A Couple disclaimers:

#1 This does not include the Old Quarter. 

If you spend any time at all researching Hanoi’s nightlife, then you will undoubtedly read a lot about that area. Yes, it’s historic, and full of hotels/hostels, but it also a shit show. It’s always full of insufferable drunk backpackers. As a local, I almost never went out in the Old Quarter. This list will, instead, focus on the local/expat scene of Hanoi, which is much cooler (I think).

#2 Hanoi has an 11pm curfew for businesses

Unless otherwise noted, these places won’t stay open much later than midnight. Not all of these photos are my own (since it’s super inconvenient to bring your camera to a bar). Most of these places employ staff with elementary English skills.

BEER2KU

Address: So 100, Ngo 128, Ven Ho, Thụy Khue, Tay Ho District

First, this name is a pun. In Vietnamese, the number 2 is “hai” so Beer2Ku = Beer Haiku. They have 2 locations in Hanoi, but the one I'm choosing to feature on the banks of West Lake on the Ba Dinh (southern) side of the lake. It sits spitting distance from Hallo Coffee (listed above with the rest of the cafés), but it's not close to much else. This side of the lake is pretty reserved for locals, so it's above authentic as western style bars in Hanoi can get. 

You should know that this place is outdoors, which means you will be subject to the elements. Beer2Ku will be as nice as the weather on any given night. They serve great dark beer here in pint glasses. The bugs that swarm around the lights in the summer are annoying, but the fall weather is absolutely perfect. Bugs or no bugs, Beer2Ku is still one of my favorite places to drink in Hanoi.

RED RIVER TEA ROOM

Address: 25 Duong Ven Ho Tay, Tay Ho District

Red River tea room serves the best Sangria in Hanoi... uncontested. 

On the far side of West Lake, Red River Tea Room sits at the beginning of Tay Ho's "fun" area. It's neighbors with another bar called Rasta Man, which actually serve you a joint over the counter if you say the right thing. But I'm not here to talk about that place. Red River Tea Room is where it's at.

It's mostly indoors, but they have a few stories of amazing balconies where you can sit and enjoy a view over West Lake. There is also an open roof area where people hold parties from time to time. An in addition to this, there is seating at the side-walk level, right on the water. This seating area sort combines with the seating at Rasta Man so you can be at 2 bars at once. It’s pretty quiet, but it's a favorite amongst locals. There’s also a dart board inside, which is nice. The staff here tend to have good enough English to communicate. 

RAY QUAN

Address: 8A Nguyen Khuyen Street, Ba Dinh District

Tucked away next to the train tracks, down an little urban passage way, Ray Quan sits in relative anonymity. It’s so well hidden that I struggle to grasp how it got to be such a fixture in Hanoi. Like, how did anybody even find it in the first place? I don’t know, but it’s there to stay. I’ve never gone there and not ran into to somebody I know. It’s a fixture for locals and expats. It's also the cover image for this section of the guide. It's a fun place to sit when trains are thundering by. 

Ray Quan serves beer, Vietnamese food, and a wide array of exotic rice wines. It was here that first tried Gecko wine (vodka made with pieces of gecko). There’s a computer with speakers that is eternally set to YouTube so you can find your jams and rock out. They speak some English and they will do their very best to avoid Hanoi’s curfew, even it means having their 17-year-old staff sit by the window all night with their hand on the volume knob in case they see the cops. 

SIDEWALK

Address: 199 D Nghi Tam, Ba Dinh District

This bar is completely outdoors, with very little shelter, so keep an eye on the weather. They serve food until 10:30pm and it's not terrible. It’s a fun place to go, and it’s always crowded with expats who have sorted themselves into different tables depending on nationality. As an American, I rarely had many of my fellow countrymen to socialize with (because Americans don't go anywhere), so I would usually end up getting drunk with my friends at the English/Irish table.

The big problem with Sidewalk is that it's right on a main road, which makes it a target for the police. So this place gets shut down by the police about half the time. If this happens, it will probably close around midnight, so you still have time for some fun before the fuzz shows up to ruin everything. The staff speaks decent English, and there is lots of space for motorbike parking. 

MADAKE

Address: 81 Xuan Dieu, Quang An, Tay Ho District

Operating with no regard to Hanoi’s curfew, Madake [Mah-Dah-Kay] is a late-night place that, on any given night, seems to either crazy or empty. There is no in-between. They often host obscure European DJs and bands who are touring through Asia. These events are fun, but prefer the nights when Madake is completely dead.

Behind Madake, a very long stair case leads you down to a few tables sitting in front of one of Hanoi’s more overgrown, small lakes. There are blankets on the bank of this lake where you can look out over the giant tropical lily pads under the starlight. It’s a peaceful little spot… or not, depending on the night. The staff speaks English and the drink menu is great, so check it out! 

HANOI ROCK CITY

Address: 27/52 To Ngọc Van, Tay Ho District

I went here a lot during my time in Hanoi. I had gotten to be pretty good friends with the owner (shout out to DA) because I played at open mic night held here pretty often, and once organized an event that what held here. The open mic is always on Wednesday nights, starting around 9:30pm. It’s a fun group of people that frequents this event. It felt like a little family. 

During my more inactive stretches in Hanoi (there have been a few), this would often be the only social thing I did in a given week. But it’s not just for Wednesdays—it’s a cool place and there is something going on here most nights of the week. I actually did New Years Eve 2015 here. It was packed! HRC is also pretty sound proof, so they don’t tend to adhere to Hanoi’s curfew. The staff pretty much all speak English, so come have yourself a night! 

TIME CLUB

Address: 6, 1/62 Au Co, Tay Ho District

Run by a nice Ukrainian lesbian couple, Time Club is a nice, low-key little spot in one of the most upscale parts of Tay Ho. I'm listing it with the rest of Hanoi's nightlife, but they also serve food and coffee starting around brunch time. I would usually just come here for beers because it's a nice place where you can hear yourself think. It's so quiet that it's a good place to go out when you don't feel like "going out."

At Time Club, they put on a lot of little events for this and that. I was always coming here for weird little parties which were never anything less than pleasant. Time Club is pretty family friendly, seems to maintain a real sense of community through the people that are regulars here. Obviously, since it is owned are run by Westerners, English is the primary language spoken at Time Club. 

CAMA ATK

Address: 73A Mai Hac De, Hai Ba Trung District

Cama ATK was Vietnam’s first gay bar. "Gay bar" means something a little different here though than it does in the U.S. In Vietnam, a gay bar is nothing more than an openly ‘gay-friendly’ establishment. If you go there don’t expect any shirtless men whirling their shirts in the air. It’s actually a pretty classy place.

It’s a modestly sized place, but it's up-scale, with a pricey drinks menu. Cama ATK hosts a pretty cool events schedule too! There are always cool bands, DJs, and organization holding interesting shin-digs here. However, if you arrive on a night with no event scheduled, they also have a Foosball table, which is a big plus. Oh, and their staff pretty much always are able to speak English.

Eden

Address: 264 Au Co, Nhat Tan, Tay Ho District

I said that I wasn't going to include anything from Hanoi's dirty backpacker scene in this guide, but this one is on the border. Eden is mostly filled with Hanoian locals because it is literally in the middle of the jungle. Getting to Eden takes some navigational expertise. And once you get to the dark, rural road that leads you out to the gates of Eden, it takes some balls. It really feels like you're driving off into the jungle in the middle of the night. The first time come here, it should set off some alarm bells on the trip over. 

The gates to Eden will open, and you will enter an alternative reality. This is a full-fledged club out there in the rice paddies. They have DJs that play to crowds full of rebellious Vietnamese youth and Western party animals. This place can get pretty hippie later into the night. You'll see dudes with glow sticks and hula hoops dancing their faces off, most of whom are drunk, high, and rolling simultaneously. Things can get a little weird here, but it's definitely worth a visit at least once. And don't show up on a week night. It won't be open. 

ANY BIA HOI

Address: Everywhere

In Hanoi, there are “foreigner places” and there are “Vietnamese places”. Most “foreigner places” are half, if not mostly Vietnamese people anyways, but that doesn't make your experience authentic. If you want to have the REAL Vietnam drinking experience, you have to go to Bia Hoi.

A "Bia Hoi" is where you will sit on tiny plastic stools and drink watered down beer by the gallon with other Vietnamese men. Some times you can order the Vietnamese equivalent of bar food, which is nice to off-set the staggering amounts of beer you will be drinking. BEER BEER BEER! It never stops at a Bia Hoi. The Vietnamese can DRINK! At 5,000 VND (23 cents) per beer, it’s hard to beat the affordability factor here, but the tiny stools get old fast for a big guy like me. Don’t count on them speaking English.