Luckily for us, London actually comes up trumps when it comes to happy hours. From big chains dotted about the whole city to single breweries in E17 – or Walthamstow to those not in the know – here’s our rundown of 18 of the best happy hours in London for you to get your drink on. We’ll cheers to that!
1. Simmons
Chances are if you’ve ever been out in London, you’ve walked – or maybe stumbled – out of a Simmons at some point. There are currently over 25 different venues dotted about the city, from Angel to Soho and everywhere in between. And that’s a great thing for the nine million people or so that live in our beloved capital because this is one of the best happy hours in London.
Right — we’ll need a deep breath to list the full selection of deals on offer from Simmons’ happy hour, running Sunday to Friday, 4 – 8pm (or 3 – 7pm in the West End). The deals include:
- Bottle of beer for £2.50
- Spirit and mixer for £2.50
- Glass of wine for £3
- Pint of beer for £5
- Aperol Spritz for £5
- Two cocktails for £10
- Bottle of wine for £12
- Cocktail teapot for £15
- Bottle of prosecco for £18.
But that’s not even everything! They keep some of the specials rolling on for Saturday too, with 2-for-£10 cocktails, Aperol Spritzes and pints of beer at £5 apiece, and cocktail teapots for £15. Phew, what a load of bargains!
📍 Find your nearest Simmons venue at their website.
2. Barrio
This lively chain, which counts what they’ve termed ‘the largest tequila bar in the world‘ among their London locations, brings guests all the Latino vibes in the shape of salsa dancing, reggaeton, and kick-ass cocktails.
The happy hour ain’t bad at Barrio, either. But with the offering, and times, differing from venue to venue, make sure you check ahead of time so you’re not left disappointed (and with an emptier wallet than expected). Each bar has its own Daily Latin Classics deals, where select cocktails are 2-4-1, all night long. Barrio Shoreditch has the most varied selection, with Batanga Mondays, Pina Colada Tuesdays, Caipirinha Wednesdays, Tommy’s Margarita Thursdays, Paloma Fridays, and Che Guava Sundays. They also offer up 2-4-1 across their cocktail selection from Sunday to Thursday until 10pm, and on Friday until 8pm, as well as £4 bottles of Madri, and £3 shots of tequila.
Be sure not to miss out on Barrio’s incredible bottomless brunches either – with themes and games that range from bingo all the way to Cardi B.
📍 Find your nearest Barrio venue at their website.
3. Lost and Found
This friendly and easy-going little cocktail bar is set right in the heart of Balham, with a focus on attention to detail, an attitude that extends across both the kitschy decor and the cocktails. Lost and Found is the kind of place where if something ain’t on the menu, you just have to ask and they’ll rustle something up for you – what more could you ask for, right?
Speaking of happy hours, theirs runs every day until 7pm, and you’ll bag yourself two cocktails for the price of one during this time. Or on Mondays, you can enjoy £6 cocktails all night long. Cheers to that!
📍 10 Bedford Hill, SW12 9RG.
🚇 Nearest station is Balham.
4. Salvador and Amanda
For crazy sangria-fuelled Flamenco nights, there’s no better spot in town than Salvador and Amanda in Leicester Square. This is the kind of place where you can start your evening with a paella and finish it up with a fiesta. Vamos a bailar?
They recently launched their new brunch menu, which features mouth-watering Spanish cuisine that you can wash down with their signature sangria, beer, wine or bubbles, all whilst you sit back and listen to some authentic Latin music.
For those looking for another great deal (especially given its central London location) check out their tantalising Sangria Hour. You’ll get a jug of their signature sangria (red or white) for just £16.50 any day from 5–7pm. Or if you’re after a bit more of a deal, take advantage of their bottomless drinks option. From Tuesday to Friday, between 5 and 9:30pm, you can enjoy 90 minutes of bottomless drinks for just £25pp! There’s a choice of bottomless Red or White Sangria, Draught Beer, House Wine or Cava. Sounds good to us!
📍 8 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JA.
🚇 Nearest station is Leicester Square.
5. Be At One
An ideal spot for kicking off any night, Be At One is another multi-branch chain found in every nook and cranny of our beloved London Town.
Fun and unpretentious with some banging tunes playing through the speakers until the wee hours, it’s easy to while away the hours here. The happy hour certainly helps – you’ll score yourself 2-4-1 cocktails from around 5 until 8pm (venue dependent). Just missed the fun, or want to extend the deals for longer? The Be At One app allows you to add on an extra ‘Appi Hour’ for even more cut-price drinking.
Book a table to guarantee your spot, and get yourself strapped in to drink the night away!
📍 You’ll find Be At One in various different locations throughout the city; find your nearest venue on their website.
6. The Rum Kitchen
As the name suggests, this is the place to come if you’re looking to guzzle on the sweet, occasionally spicy nectar that is rum. They’ve got a few different venues across London, and you can expect cocktail concoctions aplenty on a visit to either one of them.
They also serve up some pretty finger-lickin’ jerk if yer belly’s grumbling and ya in need of some grub, as well as a mix of reggae, reggaeton and afro-funk tunes.
But perhaps best of all, The Rum Kitchen hosts happy hour every single day – yep, you read that right – until around 7pm depending on which branch you’re in. During that time you can slurp down a selection of £6 cocktails or share it around the table with sharer cocktails for just £20. Best get yourselves a few bevvies then, hey?!
As if that weren’t enough, they’ve partnered up with Appleton Estate to offer up a whopper of a deal. You can grab two Mai Tais for just £8, all through August, from Monday to Thursday. Yup, that works out at just £4 per drink!
📍 Find your nearest Rum Kitchen location here.
7. Salsa!
Somewhat of a London institution, Salsa! is another one that cranks up the party vibes and then some. With two venues in Temple and Soho, these lively spots bring Latin American vibes with pumping tunes, colourful decor, and all the energy you’d expect in this kind of place.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they have weekly salsa classes, but they also host a whole array of fantastic bottomless brunches, from bougie bottomless brunches hosted by drag queens to ones with performances by buff male dancers, or even both at the same time! Gimme, gimme more we say.
Head along for one of their dancing lessons and you’ll even get some incredible deals on drinks. We’re talking £3 beers, ciders, and spirits with mixer – with doubles priced at just £4.25! Add to that a Happy Hour that runs from 4 to 8pm, and a 50% discount on main courses from 1 to 11pm.
📍 96 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JG, and Temple Place, WC2R 2PH.
🚇 Nearest stations are Tottenham Court ROad or Covent Garden, and Temple.
8. The Lock Tavern
Pretty much right opposite Camden’s famous market and the bronze statue of icon Amy Winehouse lies The Lock Tavern. It’s a buzzing, historic spot with a lush rooftop terrace, a banging Sunday roast and a beer garden to boot.
Self-described as a “poshed up boozer with a punk soul”, the vibes are impeccable here. As well as being just a great spot to hang out, they also offer a bloody great happy hour – or should we say hoppy hour – where select beers are a mere fiver, every day from 5–7pm. Add to that their 2-4-1 cocktail deal on Thursdays, from 7-9pm, and you’ve got your evening sorted!
They’ve also got 18 different beer taps, so you won’t be spoiled for choice here. Get the beers in, son…
📍 35 Chalk Farm Road, Chalk Farm, NW1 8AJ.
🚇 Nearest station is Chalk Farm.
9. Blackhorse Beer Mile
Instead of one venue with great happy hour deals, how about a bunch of them all clustered along the same alcohol-fuelled destination? Over on the Blackhorse Beer Mile a number of craft beer breweries, and even an urban winery, have some great deals waiting for you to slurp up.
🍻 Over at Exale Brewing, a number of happy hour deals await the thirsty. Their infamous *ahem* ‘Kill The Keg Thursday’ promotion gets punters pints for just £4, while their Happy Friday deal finds them shaking up cocktails for just £6.50 all the way through to midnight.
🍷 While not a Happy Hour specifically, Renegade Urban Winery’s winery tours and tastings should not be overlooked. Starting at just £20, you’ll learn all about the grape product they make on-site, before tasting your way through four different wines. It’s a steal!
🍻 Meanwhile, the absolutely enormous beer hall, Big Penny Social, has a special Happy Hour for the summer months, running until the end of August. You can get any Big Penny beer, Aperol Spritz or Campari Spritz for only £5, Monday to Friday between 4-6pm.
🍻 East London craft beer favourite, Hackney Brewery, might have the cheapest beer on the mile, though, with their £3.50 Thursdays. All of the brewery’s core beers cost just – you guessed it – £3.50, every Thursday, all night long.
📍 The Blackhorse Beer Mile is found just a few minutes walk from Blackhorse Road station, Walthamstow.
10. The Regent
This local independent boozer whips up a great happy hour if you’re knocking about the Islington area of London. They rustle up some mean, stonebaked pizzas, show regular sports fixtures on the big screen, and have a wide variety of craft beers, ales, wines and spirits on offer if you’re looking to whet your whistle.
The Regent also hosts weekly comedy nights so you can make it a big night of laughs and lashin’ if you so choose. Each Monday you can chow down on two for £15 pizzas as you try not to wet yourself with laughter (or choke!) thanks to the free comedy. As if that wasn’t enough, they also do a cheeky cocktail deal, with two for £12 cocktails (two of the same), every Wednesday – Friday.
📍 201-203 Liverpool Road, N1 1LX.
🚇 Nearest station is Angel.
11. The Three Crowns
This large Stokey pub is pretty much an institution in this area of London. They whip up a great roast, have an event pretty much every night of the week, and serve up a hell of a lot of beers.
Downstairs lies ‘The Waiting Room’ – which has regular gigs at weekends – and there are cosy, leather booths which are the perfect place for sipping your pints in.
But perhaps the best thing about The Three Crowns is the happy hour, which runs Monday to Friday, from 4 – 7pm. You’ll get two cocktails for 15 quid and select pints for under £4. A steal if we say so ourselves.
📍 175 Stoke Newington High Street, Stoke Newington, N16 0LH.
🚇 Nearest station is Stoke Newington.
12. Peckham Levels
Across the fifth and sixth floors of Peckham Levels are a range of lovely traders who’ll happily sell you a drink and some food. But if you’re after a proper deal, head to pizza vendor Well Kneaded, whose mid-week happy hours deals are here to keep you and your mates fed and watered through the summer.
If you’re grabbing a bite for yourself, a pizza and any drink can be had for £13. With a mate, or a date? Two pizzas, a summer salad, and a bottle of wine can all be had for £30. And if you’re out with a group and everyone’s a bit peckish and a bit thirsty, don’t miss the 3 pizzas and a bucket (of beer or cider) deal priced at £45. Just head up any time from Tuesday – Thursday, between 4.30 and 9pm.
📍 Level 6, Peckham Levels, 95A Rye Lane, SE15 4ST.
🚇 Nearest station is Peckham Rye.
13. Heidi Wine
Wine drinkers will want to race over to check out this Balham baller for its incredible deals. Chic Heidi Wine is – as the name would suggest – all about the wine, and this one is unique in that you actually serve yourself. No, really, you pour the wine yourself, so whenever you need a top-up, it’s fair game! No waiting to be served, no queueing out the back door – think they’re onto a winner here…
The draw here, for the drinker on a budget, is their champagne happy hour, where glasses of champers and champagne cocktails are just £7.77 each until 7pm every day. We’re positively fizzing with excitement at the thought! This summer, to complement the champagne, they’re also serving up £5 Aperol, Pints, and Prosecco, between 5-7pm every day.
If you want to combine that with a great food deal to boot, Oyster Tuesdays find them doling out the brine-y delights for just £1.50 a pop. It’s the perfect accompaniment – after all, seafood and champagne go together like, well, seafood and champagne!
📍1 Balham Station Road, SW12 9SG.
🚇 Nearest station is Balham.
14. The Natural Philosopher
What happens when you combine a Mac repair shop (with a reputation for fixing even the most damaged of Apple devices) with a cocktail bar? You get cult East London drinking destination, The Natural Philosopher. Amidst shelves heaving with an Apple collection that could double as a museum, or sunken into the back room on plush stools clustered around low tables, guests can sip at gorgeously unique cocktails crafted with foraged ingredients.
And those cocktails can come at a steal of a price if you pop down any day between 6 – 8pm. And yes, that does include the weekend! Their Happy Hour treats you to any two of their expertly-made classic cocktails for just £14. They’ll also serve up an Old-Fashioned, Tommy’s Margarita, or Select Spritz for just £8 each during the promotional hours. Count us in!
📍 489 Hackney Road, Hackney, E2 9ED. Inside the MacSmiths Apple Mac repair store.
🚇 The nearest station is Cambridge Heath.
15. 73 Enid Street
Another one for those who want their beer as crafty as possible, as fresh as possible, and far beyond the limits of the possibility of hoppiness. 73 Enid Street is the London taproom for Manchester-based hop-forward brewery, Cloudwater, and they serve up the freshest Cloudwater beer that can be found short of heading up north to the brewery itself! From an archway taproom, they’re also serving up some of the best deals on beer to be found in our city.
Their core range of beers, led by the fittingly-named ‘Happy’ pale ale, can all be had for a hefty discount, on weekdays from 4 – 7pm. ‘Happy’ itself will run you just £4 a pint, while their ‘Helles’ lager is just £4.70. Rounding out the selection is a variety of other pale ales, across a spectrum of hoppiness, with prices all around the £5 mark – far lower than almost any other beer in the area!
📍 73 Enid Street, SE16 3RA.
🚇 Nearest station is Bermondsey.
16. Alma Bar London
For sophisticated vibes, delicious food, and gorgeous cocktails – all at a bargain price – head to Alma Bar London. They’re not offering up a Happy Hour, though, as they’ve got their own name for it. And it covers drinks and food, to boot!
The Summer Social Hour sees them serving up a selection of handcrafted signature cocktails with a distinctive tapa for just £20, from Tuesday to Saturday between the hours of 5 and 8pm. Drinks range from the Himalaya with its refreshing, tropical flavours, to the Negroni-eqsue Murano. The dishes to pair, meanwhile, range from the Aged Cheddar, Chilli & Onion Empanada to the Octopus Tostada with Soy, Lime, Grapefruit, Pomegranate, and Avocado, and beyond.
It’s basically the classiest happy hour, sorry, social hour around. And you’ll definitely want to return, so you can sample all of the options!
📍 47B Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JP.
🚇 Nearest station is Oxford Circus.
17. Chotto Matte
Across both their Soho and Marylebone venues, Chotto Matte has become renowned for their indulgent, luxurious Japanese-Peruvian restaurants. And in 2023, they’re set to celebrate their 10th anniversary. To celebrate they’re bringing their own take on happy hour to London diners: Chotto Hour.
Available daily from 5 – 7pm, Chotto Hour sees cocktails slashed to just £10 apiece. Which – I get it – is more than other venues on this list, but is a hefty discount nonetheless! The choices range from the Kinstsugi (bourbon, rye, fortified wine, nashi pear, and pink peppercorn) to The Wabi-Sabi, which mixes up gin, pisco, dry vermouth, aji inca, acacia honey, kumquat, grapefruit, lemonade, and bitters, and many more.
📍 11, 13 Frith Street, W1D 4RB and 26 Paddington Street, W1U 5QY.
🚇 Nearest stations are Tottenham Court Road and Baker Street.
18. The MAINE Mayfair
Having recently relaunched their Drawing Room and Terrace, The MAINE Mayfair is kicking off summer with a special summer menu, and a buzzing happy hour. And once you see the deals they’ve got in store, you’ll understand why everyone is flocking there!
The new à la carte menu features a host of small plates, raw bar items, and wood-fired mains, so you should already be running to try it out. But it’s the happy hour that we’re most excited about. On weekdays, from 4 – 6pm, they’re offering up a buy 1 get 1 free drinks offer, and fresh oysters for just £1 apiece. Now the only question is – how many oysters can I eat in one sitting?
📍 6, Medici Courtyard, W1S 1JY.
🚇 Nearest stations are Bond Street and Oxford Circus.
So there you have it – a roundup of some of the best happy hours in London. Given that we’re all a bit poorer due to the prices going up and up, there’s no better time to make use of these fantastic deals.