Not as rough-and-tumble as its other venue next to the football stadium, this Barcelona has taken over the now defunct Sarkans cocktail bar, so you can expect three floors of fun including a lively ground floor bar area and a top floor smoking section with comfortable couches. Drinks are reasonably priced like local beer around the 1.50Ls mark and a full menu of Latvian and international cuisine is also available. A WC on each floor is also a big bonus.
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Step into a Latvian apartment circa 1970. Elvis records crackle on the Hi-Fi while a bohemian bartender grabs liquor bottles from what appears to be someone’s grandmother’s china cabinet. The furniture is also retro as are the Soviet style beer mugs and the antique magazines a [...]

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The name says it all. HHC is definitely a good place to nurse a hangover in relative anonymity. Choose from three different varieties of Lāčplēsis beer from dark to light for cheap prices or the more expensive Brenguļu microbrew also on draught. You can also orde [...]

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An unusual mix of teenage boys and girls and curious foreigners congregate in this cellar bar to take advantage of the incredibly cheap beer on draught. Although it often looks like a mix between a high school dance and an all-night rave with scant lighting and lots of bodily contact, the barmen/chaperones encourage mingling with shots of Absinthe and other hard alcohol.
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Yes, the bar really is orange. This tiny watering hole gets packed on weekends so get here early if want to sit down. Alternatively, you could join the beautiful patrons dancing on tables, the bar, and anything else they can find to climb upon, champagne bottles in hand. Th [...]

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After presiding over a staple of the Washington DC nightlife scene for several years, American-Latvian Kristaps Krēsliņš has opened yet another Pharmacy Bar, but this time in the Latvian capital. Medieval brick walls, medicinal tinctures and scales, tables embedded with capsules and pills and painted silhouettes of old-fashioned bottles on two floors are a clever combination of old and new and the perfect backdrop for a night of cocktails and beers. The bar also provides a smoking courtyard and a jukebox that offers anything from Johnny Cash and Bob Marley to the Pixies and Metallica.
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Frequented by day by diplomats and embassy staff who work in the Jacob’s Barracks, this bar/restaurant provides a warm, intimate setting a few steep steps from the old city wall. Named after the national drink of Latvia, Balzams offers far more than just potent elixirs. The atmosphere is convivial in the evenings, with well-heeled locals having a good time with cocktails made from the bitter black herbal liquor which is actually better than it sounds when mixed with something else. The black gold known as Guinness is also available.
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Rock music has a new home on the edge of Old Riga. Rock ‘n’ Riga offers a worn interior of rusty lamps, a central wooden bar and exposed brick walls festooned with old signs, guitars and a giant mural of rock gods Morrison, Hendrix, Kiss, ACDC and Ozzy. The beer selection, including the [...]

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Trainspotters should leave the comfort of their platforms and head down to this fun bar on two floors, which, for some odd reason, is completely dedicated to trains. Order cheap local beer, watch a rock concert projected onto a wall or just admire the railway memorabilia that covers every surface of this place from scale model trains and locomotive murals to original station signs and benches, not to mention a real section of rail track. The stacijas priekšnieks (stationmaster) sign marks the door to the toilet. [...]

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