Warsaw's Best Beer Gardens

08 Aug 2023

Having to spend a few months every year buried under a ton of frozen gunk, it’s no surprise that the moment Mr. Sun appears the natives take their clothes off and retire to the nearest beer garden.

**Elektrownia Powiśle** is one of Warsaw's most popular meeting spaces for **food and drink**, and enjoying **an awesome calendar of events**!

Warsaw’s got millions of them, whether they be one rickety table standing outside a bar, or tranquil gardens where all that’s missing is a unicorn jumping over a rainbow. Luckily for you, we have a few recommendations on where to go for the top beer gardens in Warsaw.

A beer garden of a different kind - **Hotel Verte, Warsaw, Autograph Collection**'s central courtyard with a view of the Old Town skyline!

In the Centre...

First and foremost when asking for Warsaw beer garden recommendations - many of you are Warsaw for a short amount of time and are therefore sticklers for the city centre. Have no fear - You still have a huge choice of places to enjoy some outdoor drinking. Hala Koszyki is one of Warsaw’s super trendy food markets, set in a historic Art Nouveau market hall from the early 20th century, and its patio matches the indoor vibes with the addition of fresh air in its outdoor setting. Heading upstairs, you’ll find a number of more sophisticated pads, including UPPER DECK, a cocktail bar with a jazz soul and an excellent selection of wines. A similar vibe can be pursued at Le Cabaret Jazz Bistro, whose small-but-charming garden space on Nowogrodzka has an unbeatable atmosphere, lined with old tenement houses and complemented by a soundtrack free-spirited jazz. The main tourist trail, the Royal Route, is jam-packed with outdoor seating and inner courtyard gardens - accessible for all budgets! One of our top choices tends to be the Pavilions (Pawilony), a ramshackle collection of dive bars at ul. Nowy Świat 26. The lengthy Royal Route trail leads all the way to the Old Town, which itself becomes a beer garden haven in the warmer months, utilising any free space to put up some parasols, seats and tables! Top choice goes to Warsaw's oldest restaurant, U Fukiera!

'**Pawilony**' on **ul. Nowy Świat 26**. Photo: Goodlooking.pl

On the classier end of things, we highly recommend you seek out the grounds of the Branicki and Szaniawski palaces, two gorgeous 18th-century palaces that have been merged and revitalised as the premesis of Hotel Verte, Warsaw, Autograph Collection and KUK Restaurant by Maciej Majewski. Here, you'll find 3 different courtyard spaces, with a Versailles flair and a stunning garden space that allows you to sip your beverage of choice and recline with your entourage just as Polish royalty did 250 years ago! With a view of the National Opera and Grand Theatre, MOMU and its cosmopolitan perch offers atmospheric outdoor seating with the romantic air of Paris or Vienna.

Left-of-Field

Heading west of the centre, where all things are up-and-coming in the Polish capital, you are able to find several bits of urban revitalisation that have their own unique set-ups and outdoor spaces for the summer months. Fabryka Norblina impresses all with Norblin Food Town, which allows guests to hang with an industrial revolution-era backdrop with fairy lighting. It's also notably family-friendly, with the Smart Kids Planet edutainment centre within the complex! We recommend UWAGA PIWO, translating as WARNING BEER in English, which is guaranteed to cool your senses.

Warsaw's former brewery complex, **Browary Warszawskie**, makes good use of its large outdoor space for **food**, **drink** and **fun**!

How about Warsaw craft beer spots? Look no further! Browary Warszawskie has a total of 3 areas with numerous restaurants and a food hall. On the latter point, there's an upper deck and a central bar with a healthy bias towards beer (This is a former brewery site after all!). Furthermore, the flagship restaurant/bar is Browar Warszawski, which has continued the beer brewing traditions of the past and is highly recommended for your proceedings. A quick mention should also go to Nocny Market, the night market set amongst the former Central Railway Station platforms, which comes to life at the hour of dusk.

Riverside fun!

In the district of Powiśle, traditional beer gardens take the form of a picturesque riverside setting. The revitalised Vistulan Boulevards on the river's left bank have become a welcome retreat for locals who want to ride their bikes, roller skate, jog, or simply walk next to the water's edge. What's more, there are some fantastic seasonal bars to grab a drink and relax on some deck chairs. However, the district's cultural heart can be found at Elektrownia Powiśle, Warsaw's former power plant that has been exceptionally revitalised as a multifunctional space for, among many other things, gastronomy, nightlife, and a year-long calendar of events.

Once active as Warsaw's former power plant, **Elektrownia Powiśle**'s revitalised space features **gastronomy**, beer gardens, and outdoor events!

The Elektrownia Powiśle food hall spills out onto their outdoor communal space, making it an easy meet-up spot in the warmer months. Furthermore, the draw of this fantastic outdoor space has convinced those running the place to set up an open-air summer bar here to keep the buzz going! On the piazzas at Elektrownia Powiśle, summer outdoor documentary cinemas, dance parties, and live music events are organized. Additionally, there are four terraces – Lumen Rooftop, Rooftop by Gatsby Warsaw, Dock19 by Mateusz Gessler Rooftop and B Heaven rooftop bar at Barceló hotel – that cater to those wanting the get the best out of culinary Warsaw. As for open-air drinking and dining, we have been won over by DYM, complementing affairs with shishas and a unique Middle-Eastern culinary fusion, Prime Cut, boasting incredible steaks, fresh bread, and a cigar room, and Tres Toros with tapas, flamboyant live music, and their own garden overlooking the complex’s square. For the whole program of fantastic open-air events happening at Elektrownia Powiśle, visit their website!

**DYM** at **Elektrownia Powiśle** features open-air shishas and incredible modern Middle-Eastern cuisine!

Heading over to the east side of the Vistula, the grittier district of Praga is about as low key as you can get with open air drinking. The very best of Warsaw nightlife and beer gardens? This may very well be it! Instead of paved boulevards, you can enjoy sandy beachfront - no frills attached. It's important to mention that, when it comes to drinking in public in Warsaw, the river is your friend. Basically, you can consume your own alcohol anywhere along the Vistula without fear of a fine, just please clean up after yourself. However, if you're looking for some more 'institutionalised' fun, beach bars such as the ever-popular La Playa are a great option! Further out, near the PGE National Stadium, Saska Kępa's ul. Francuska becomes a hive of activity with every bar, cafe and restaurant spilling out onto the streets with chairs and tables (most also have beer gardens round back). You'll feel right at home. For something altogether different, and very nearby, mixing the best of the night market's street food, with bars and clubs...all with a circus ground flare, then head to another outdoor favourite - Lunapark.