Switzerland Guide
Zürich
Drinking
1 Babalu Schmidgasse 6 Tiny postmodern-style bar, its chic denizens quaffing bottled beers and cocktails amidst an onslaught of deep beats.
2 Cranberry Metzgergasse 3 
www.cranberry.ch Popular and lively old-town bar – predominantly gay.
3 Oepfelchammer Rindermarkt 12 www.oepfelchammer.ch A 200-year-old building, all creaking timbers and lop-sided ceilings, famous for its association with the city's literary son, Gottfried Keller. The reason to visit is for beer in the tiny low-beamed upper front room, which is invariably packed. Legend has it that if you can swing up and wriggle your way through the gap between beam and ceiling, your beers are on the house: Keller may have done it, but few have succeeded since. Opening time: Tues-Sat
4 Oliver Twist Rindermarkt 6 www.pickwick.ch Snug little pub on a Niederdorf back alley, a mecca for expats and Anglophiles in search of pints, English conversation and football on the telly.
5 Pigalle Marktgasse 14 www.pigalle.ch Legendary little campy bar filled with the elegantly wasted, or at least those who are aspiring.
6 Rheinfelder Bierhalle Niederdorfstrasse 76 Best of the many beerhalls at the northern end of this street. With wooden benches, zero decoration and bright lights, this is a place to get shamelessly, sociably drunk, laugh loudly and clap strangers on the back. The food is cheap and hearty: daily specials for around Fr.13 are padded out by their infamous "Jumbo Jumbo Cordon Bleu" – a slab of deep-fried cheese-slathered meat so big it dangles off the plate on both sides. Opening time: Mon-Sat
7 Wüste Oberdorfstrasse 7 www.wueste.ch Mellow, comfortable bar, decorated in ethnic style and dotted with candles.
8 Helvetia Stauffacherquai 1 Loud and jovial locals' haunt – nicknamed the Helvti-Bar – just across the Sihl; the only bar in town where you can get full table service after midnight (closes 1am weekdays, 2am weekends). A little pricey for everyday consumption, but very civilized for a nightcap or three.
9 James Joyce Pelikanstrasse 8 www.jamesjoyce.ch For many years this stood as the ultimate memorial to one of Zürich's best-known residents. The pub then comprised the original nineteenth-century "Antique Bar" of Dublin's Jury Hotel, saved from the developers in the 1970s, transported here piece by piece and reassembled to stand as a relic of a bygone age. Its location – in the heart of the financial district – let it down, but it retained the ring of authenticity. Tragically, it is now under new management, who have installed black leather seats, shiny metal tables and generally tarted the place up to be just another wine bar. Not a shred of atmosphere remains. Go, if only to weep into your Zinfandel. Opening time: Closes Sat 6pm and all day Sun
10 Jules Verne Uraniastrasse 9 
043 888 66 66 www.jules-verne.ch Intimate little city-centre bar in the stubby-domed observatory building, done up with canvas decor to mimic the basket of a hot-air balloon and boasting superb panoramic views across the rooftops and steeples – worth the price of refreshment. Phone ahead to reserve a table facing south towards the mountains for twilight. Take the lift to the tenth floor, and then climb another 17 steps. Opening time: Closes midnight Mon– Thurs, 1am Fri & Sat, 11pm Sun
11 Kaufleuten Pelikanstrasse 18 www.kaufleuten.com Modish venue for mixing with Zürich's burgeoning "in" scene. Designers, musicians, bankers and the idle rich flock here, and to the club next door. A pricey beer is worth it for the buzz.
12 Lions Oetenbachgasse 24 Pleasant English pub just off Bahnhofstrasse by the Orell Füssli English bookshop – larger, quieter and much more comfortable than other pubs in the area. Also with a daily food menu.
13 Nelson Beatengasse 11 www.thenelsonpub.com Massive, noisy pub seconds from the station, crammed on weekend nights with Zürich's sizeable contingent of teenage au pairs and exchange students on the pull. Cheap beer, late opening, live music, DJs, and TV sport make for a heady, if predictable, brew. Opening time: Sun– Wed until 2am, Thurs– Sat until 3 or 4am
14 Noble Dubliner Talacker 43/Talstrasse 82 Good beer, good service and a talkative atmosphere make this cramped mock-Irish pub – with doors front and back – hugely popular with locals and expats alike.
15 4. Akt Heinrichstrasse 262 www.4akt.ch Deeply cool bar at the Hardstrasse junction, with plenty of outside tables, a good, up-to-date music selection, and a small food menu (about Fr.20)
16 Riff Raff Neugasse 57 www.riffraff.ch Small cinema attached to a trendy bar, a few steps off Langstrasse. The building has a longer history than it seems; it showed silent movies back in the early days, and has now been taken over by a cooperative dedicated to restoring its reputation and promoting independent film-making. The walls, like the clientele, are floor-to-ceiling matt black, and the bar stands between two small auditoria.
17 Ziegel oh Lac At the Rote Fabrik arts centre, Seestrasse 395 www.ziegelohlac.ch One of the most appealing bar/restaurant-spaces in the city, with a light, open interior and waterside seating in summer but way south of the centre, far from the crush. Signs declare "Smoking Cannabis is Illegal", but to little effect. The food is quality, balanced fare (Fr.12–22). Opening time: Tues-Sun