A night out in Oslo: wine bars, brewpubs and cocktails

Oslo’s evenings start early and run late: a glass in a theatre bar before the curtain, aquavit distilled on the premises, wine by the glass on Grünerløkka and pints in an old brewery cellar. A night out across the city, with the places in our guide.

Oslo is a city that takes its evenings seriously. The bars are small and personal, often run by the people who mix the drinks or brew the beer, and they cluster in a few walkable quarters: the streets around Karl Johan, the bars of Youngstorget and Torggata, and Grünerløkka across the Akerselva. Plan a route, wear good shoes and you can see all three in a night.

Before the curtain

Begin in the grand manner. Theaterbaren, the Nationaltheatret’s own bar, sits on the theatre’s second floor at Johanne Dybwads plass 1, newly designed by ØSA Arkitekter with Julia Conley, and pours cocktails, wine, cider and craft beer from local ingredients. Across the road, Bar Boman is one of the bars of Hotel Continental, and the Grand Hotel and Amerikalinjen, with its Pier 42, are a few minutes away.

For wine, Glasset, at Pilestredet 27, keeps more than 60 wines on tap, every one by the glass, with tasting notes for each that you can take back to your table. Order a taste before you commit to a glass.

Around Youngstorget

A short walk north, the square of Youngstorget and the streets behind it are the busiest corner of Oslo’s night. Himkok, at Storgata 27, distils its own aquavit, gin and vodka, with a cider bar and a backyard kitchen. Torggata Botaniske, at Torggata 17B, mixes drinks with fresh ingredients among climbing plants and its own greenhouse; it takes no bookings, so arrive early.

Kulturhuset, at Youngs gate 6, is one of the city’s biggest bars, three floors of rooms with games, quizzes and talks, and DJs at weekends; the whole house is for over-20s. Round the corner, Tilt, at Badstugata 6, fills its rooms with pinball machines and shuffleboards and keeps 29 arcade games in the basement.

Wine by the glass

Cross the Akerselva to Grünerløkka. Territoriet, at Markveien 58, is a small, intimate wine bar with nearly 450 wines, almost all of them by the glass, and music played on vinyl; it takes no reservations, so simply drop in. Nedre Løkka, at Thorvald Meyers gate 89, mixes cocktails from Norwegian ingredients with an American twist, in rooms inspired by the old New York bars.

Start in a theatre bar, end in a brewery cellar.

Back by the harbour, Libertine, at Rostockgata 69 in Bjørvika, pours classic French wines with small plates, a short walk from the Opera and MUNCH: a good place to start before a performance.

Brewers of Grünerløkka

Oslo’s beer story begins at Oslo Mikrobryggeri, on Bogstadveien, which opened in 1989 as Norway’s first brewery pub. Today the brewers gather on Grünerløkka. Grünerløkka Brygghus has brewed by Sofienberg Park since 2013, and its pub on Thorvald Meyers gate pours 22 beers on tap; Schouskjelleren brews in the cellar of the old Schous brewery, at Trondheimsveien 2.

For music, Parkteatret, on Olaf Ryes plass, was built in 1907 as Norway’s first cinema; its old foyer is now a bar, with a compact stage for concerts and club nights next door. On Grønland, Dattera til Hagen has DJs on both floors at weekends and a backyard in summer.

Our advice: start early by Karl Johan or in Bjørvika, eat around Youngstorget, and save Grünerløkka for later, when its wine bars and brewpubs are at their liveliest. In summer, finish on THIEF Roof, The Thief’s roof terrace, open from May until autumn, weather permitting.