokey and back to fruity again.
Happy hour at Covent Garden Social Club is every day from the open time at 16:00 until 20:00. At this drink special available for the cocktail and theatre club, you can buy two house cocktails for £12.
The Social Club is a great place to stop by for a social night with friends or an impromptu date night.
Try your hand at mixing a few cocktails by taking a mixology class with them or apply for their membership program for more specials.
📍 6-7 Great Newport St, Covent Garden, London WC2H 7JA
9. The Escapologist
This trendy cocktail bar in Covent Garden is located in Seven Dials and is another fun place with a running theme, blue neon lights, and expert mixologists. Escape the city in this underground basement bar, open every day of the week.
The whole area is based on the late 1800s secret societies that ran through the Victorian era. Floral wallpaper and Victorian-influenced portraits decorate the walls.
There are a few rooms for you to escape to for a private drink if you’d like some space away from the crowd. The lounge area in the back is lit up with red lights and has dark leather booths with crow lights.
Happy hour is from 16:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and 17:00 to 19:00 on Sundays. On Saturdays, there aren’t any happy hour specials. This special gets you two-for-one cocktails, Peroni Rossa beers, or glasses of Prosecco.
If you’re looking for a drink at an unusual venue, this 1800-inspired basement bar is the place for you.
📍 35 Earlham St, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LD
10. Plume Wine Bar by Grays and Feather
If you’re not a mixed-drink type of person, then a cocktail bar might not be for you, but a wine bar might. The Plume Wine Bar in Wellington Street is a stylish wine bar set in Charles Dickens’ former publishing house. It is a modern mix of a speak-easy spread over the two-story building.
The interior is a contemporary design with natural hues and hints of its former glory. In between are splashes of yellow and teal, among other bright accessories.
The wine bar has an impressive selection of wines from all over the world. Order your favourite wines by the glass or share the whole bottle with tastes from Italy to Patagonia. The bar also serves light meals alongside its wines and aperitifs.
The venue is open every day except for Mondays and only takes reservations, so book your seats early.
📍 26 Wellington St, Covent Garden, London WWC2E 7DD
11. All Bar One
All Bar One is a chain bar that’s one of many Londoners’ favourite bars in Covent Garden. There are about 52 of these bars in the UK, each with good-quality drinks. Covent Garden’s All Bar One is on Henrietta Street in Central London.
This bar and restaurant has a wide selection of drinks, from wines to gins and inventive cocktails. While you’re there, try their salted caramel old-fashioned with popcorn on the side for the balance of sweet, salty, and bitter. Try their Belshazzar rose & tonic or spin on the Moscow Mule if you’re more into the classics.
This is a great after-work spot or place for pre-theatre drinks. Visit Tuesdays to pair your drinks with tapas or a boozy bottomless brunch.
📍 19 Henrietta St, Greater, London WC2E 8QH
Final Thoughts: Best Bars in Covent Garden
One of the best things to do in Covent Garden after a long day of shopping at the markets or walking about is to stop by a bar for a nightcap.
Whether you’re looking for a classic Martini or an extravagant bespoke drink curated by a trained mixologist, one of the best bars in Covent Garden will certainly have what you’re looking for, whether its a Covent Garden pub, cocktail bar, a rooftop bar, or one of the clubs in Covent Garden.
It’s not always about the drinks. The atmosphere and decor also add a lot to the overall experience. These top bars near Covent Garden Station offer the perfect mix of liquor and ambiance to put you in the right mood for the night.
Stop by one of these while the night is still young and the hour is still happy!