LDNGuide
18 London Bars You Can Book For Your Birthday
Where to celebrate the inevitable process of ageing with your friends and some drinks.
Forget what people say about birthdays. They’re not about growing up, or celebrating another year of life, or even about emotionally manipulating everyone you know into buying you presents. No, birthdays are really about drinking. On which other day are you allowed to regress into a tipsy toddler while your mates continue to buy you cocktails like you’re a socialite? That’s why you’ve got to make the most of it and pick the right place, safe in the knowledge that your table is booked and that none of that precious party time is wasted in a queue. From a prohibition-style Soho speakeasy to a cool mezcal bar in Dalston that just so happens to serve our favourite margarita in London, these are the bars you should book for your birthday. We hope you have a great night.
In case you’re looking for a birthday dinner, we’ve got a guide for that too.
THE SPOTS
Disrepute is one of the best bars in London. Trust us, we’ve done the legwork—shamelessly drinking excessive quantities of negroni at 2am on a Tuesday night—to make sure the above is true and we stand by it. An elegant basement bar hidden beneath Carnaby Street, there’s enough velvet and shiny surfaces to make you use the word swish. Open until 3am throughout the week (well, except Sundays when it closes at 1am), this is the perfect bar for anyone who likes to keep the illusion of sophistication but is secretly crafting a booze-heavy night out.
Last year you left your birthday plans up to your partner and you ended up drinking warm beer at a gig for a band called The Sad Vapes. This year you want to be somewhere grown-up, somewhere a little fancy, somewhere exactly like Nightjar. This Shoreditch basement bar has everything from classic cocktails to a live jazz band. All of this makes it popular though so be sure to book way in advance of your birthday if you want one of the bigger tables at the weekend.
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Dalston is one of London’s most fertile grounds for nights out that are low on quality and high on booze consumption. Although that’s usually just fine for an average Friday night, you should look for something better on your birthday, and that something is Hacha. As far as bars go around here, this is a very straightforward one. It’s unpretentious, comfortable, and lets you book tables for six or more people. Its drinks are where things change though. Their mirror margarita looks like water but definitely doesn’t taste like it and after a few of these you can get some tacos, or move onto one of your scuzzier regulars instead.
Taking pictures in front of the London skyline is an important part of any birthday so that you have something to one day show your grandchildren and whisper ‘we used to call it a co-ord set dear’. Skylight is a Peckham rooftop bar that’s perfect for big views, big portions of gin, and a big terrace where you can pretend you’ve hightailed it to Cannes, as long as the British weather plays along. You can book for up to 15 guests—indoors or outdoors—on the Skylight website or get in contact directly for larger groups.
Birthdays are generally pretty theatrical. Inevitably someone gets too drunk and serenades you with ‘The Circle Of Life’ while you act your ass off pretending you still don’t need glasses. An old-school, candlelit speakeasy in Soho, The Arts Theatre Club is just the place for these kind of shenanigans. This bar is all broody red lighting, plush velvet sofas, and excellent cocktails. At the weekend the vintage piano doubles as a DJ booth come late, and it’s open until 3am most nights.
We’re not going to lie, Amazing Grace is a pretty sexy space considering that it was once a church. A huge live music venue in London Bridge that very helpfully doubles as a cool bar situation, it accepts ‘pre-booked reservations of all sizes’ as long as there doesn’t happen to be a gig on that particular night. Don’t expect anything too revolutionary from the cocktail list but the classics like spicy margaritas and rum punch are covered, plus there’s a nice little selection of mocktails.
Swift loves a mirror. Upstairs, downstairs, your reflection is... everywhere. This is either a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on what a few espresso martinis does to your ego. Either way, it makes for a well-placed birthday spot in Soho with the potential for lots of selfies and probably regrettable content. The downstairs is available to book for up to 12 people and cocktails are mostly around the £10 mark.
What’s funnier than a ‘happy birthday pensioner!’ card? Absolutely anything. Including rowdy drinks at Notting Hill’s Electric Diner. This American-style, big red booth spot is a great setting for some serious hilarity. During the day it’s a restaurant with some very decent mac and cheese on offer, but hour by hour it gets progressively louder and party-party. This is a great option if you want to start off with casual conversation and cocktails but end the night with dancing—without having to actually go anywhere. We’re very into the prosecco-packed cocktail, Payday, so get involved but keep in mind that it gets pretty messy at the weekend after 11pm.
Looking for something less lairy and more low-key? The Winemakers Club is almost definitely the answer. It’s a candlelit wine bar based in some 150-year-old arches in Farringdon, and the vibe is part intimate underground bar, and part horror film set involving a blood (and grape) thirsty sommelier. Tables can be booked for six or more people and there are plenty of snacks to soak up all that claret.
If you’re of the My Super Sweet Sixteen school of birthday thought and want everyone you’ve ever known to come and get involved in your birthday, The Prince is a good shout. This huge spot in Earl’s Court is part food market, part bar, and part giant pergola garden. You can reserve up to 150 seats here. Yup, 150. Head here for on-tap £10 cocktails, craft beer, and a very pretty background for your inevitable birthday photoshoot.
There are two types of people when it comes to birthday drinking. The sage ones and the wild ones. The shandys and the shots. But if you’re looking for the best of both worlds then Sager + Wilde is the place to head. This wine bar’s Bethnal Green location is inside an enormous arch with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating for groups of 12 or more to book. Extensive wine list aside, there’s also a decent selection of cocktails and if you’re after some food later on, there’s some decent handmade pasta and charcuterie options.
Happiness Forgets
Happiness Forgets in Shoreditch is exactly the kind of place to forget that you’re one small step to being—as your younger cousin would say—‘well old’. This place is more intimate candlelit basement than full-blown party situation, so the maximum you can book for is six people. It’s worth it to cut a couple of friends-of-friends and that influencer your best mate is seeing to get a booking here though. The atmosphere is relaxed, the service is friendly, and the cocktails range from creative takes to perfect classics.
Getting completely mortal isn’t top of everyone’s birthday list. That said, if it is top of yours, then you want to think about going to Night Tales. This Hackney Central terrace bar and club is the cause of many next day apologies from people leaving exes, family members, and mistyped numbers incomprehensible voicemails. Tables are available for six to 12 people or you can go all Love Island on it and book a heated sofa area for 20. It’s open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays which probably isn’t for the best, but you're only [insert age here] once.
The idea of being trapped in a vault with a bunch of different friends that haven’t met before and your sister’s Hinge date—she double booked, alright?—might sound like a bit of a birthday nightmare. But trust us, The Vault is a great little cocktail bar on Greek Street that’s casually hidden behind a bookcase at Milroy’s whisky shop. Expect lots of oak panelling, coves to sit in, and a handy old-school piano that’s a great distraction for when your school mate and work friend start squabbling. It’s a small space so the biggest booking available is for eight people.
If you want a quiet, grown-up evening where all the memories of your birthday could be soundtracked by Enya, do not go to Meatliquor W1. Go here if you want your birthday memories to be soundtracked by Fred Durst and Black Sabbath—or realistically, drink so many of the absinthe-packed cocktails that you don’t even have any memories past 10pm. Just off Oxford Street, this shout of a bar is open until 3am every night of the week (bar Sunday) and can take bookings of up to 15 shot-ready friends.
The Little Yellow Door
Keep your candles. Keep your Poundland balloons. And keep your well-meaning confetti that we still can’t get out of our rug four years later. No, when you want birthday drinks at your house—without actually having to deal with the mess of having everyone at your house—head to The Little Yellow Door. This converted townhouse in Notting Hill operates under the illusion of being a group of mates' place that just happens to serve excellent cocktails and has a handy resident DJ at the weekends. You can email or WhatsApp one of the ‘flatmates’ to book, but whether you go for an early evening situation with board games and boozy decanters, or for late-night dancing in their downstairs party den is up to you.
Unless we’re massively underestimating the age span of our readership—or the general life span of humans in the 21st century—we can safely say that you probably weren’t alive during the 1940s. Which is exactly what makes a night at Cahoots in Carnaby feel quite so unique. Inside a jazzed-up abandoned tube carriage, it’s a 1940s, D-day celebrations-themed bar with a live swing band and a seriously long list of excellent cocktails. Sure, it can be a little corny but you’re guaranteed a whole lot of fun until the early hours. Heads up, there’s a minimum spend of £25 per person.
Your only aim for your birthday night is to not end up in a police station. Unless of course, you’re talking about converted Shoreditch police station, TT Liquor. You get to this popular speakeasy through the TT Liquor Store and it’s a proper charmer of a bar. Think strong cocktails, a great selection of wines, and cells converted into big, red leather booths that are perfect for groups. It also has regular boozy tasting sessions if you’re after an evening complete with activities.
