With neighbors Temple and Jam already dealing in live music and cocktails respectively, Eje brings a good selection of beer to the table. The choice isn’t as large as at El Nido, but with a focus on Belgian and German brews (Paulaner, Erdinger, Maredsous, Westmalle), there’s enough quality to keep purists amused until they pass out.

Did Gulou need another music venue? Blue Stream manager Slash and his team are convinced the answer is “Yes,” and they hope to be the ones who deliver the goods. This venue has been steadily building up a following since it opened last September.

This wine and cheese bar is another sign of changing times at Chaoyangmen. The Gramercy’s 18 wines by the glass average RMB 30-50, with highly drinkable Portuguese reds at the lower end of that scale. However, with bottles from only RMB 140, by-the-glass hardly matters.

Readers who live in Wudaokou will already be familiar with this pizza-and-beer bar. Now they’ve opened near Sanlitun, where comparisons with The Tree seem more obvious than ever. The very thin-crust pizzas (RMB 50-70) do the job, but there are better choices in Sanlitun.

It’s hard to predict this Belgian-inspired bar’s destiny. It’s not in the best location for walk-ins, but with First Floor now regularly overcrowded, there’s room for a bar offering a similar blend of pretense-free fun and decent drinks. The question is whether Brussels is that bar.