These are all the bars and pubs I’ve been forced to go to with my husband. I know how men love to drink beer, and Jethro is no exception, so I’ve spent a lot of evenings at a counter with a glass of wine while he and his friends get on with it. Which is, honestly, why I’d trust this over anything a search for the best bars in Málaga turns up.
Not all of them came through Jethro, either. Several I learned from friends who were born in Málaga.
The traditional bars are still here, and you should see one: tiny, packed, everyone standing on top of each other. Antigua Casa de Guardia and Bar La Tranca are the two to go to for that.
I don’t always want that, though. Some nights I want a table, a real drink, and a view of the rooftops while the sky goes dark.
So this is a mix, on purpose. Twelve bars I keep going back to, ten of them in the old town and two just outside it, and not one has let me down yet. It isn’t a Spanish-bars-only list either: there’s an Irish pub, a German pub and a bar full of hobbits.
The hidden-door speakeasies and the cocktail bars have a guide of their own. This one’s for when you just want a good evening out.
Before you head out
When bars open, & when they fill up
Turn up before 9pm and you’ll have your pick of the seats, which sounds nice until you notice the staff are still setting up around you. Málaga doesn’t do early.
The traditional tapas bars and bodegas open late morning, around 11am or noon.
Rooftop bars are slower. The two on this list don’t open until mid-afternoon, San Telmo from 3pm or 4pm depending on the season and Chinitas at 5pm, and the others all keep their own hours, so check each one before you climb the stairs.
The evening is the main event. Bars fill up around 11pm, and that’s when the city feels like itself.
Most close by 2am on weeknights and 3am at weekends.
If you want a seat, arrive before 9pm. If you want the atmosphere, don’t.
Which streets to start on
Head east. The east side of the old town has the most bars, and every time you look there are more of them.
The obvious place to see it is Calle Calderería. A recent renovation brought a wave of new openings, so you’ll find wine bars, craft beer places and late-night cocktail bars all along it.
But walk deeper in from Calle Compañía and it turns into something else. A smaller pocket has gone alternative: grunge bars, darker rooms, a younger crowd, and an energy that has nothing to do with the polished terraces nearer the centre.
It’s along that stretch that the drinks turn local too. A growing number of bars focus on natural wines and small-batch beers from Andalusian breweries.
If you want variety in a short walk, start on Compañía and work your way in.
What to drink, & what marks you as a tourist
Order a sangría and the waiter will know exactly where you’re from. It’s the tourist version, and it marks you out.
What locals actually drink when it’s 35 degrees outside is a tinto de verano: red wine mixed with lemon soda, served cold. Same idea, none of the fuss, and nobody looks twice.
Then there are three drinks worth ordering specifically because you’re in Málaga and nowhere else:
- The sweet local wine at Antigua Casa de Guardia, poured straight from the barrels. It’s unlike anything you’ll find bottled.
- Cartojal, sweeter and lighter, which comes out for the August Feria. It goes down dangerously fast, so pace yourself.
- Victoria, Málaga’s own beer, brewed here since 1928 and on tap almost everywhere.
Start at the barrels, and don’t let the Cartojal fool you.
The traditional one
1. Antigua Casa de Guardia
Find a gap at the counter, ask for a small glass of the sweet Málaga wine, and watch the bartender write what you owe in chalk on the wood in front of you. That’s the whole system, and it’s been the system since 1840.
There are no seats. You stand, the way people have stood here for nearly 200 years, and the wine comes straight out of the barrels behind the bar. The Málaga Virgen is the one to start with. It’s sweet, it’s poured small, and it’s cheap enough that a second glass doesn’t need a discussion.
I bring every first-time visitor here, and I’d call it an essential stop rather than a nice one. You’ll find it at Alameda Principal 18, down near the port, and it’s the oldest bar in the city.
Two more places belong in the same breath, but they’re tapas bars first, so they get their full write-ups on my best tapas bars in Málaga page. El Pimpi, on Calle Granada by the Roman Theatre, is more atmospheric and much more of a tourist draw these days, though locals still love it. Bar La Tranca is tiny, packed, standing room only, and everyone’s singing.
Start with the chalk and the small glass. The rest of the night sorts itself out.
Craft beer
2. Central Beers
Tell the bartender what you usually drink and let them take it from there. There are more than fifteen taps behind the bar and a bottle list that’s bigger still, and the people pouring actually know what’s in each of them, which is rarer than it should be.
I’m the wrong person to ask about any of that, because I don’t drink beer. Jethro does, and this is where he and his work colleagues end up after work, so on the beer side I’m passing on his verdict rather than mine. I usually have a glass of wine, and honestly it isn’t the best, but in a beer bar you don’t really get a choice.
The food side I’ll happily vouch for myself. It looks like a normal bar, the sort you’d walk past without a second glance, and the kitchen still puts out the best food of any bar on this list. Order the carrilladas, slow-cooked pork cheeks, even if you only came in for the beer. I go for the chicken strips.
You’ll find it on Calle Cárcer, right off Plaza de la Constitución, so it slots in wherever the evening’s heading. Start here, or land here late when the rest of the night’s run its course. Both work.
3. Birras Deluxe
Somewhere along the way, a cheese board and a German eisbein at the end of the night turned into a tradition for Jethro and his friends. I don’t think anyone decided it. It’s just where they end up, and what they order when they do.
It makes sense as a last stop for an after-work night rather than a late one, because it closes at midnight most days and 12:30 on Fridays. It’s the more laid-back cousin of Central Beers, with the same craft beer focus but more bottled imports than draught. The list champions Andalusian breweries alongside a large international selection, so there’s a local bottle to try before you go back to the ones you know.
I’d order the food regardless of the beer. The cheese boards are excellent, and the jamón platters are local and built to go with whatever’s in your glass.
Get there by ten. It’s shut by midnight.
Pubs, pool tables & the rugby
4. Morrisseys
One of my earliest memories of Málaga is standing up in here, singing, with friends I’d only just made. There’s live music on regularly, and it does that to people.
These days I come for the rugby. It’s one of the only pubs in the city that reliably screens it, and I watch the Six Nations here every year.
The rest of the time it’s football. Big, loud, screens everywhere you look, always showing whatever match you forgot was on, most of the major leagues and the internationals included. Guinness, Jameson, the classics. I don’t drink beer, so I leave the Guinness to everyone else.
Every city has an Irish pub and this is Málaga’s, the one that takes the crown. St Patrick’s Day is a full event here, not a themed evening.
I’ll be honest, it’s not the most authentic Málaga experience. But some nights you want a pint and pub grub without overthinking it, and this is where you go.
El Colmao, elsewhere on this list, occasionally puts matches on too, but this is where the atmosphere actually builds. For the big games, arrive early. It fills fast, and once the standing room’s gone, it’s gone.
Order the nachos. Trust me.
5. El Colmao
If you’ve just come from a craft beer bar, lower your expectations and raise your mood. Nothing here is artisanal and nobody’s pretending otherwise. That’s the point.
What you get instead is space, pool tables, closed booths and prices that won’t empty your wallet. The booths are the bit I’d fight for. They’re enclosed and comfortable, and you can stay a whole evening in one, which isn’t something you can say about many places in the old town.
I’ve been a few times with friends and we’ve always had a good time. It fills fast though. The crowd is locals and expats who want a drink without overthinking it, and there are a lot of them.
They run quiz nights and drink specials regularly. I’ve seen the quizzes advertised and the place fills up for them, but I haven’t actually made it to one yet. Check their social media for the schedule.
And if the prices here are your kind of prices, there are plenty more cheap places to eat and drink in Málaga close by.
6. ZZ Pub
Walk in and the walls hit you first. Rock memorabilia covers every one of them, and the whole place has the down-to-earth feel of a dive bar that’s never once worried about what it looks like. It’s been going since 1991, which makes it Málaga’s rock institution by any measure.
Live music happens frequently, so check their social media for gig nights before you go.
This one’s for the alternative scene, or for anyone who’s had enough of polished, curated bars and wants somewhere that isn’t trying so hard. You’ll find it at Calle Tejón y Rodríguez 6.
7. Camden Town Pub
Sun-tired and not quite ready to go home. That’s usually the state I’m in when I walk in here, because it’s near the beach, a bit out of the way, and one of the two bars on this list that aren’t in the old town. It’s one of my favourite pit stops on the way back.
It’s an old-school English pub: memorabilia on the walls, a decent whisky selection, nothing that needs explaining.
The games room is why it’s here, though. It seats 6 to 12 and it’s like having your own private area for the night. Get a group together and book it, and call ahead if you’re planning on a weekend.
8. Cervecería Untertürkheim
Order a boot and the evening changes. A 1-litre, a 2-litre, or if things are heading that way, a 3-litre glass boot of beer on the table, and suddenly a quiet drink after the beach is a group challenge.
That’s the reason this German pub is here, because honestly the rest isn’t particularly special. Sports on the screens, heavy German food, German beer on tap. Fine, all of it.
It’s outside the old town, and heading here is still my favourite thing to do after a day at the beach.
I don’t drink beer. The boot is Jethro’s job, not mine.
Cocktails
9. Chester & Punk
I walked straight past this door for over a year. From the street it looks like nothing, just another frontage at Calle Méndez Núñez 4, and I’d love to tell you I had a good reason for ignoring it, but I didn’t.
Then I finally went in, and I’ve been a bit annoyed about that wasted year ever since.
Inside it’s cocktail heaven with an old-school speakeasy feel. The bartenders genuinely care about what they’re making, and the drinks aren’t like anything else in the old town. Expect smoke, glassware you won’t have seen before, and presentations that look every bit as good as they taste. It’s a show, and a good one.
Jethro orders The Walking Dead every single time. I usually let the bartender surprise me, and that has never gone wrong, not once.
I only come here when a group of us wants something new and fun, and in all the times we’ve turned up wanting exactly that, it has never let us down.
So if you’re a group and you’re after the cocktail experience rather than another round of beer, this is your night. Just don’t do what I did. The door is easy to miss from the street, and it’s very much worth finding.
The two rooftops I actually use
10. Chinitas Urban Hostel rooftop
If you’ve already been to La Tranca, picture it stacked on top of a budget hostel and you’ve more or less got this rooftop. That’s my own comparison and I stand by it: just as loud, just as packed with locals and travellers, only now there’s a cathedral bell tower in the view. That’s what makes the stairs worth it.
It’s in Pasaje de Chinitas, and I’m up here often enough to tell you the truth about it. It gets very crowded. The drinks are cheap, the locals love it, and it’s loud in the way a genuinely popular place is, not a curated one.
If you want somewhere quiet, this isn’t it.
Don’t come hungry either. There’s nothing to eat beyond the nuts and snacks that land with each round, and seating is limited, so get there early if you want a chair.
For a relaxed evening I’ve got other rooftops I’d rather be on. For a loud one with the locals, I come here.
11. La Terraza de San Telmo
Turn up at sunset and the terrace will already be filling. That’s the hour everyone wants up here, and it’s walk-in only, first come first served, so get there before the light goes if a lounger matters to you, especially at weekends.
It’s four floors up above a premium hostel on Calle San Telmo, with loungers and high-top tables spread across the terrace and views over the terracotta rooftops. The crowd is a mix of travellers and locals, and the energy is different from the hotel rooftops closer to the centre: more relaxed, less polished, in a good way.
The drinks lean towards cocktails and whiskeys rather than draught beer. To be fair, the setting does a lot of the work.
The separate seating zones mean it works for a couple wanting a quiet drink and for a group of ten at the same time, without either one spoiling it for the other.
Get there early for the lounger. You’ll want the whole hour.
And one that’s hard to describe
12. Sala Premier
You can do a pub crawl in here without once stepping outside. One room is Lord of the Rings, the next is Star Wars, the one after that is Harry Potter, and the place is massive enough that every room feels like a different bar. I mean that as a compliment.
I’m biased, and I’ll say so up front. I love The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and there’s a life-sized wooden hobbit in here that’s worth the visit on its own. If you want a photo sitting next to it, go early. Go early anyway, because that’s the only time you can actually see the detail in the rooms. Once it fills up, it’s hard to move between them.
Before you head straight indoors, though, look at the tables outside. They’ve got a view of the cathedral, from a street-level terrace rather than a rooftop, and my advice is to sit in the sun with something cold first and explore once you’re settled.
The beer and whisky selection is a lot better than you’d expect from a themed bar. Board games, screenings and events run regularly too.
Get there early, and get to the hobbit first.
What a night out in the old town costs
The higher the view, the higher the price. That’s my rule of thumb for drinking in Málaga, and it explains most of the spread on this list, so it’s worth knowing which end you’re heading for before anyone orders a round.
- Pubs: El Colmao is among the cheapest in the old town. A caña of Victoria is €1, bottled beers €2 to €2.50, a glass of wine €3.50, and a copa €4 to €6.
- Craft beer bars: at Central Beers and Birras Deluxe the local beers start at €2, and the list climbs all the way to €12 for the fruit beers.
- Cocktail bars: Chester & Punk starts at €10 a cocktail and runs to €18 for the fanciest one on the list.
- Rooftops: Chinitas is the budget one, beers €2 to €3 and cocktails €5 to €7. La Terraza de San Telmo is mid-range, cocktails €7 to €10. In both cases the view is part of what you’re paying for.
Nothing here will ruin you, but the rounds add up, so pick your end of the list on purpose.
So where do you start?
Wherever the group’s already leaning, and the trick is to be honest about that before you set off rather than three bars in. If it’s craft beer, that’s Central Beers or Birras Deluxe. If it’s cocktails, that’s Chester & Punk. If there’s a match on, it’s Morrisseys, and if it’s someone’s first night in Málaga, it’s Antigua Casa de Guardia, no discussion.
What this list doesn’t do is the rooftops justice. Málaga has over 30 rooftop bars and the two above are simply the ones I use, so if a view is the point of the evening, my full guide to Málaga’s rooftop bars has the rest, hotel rooftops with cathedral and sea views included.
