While You Were Sleeping: Beijing's Newest March Bar Openings That You Might Have Missed

Was it just us, or was did March usher in a whole host of new restaurants and bars across the city? For sure, it's a good time to be a thirsty customer, and just in case you weren't paying attention, here are the best new bars and revamped menus that we reviewed this month. Alternatively, see our roundup of the best new March restaurants and menus here.

New Bars

Regain Elements (Dongcheng)
Wudaoying is no stranger to bars, restaurants, and cafés looking to solidify their spot as the new in thing among the city's hipsters that frequent the quaint hutong. Regain Element, the newest of the area's businesses, is positioned on the east side of Wudaoying. Without more of their own brews on tap, it hasn't quite yet come into full bloom but its atmosphere and strong guest brews are certainly enough of a draw to check in for a beer before perhaps heading to somewhere a little more established like the nearby Arrow Factory.

Salud (Dongcheng)
The Salud team has opened a second location in addition to its original Nanluogu Xiang spot in the nearby Fangzhuanchang Hutong, with a spacious interior and balcony. The new location will now host the parties previously found at the older location.

Toy Box (Sanlitun)
Perched on an apartment block on the sixth floor above Sanlitun’s Dirty Bar Street, allowing a vantage point that makes you wince in empathy for the poor souls that must watch hundreds of humanity’s deprived acts every year, Toy Box is a charming little bar that out-speakeasies the majority of Sanlitun’s drinking establishment du jour.

CFC Lounge (CBD)
It's everyone's secret dream: a nice bar in the same building you work, perfect to pop down in the middle of the day for a quick drink, or for after 6pm if you're a good employee. The appearance of CFC Lounge completes that dream for the CBD working bees stationed in or around the IFC.

Heaven Supermarket (Sanlitun)
Oh yes, Heaven's opened a second location. You either love it or you hate it, but perhaps don't knock it until you've tried it. The second Supermarket location sits at Gongti Xilu and offers the huge selection of booze that we've come to expect from this bar chain. Better yet, the toilets are actually pleasant!

The Bricks (Sanlitun)
The Bricks in Sanlitun's Shoukaibojun complex hopes to relieve Sanlitun's reputation as a place often void of decent live music with some good old-fashioned jazz. The Bricks is designed to fill that entertainment gap by enlisting both local talent for residencies, and touring acts that typically perform at classy hotel bars like Centro and Atmosphere.

Press Release (Sanlitun)
It's like a scene straight out of a boozy author's masterpiece: a classy bar hidden in shopping mall's basement; its cocktails being prepared in a sous-vide machine, and a bartender that loves rapid fire chatter and an even quicker free flow of ideas. Such is the state of affairs at Press Release, one of the most compelling cocktails bars to open in Beijing so far this year. It's situated in the Topwin mall's basement and is a bit hard to find (a seemingly standard feature of Beijing cocktail joints these days), but is more than worth the search.

Good Bait (Sanlitun)
With trendy new cocktail joints seeming to sprout up in Sanlitun every weekend, if not every other day, how is Good Bait supposed to leave its mark? Well, for starters, the Sanlitun south establishment has a much more upscale ambiance than the aforementioned newbies Press Release and Toy Box, but the downside is that it also has the price tags to match.

House (Sanlitun)
Yoolee's Plaza's newest addition has some laciviously named concoctions – Big Breasts, Wide Hips; Lolita; Strawberry Party – tucked away in a highly random location. Owner Minghui certainly has the chops but House Bar may not impress the more toe-the-line cocktail drinker among us, or anyone looking for a convenient spot to have a tasteful nightcap. However, anyone with an offbeat sense of humor may want to add this homey, quirky lounge to their circuit of hidden Beijing cocktail joints.

New (Spring) Menus

Tiki Bungalow (Dongcheng)
If you felt cramped or – worse still – couldn't get a table during your last visit to Bungalow Tiki, then you'll be happy to know that the next time you stop by is bound to be better. That's because the beloved Jiaodaokou booze haven has recently taken over the neighbording spot left vacant by the now defunct Obsession bistro, and providing the hutong toilet-averse among us a private spot in-house. To top it all off, they've expanded their cocktail menu with dozens of new concoctions.

Hungry? See our roundup of the best new March restaurants and menus here.

More stories by this author here.

Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
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Images courtesy of the venues, Tracy Wang, Kyle Mullin, Tom Arnstein, Uni You