The 10 best bars in Tokyo, ranked: Bar Benfiddich, Punch Room, Golden Gai, The SG Club and more, with cover charges in yen, closing times and booking rules.
The best bars in Tokyo run from an eight-seat counter in Nishi-Shinjuku to six alleys with more than 200 bars in Kabukicho. Bar Benfiddich and Punch Room are the cocktail picks, ranked No. 18 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025 and No. 23 in Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026. The SG Club in Jinnan and the New York Bar in the Park Hyatt are two very different rooms, Zoetrope stocks 300+ whiskies, and Golden Gai, Nonbei Yokocho and Omoide Yokocho give you the standing-bar side of the city.
Each entry gives you the closing time and one honest reason to skip the bar. The basics: you must be 20 or older to drink, most cocktail bars close between midnight and 02:00, and a cover charge of ¥500 to ¥1,000 (€3 to €6) is common in the small bars. Prices are in yen, and cash is common in the alleys.
We ranked the bars on five things: drinks, setting, late hours, value and ease of entry. Drinks means what is in the glass and how specific the bar is about it. Setting means the room, from a 52nd-floor window to a five-seat counter. Late hours favour bars open past midnight. Value counts the cover charge and a typical spend. Ease of entry means walk-in or bookable, with the rules published. Most bars have a listing or ranking from 2025 or 2026, and where a source is older, the entry says so. The ranking is an editorial judgement, and we do not sell tickets ourselves.
Hiroyasu Kayama opened Benfiddich in 2013 on the ninth floor of a Nishi-Shinjuku building, and it seats eight. There is no menu: drinks use herbs and fruit from his family's land in Chichibu, and many are prepared with a pestle and mortar. A cocktail averages about US$20, and the bar was No. 18 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025. Skip it if you want a lively room or a table for a group.
Punch Room is the second-floor mezzanine bar of The Tokyo Edition in Ginza, and the house style is punch: cocktails built on Japanese spirits and served in bowls for sharing. It was No. 23 in Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026 and No. 36 on the 2025 list. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00. Skip it if you want a standing bar or a cheap round.
Golden Gai packs more than 200 bars into six narrow alleys in Kabukicho, and many seat only about five people. Bars open from about 20:00 or 21:00, and covers of ¥500 to ¥1,000 are common. A few bars take regulars only and a few add far larger charges, so read the sign on the door. Skip it if you want a table for a group: nothing here seats a crowd.
The SG Club is Shingo Gokan's first Tokyo bar, split over two levels in Jinnan. Guzzle is the casual upper bar. Sip, below, recalls a 1920s Manhattan speakeasy and offers a shoe-shine service. It ranked No. 65 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025 and No. 23 in 2024. Skip it if you want hours you can check: they are not published online.
The high-floor bar of the Park Hyatt Tokyo reopened in December 2025 after a 19-month renovation. Live jazz plays nightly, and a music charge applies after 20:00. It opens at 17:00 and closes at midnight from Monday to Wednesday, at 01:00 from Thursday to Saturday and at 23:00 on Sunday. Skip it if you are on a tight budget or want a loud late night: this is a calm room for one or two good drinks.
Zoetrope is a third-floor whisky bar in Nishi-Shinjuku with more than 300 bottles, some very rare, and a strong emphasis on Japanese whisky. Old films are sometimes projected on the wall, and the owner speaks English. It opens at 17:00, closes at 00:15, shuts on Sundays and national holidays, and charges a ¥600 (€3.40) cover. Skip it if you want cocktails or a late night.
Hisashi Kishi, the 1996 world bartending champion of the International Bartenders Association, runs this basement bar on Namiki-dori. The room is hushed, with handmade ice and leather stools, and every seat is non-smoking. A 2021 Time Out listing gives 17:00 to midnight, with last orders at 23:30, and a ¥1,000 (€5.60) cover. Skip it if you want a loud room or a cheap round.
Agave is a basement tequila bar in Roppongi with a list of about 400 tequilas and mezcals, priced from about ¥1,000 to ¥9,500 (€5.60 to €54) a measure. There is no cover charge. It opens at 18:30 and closes at 02:00, or at 04:00 on Friday and Saturday, which makes it a useful late stop that is not a club. Skip it if you want cocktails rather than agave spirits.
Nonbei Yokocho is a two-metre-wide alley of about 40 small bars and izakayas on the Miyamasuzaka slope in Shibuya, five minutes from the Hachiko Exit. Counters seat four to eight and most open around 18:00. Expect a cover of ¥500 to ¥1,000 plus an otoshi snack of ¥300 to ¥500, and budget ¥3,000 to ¥5,000 (€17 to €28). Skip it if you are a large group: counters seat a handful.
Omoide Yokocho is a lane of tiny yakitori and izakaya counters at the west exit of Shinjuku Station. Each shop has a few stools and grills skewers over charcoal, and a meal with drinks costs about ¥5,000 (€28). Shops open in the afternoon and mostly close by 23:00 or 23:30. Skip it if you want cocktails or a late finish: it is a dinner stop.
Pair bars by district. Nishi-Shinjuku holds three of the best: Bar Benfiddich, Bar Zoetrope and the New York Bar. Golden Gai is about ten minutes on foot from the east exit of Shinjuku Station, and Omoide Yokocho is a minute from the west exit. Ginza has Punch Room and Star Bar Ginza.
Start early, because hours are short. Zoetrope closes at 00:15, Benfiddich at 01:00 and Punch Room at midnight from Tuesday to Thursday, and the last trains leave between about 23:30 and 00:50. If you want a bar after the trains stop, Agave in Roppongi stays open until 02:00, or 04:00 on Friday and Saturday.
A good Tokyo bar night is two or three short stops, not one long one. For closing times, prices and the way home, read our Tokyo nightlife guide. For the clubs that open when the bars close, see the best clubs in Tokyo, and to pick a district first use our guide to Tokyo nightlife by neighbourhood. More of the country is on our Japan pages. Need a bed near the bars? See where to stay, and find tickets for upcoming nights on NightFind tickets.
For cocktails, Bar Benfiddich: eight seats, no menu and No. 18 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025. For a hotel room with a view and live jazz, the New York Bar. For something less polished, Golden Gai.
Cocktail bars mostly close between midnight and 02:00. Bar Benfiddich closes at 01:00, Zoetrope at 00:15 and Punch Room at midnight from Tuesday to Thursday and 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Agave runs to 02:00, or 04:00 on Friday and Saturday. Hours in the alleys vary by bar.
Often. Golden Gai covers are ¥500 to ¥1,000 (€3 to €6), Zoetrope charges ¥600, Star Bar Ginza ¥1,000, and Nonbei Yokocho bars ¥500 to ¥1,000 plus an otoshi snack of ¥300 to ¥500. The New York Bar adds a music charge after 20:00. Agave has no cover.
20. Carry your passport or residence card in case a bar or club asks for ID.
For some. Punch Room and the SG Club's Sip room take bookings through TableCheck, and window seats at the New York Bar need a reservation. Benfiddich has eight seats, so arrive early. The alley bars take walk-ins.
