The Pass By Bar offers a nicely decorated backpacker style restaurant/bar in an awesome location on Nanluoguxiang. They have seating inside and also on a rooftop terrace. They have Italian dishes but are well-known for their roasted mutton and kung pow chicken pizzas. They have a nice selection of beer ranging from Beijing drafts to Franziskaner. The rooftop service can be a little slow during the afternoon when there is not much staff.

My friends recommended this place, and I'd have to say I was skeptical at first. Pass By Bar? Why on earth would they have good Italian food. But boy was I glad I gave it a chance. First of all, the prices aren't bad at all. I had a STRONG and LARGE martini (hard to come by around here) for only 30kuai. The Eggplant Appetizer was amazing! You can't make me happier than when you put goat cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinegar in between layers of marinated eggplant. This place is great for vegetarians too. I had the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in Cream Sauce and it was delicious. The portions of pasta look small, but they really fill you up and are less than 40kuai. For dessert my friends and I split three things. The cheese cake was alright, nothing real special, it had no adornments and was quite small. The Raspberry White Chocolate Cake was the best we tried, it had three different layers and was decorated with sauces and whip cream; quite delectable. The Banana Boat was like your traditional banana split, but the chocolate ice cream had pieces of chocolate in it, definitely a nice surprise. Overall I'd have to say you must give this place a chance; it was definitely worth it. I've definitely spent a lot more money for a lot less satisfaction in this city.

The place itself is a combo of restaurant, bar, book store, photo exhibit and original galary.
It reminds us that everyone of us is a pass-byer of life. All kinds of people find their favorite part out of here: the bag packers hold up their LP guide, fashion lovers gather the new selection of original designed T-shirts and postures, group of friends take up the long tables in the door room, friends get a drink and relax on the comfie chairs by the window...
Pass-by bar had made the initiate of the growth of the old Hutong area, and therefore, to some extent, protected the history and started a model of reuse the old district. As eventually a pass-byer, it realized its value and ambition.

Pass By has a nice, relaxing atmosphere for a night out- their courtyard is great for a summer night, and quieter than nearby Houhai bars. Another great perk of being away from Houhai is the prices- only 30 kuai for generously-sized cocktails. They make a pretty good mojito. They also have a good selection of draft beer.

Friends I went with ordered dinner from their selection of Italian food. Everyone was very happy with their pasta dishes, and kept ordering more bread for the table. The only disappointment of the evening was a friend's order of panna cotta, which ended up being a bowl of clumpy brown something, that looked nothing like any panna cotta we'd seen before.

Overall, great drinks, great prices, I'll be back.

The courtyard here is great during warmer times and the cozy indoor section is great in winter. The menu is interesting and worldly. The decorations are classic beijing and the staff are friendly.

The cheese on the pizza is of very low quality made mostly of oil. Perhaps that is a good thing in the melamine scandal days but it makes for a very greasy disgusting pizza. order something else.