71 cocktail lounges, hidden speakeasies, rooftop patios, wine bars, breweries and classic neighborhood taverns, the places that make a night out in Omaha.
Pick a neighborhood
Colored outlines are the City of Omaha’s official visitor neighborhoods (made for Visit Omaha); the thin grey lines and labels are the city’s neighborhood planning districts, so every part of Omaha is named. Little Italy (dashed) is the exception, which the city doesn’t map: its outline is approximate and follows the commonly cited boundaries of Pacific Street, Center Street, South 10th Street and the river. Each dot is a place, colored by neighborhood; tap one, or a card below, to see that neighborhood’s places.
Old Market & Downtown
Cobblestone streets, brick warehouses and the Gene Leahy Mall. Omaha’s densest stretch of restaurants and bars, all walkable.
A speakeasy-style cocktail bar inside Hotel Indigo, named for Omaha's 'Queen of the Underworld' Anna Wilson. Find the door past the front desk and wait for the light to turn green before knocking; inside are red lights, a 30-seat lounge and drinks made with house-made sodas and syrups.
A combined brewery and distillery in the Old Market, making its own beer plus whiskey, rum, vodka and gin. Beyond the taproom pours, it also cans cocktails.
The restaurant and bar at the Peregrine Omaha Downtown hotel, with seasonal menus, signature cocktails and an upscale feel. The hotel also describes an upstairs rooftop bar with skyline views and small plates.
What to drink
Gilded Feather signature cocktail
In-house smoked whiskey cocktails
Seasonal chef-inspired menu
Happy hour: $5 off appetizers, half-off beer, wine and cocktails
A tiki bar tucked into the Old Market, built around rum and island-style craft cocktails in a fully themed room. It is known locally for showy, flaming drinks, which makes it a fun stop for a group.
A small, mid-century-styled lounge on 16th Street with a seated bar and lounge seating, where the soundtrack leans toward yacht rock. It pours craft and classic cocktails alongside a deep whiskey list, in a conversational setting suited to a quiet drink.
An English-style pub on the ground floor of the historic Hotel Howard, open since 1970, with wood beams, stained glass and a carved fireplace mantel. Its courtyard is described as Omaha's oldest outdoor drinking space and is a favorite for people-watching on warm days.
What to drink
Oldest outdoor drinking courtyard in Omaha
Tudor-style pub interior
Open since 1970
HistoricPatioLow-keyWalkable from Old MarketGroups
An Old Market cocktail bar on Howard Street that builds its drinks on pre-Prohibition recipes, then updates them with house-made syrups, fresh juice and a more culinary touch. The room is a serious, drink-focused spot that fills up on weekends, so booking ahead helps.
What to drink
Trinidad Smoke
Lily's Dinner Party
Craft cocktailsDate nightWalkable from Old MarketLate night
A dark-green, industrial lounge in the historic First National Bank building near the Orpheum, with a central bar, sofas, a pool table, a jukebox and garage doors that open to a patio. The pitch is good drinks at fair prices, with seasonal cocktails, five beer taps, prosecco and a long whiskey list.
What to drink
Custom cocktail list
Five beer taps
Prosecco
Wine selection
Low-keyGamesPatioLate nightGroupsWalkable from Old Market
Open daily 3pm-2am; 16th Street streetcar construction may affect access and parking
The rooftop bar at the Peregrine Omaha Downtown hotel, serving craft cocktails and snacks with skyline views of downtown. It operates seasonally and depends on the weather, so check before heading up.
What to drink
Signature bird-glass cocktail
Classic and inventive cocktails
Martini, bourbon, beer and wine flights
Gourmet sliders
ViewsUpscaleDate night
Seasonal and weather-dependent; inside the Peregrine Omaha Downtown hotel
An Old Market bar at 10th and Jackson that mixes a neighborhood-pub feel with a cocktail and craft-beer list. It sits in the historic Windsor Square Building. This is a polished pub rather than a true dive, and it is an easy walk from most downtown stays.
A Wonderland-themed speakeasy: walk into a small liquor store called The Looking Glass, ask for the Wicked Rabbit, and a shelf of bottles swings open to the bar. Inside it is dim and candlelit, with staff in colorful wigs and a menu of high-end craft cocktails.
What to drink
Ramos Gin Fizz
Tequila old fashioned
Zombie
Premium craft cocktails inspired by Prohibition-era recipes
A neighborhood bar and restaurant in a 19th-century Old Market building, styled as a comfy-yet-sophisticated nod to the area's bordello past. Mahogany paneling, vintage tintypes and a mezzanine called the Madam's Lounge set the scene, and it is popular before and after shows at the Orpheum.
What to drink
Scotch egg
Pulled pork egg rolls
Smoked pulled pork sandwich
Beet burger
HistoricDate nightFood menuWalkable from Old Market
The old Czech neighborhood along South 13th Street, now a compact, walkable strip of cozy cocktail bars, a small craft brewery, a retro diner, coffee and the Admiral Theater.
A small brewery taproom on South 13th Street in Little Bohemia that started from years of homebrewing experiments. The rotating tap list leans toward hoppy beers, sours and high-gravity styles, and the current lineup is posted on Untappd. It's an easy stop on a bar-hop down the 13th Street strip.
A wine and cocktail bar in Little Italy, set in a building that has housed a neighborhood bar for over half a century. The list is strong on sparkling wine, including large-format champagne bottles, with upscale bar snacks like escargot and lamb lollipops.
What to drink
Venice Inn escargot, broiled with butter and cheese
Sidewinders
Lamb lollipops
Sparkling wine and champagne list including large-format bottles
A cocktail bar inside a converted 110-year-old house on South 13th Street in Little Bohemia, with a sister bar, The Platypus, in the green house next door. Seasonal house cocktails, Old World wines and local beer are served in small, moody rooms, and a camper out back doubles as a bookable karaoke bar.
What to drink
Seasonal house cocktail menu
Half-size "tiny" cocktails
Old World wines
Local beer
Craft cocktailsDate nightGroupsLow-key
Reservations: Accepted · Tables, booths and the karaoke camper book through Tock, often with a deposit
An old-line tavern on North 16th Street at the north edge of downtown Omaha. Author Grant Triplett called it the second-oldest bar in his dive-bar book taxi diver, per Omaha Magazine's 2023 feature. It is roughly a mile from the Old Market (estimate). We found no official website, so confirm hours before going.
A Leavenworth Street tavern near 32nd Street that has been pouring since 1937. Expect old-school beers like Hamm's, Grain Belt and Old Style, karaoke, and a regular crowd. It is best known as one of Omaha's biggest St. Patrick's Day parties, when it opens early and adds outdoor space.
A neighborhood tavern on North 33rd Street in the Gifford Park area, just north of Midtown. Readers of The Reader have voted it a top spot for hiding out, karaoke and its bar patio, and it has also shown up for happy hour and best neighborhood tavern. Casual and local.
A Blackstone wine shop and bar with more than 700 wines, around 20 poured by the glass, and a menu of curated snacks. There is an outdoor patio for sipping.
A Bavarian-style bier hall in the basement beneath Crescent Moon, with long wood tables, mounted deer and boar heads and paneled walls. It serves German beers and a pork-forward German menu, and is home to Das Boot.
What to drink
Das Boot
Jaeger schnitzel
Schnitzel sandwich on a Kaiser roll with horseradish sauce
Haus Bites
GroupsFood menuHistoricLate night
Inside the German-American Society building; check hours before you go
A festive Blackstone cocktail bar with quirky decor and a rotating seasonal menu that has included sangria on tap and a boozy slushie. A late-night kitchen turns out globally inspired food such as crab rangoons and burgers.
A whiskey and craft cocktail lounge near Midtown Crossing and Turner Park, with a Prohibition-style theme and herbs grown on its patio for drinks. Spirits range from Kentucky bourbon to Islay single malt, and there is no kitchen, so guests may bring food in.
A cozy hideout in the lower level of the Colonial Apartments at 38th and Farnam in Blackstone. It focuses on classic cocktails and light bar snacks, and runs a 3-6pm happy hour.
A tiki lounge on the ground floor of the 37 West Farnam building, with tropical plants, bold wallpaper and neon, plus garage-style doors that open to the street. The cocktails come with exotic garnishes and sometimes a bit of heat.
A remodeled neighborhood bar in the former Bud Olson's building on Leavenworth, reopened in September 2023. It keeps the old skylight and back patio, with dim lighting, lots of greenery and a craft cocktail focus.
A cocktail lounge in the basement of the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel, built around a full-size cottonwood tree. The hotel's renovation draws on a Jazz Age theme, making it a polished spot for a drink in Blackstone.
A neighborhood brewery in a converted three-story former grocery near Field Club and Hanscom Park, with the brewing done in the basement. The main-floor taproom is small and friendly, pairing house beers with pizza, snacks and a few beer cocktails. Good for a relaxed pint away from the downtown crowds.
Iowa brewery's Omaha outpost in the Catalyst building beside the Blackstone District, with a roughly 10,500 sq ft taproom and restaurant plus a large patio. Full kitchen and a long draft list make it an easy group stop. Open daily with the kitchen running until 9 or 10pm.
What to drink
1939 Amber Ale
Full food menu
Large patio
GroupsPatioFood menu
Reservations: Accepted · Outside beer not allowed; reservations via Toast
A tiny bar in a former barbershop near the Harte Block in Dundee, open since 1997. It pours beer, wine, spirits and cocktails with indoor and dog-friendly patio seating. It fills up fast on busy nights.
What to drink
Neighborhood pours: beer, wine, spirits and cocktails
A Dundee neighborhood restaurant and pub, in business since 1934, with a Pine Room lounge devoted to whisky and cocktails. The single malt collection is among the largest in the country and live music plays Thursdays and Fridays. The kitchen serves elevated British and American pub food.
What to drink
Fish & Chips
Cottage Pie
Bangers & Mash
Reuben
HistoricFood menuLive musicDate night
Reservations: Accepted · Pine Room open Wed-Sat 5pm-midnight; restaurant closed Mon-Tue
A long-running Dundee neighborhood bar, open under its current name since 1981 in a strip-mall space that has been a bar since the 1960s. Pool, foosball, music bingo and karaoke keep the atmosphere casual and drinks are inexpensive.
A family-owned Benson brewery that opened in spring 2024 in the former Infusion space on Maple Street. About 17 beers are usually on tap, with staff happy to steer you by taste, and the room has communal tables. It's closed Mondays and runs a Tuesday flavor-flight challenge.
A classic arcade disguised as a craft beer bar on Maple Street, where pinball and cabinet games are free to play without a drink. Local guides cite 50+ taps and 100+ whiskeys. A solid group stop for a few rounds of games.
What to drink
Rotating draft beer list
Full bar with cocktails and canned beer
Pinball: Medieval Madness, Attack From Mars, Twilight Zone, Tron
An Irish-style pub on Maple Street in downtown Benson that Omaha Magazine has called the neighborhood's oldest continuously operating bar. It is a simple, local room known for its apple pie shots and drink specials, and it sits right on Benson's main bar strip, so it is easy to fold into a night out.
A Benson institution that is part cigar shop, part liquor store and part bar, with three connected bar areas, a big bourbon selection and a patio. Tuesday trivia draws regulars.
A small Benson neighborhood bar on Military Avenue with a beer garden out back. It has a following among locals and has shown up in The Reader's readers' polls for hiding out, happy hour, patio and best neighborhood tavern. Easy to pair with a walk through Benson's Maple Street strip.
A basement bar beneath Ika Ramen on Benson's Maple Street, with street-art decor and a Japanese-leaning cocktail list. Drinks mix whiskey, unfiltered sake and lychee boba, and Japanese whiskey is a focus. Intimate and best for a date or a small group.
A neighborhood lounge on North 60th Street in north Omaha. In The Reader's 2021 Readers' Choice poll it drew votes for Best Neighborhood Tavern, Best Bar for Cheap Drinks and Best Karaoke Bar. We found no official website and little recent coverage, so confirm hours and that it is operating before you go.
A long-running neighborhood Irish pub on North 72nd Street, just north of Dodge, with a kitchen and a loyal regular crowd. It bills itself as a friendly, welcoming spot for friends and family, and it stays open late most nights.
A women's-sports bar on Benson's Maple Street with a wall of TVs, booth and table seating, and a patio. The kitchen turns out elevated American bar food, and there's a happy hour until 6pm. A fun pick for game day regardless of the sport.
What to drink
Nashville hot chicken sandwich
Cauliflower wings
GroupsPatioFood menuGames
Reservations: Accepted · Mon-Thu from 4:30pm; reservations via Toast
A Benson mainstay since 2013 with reclaimed wood floors, exposed brick and a beer garden. The kitchen does gastropub fare, from burgers to vegan wings, alongside house beers and cocktails. Flights of 4-ounce pours make it easy to sample.
What to drink
Hazy Hare
College Water
Seitan Vegan Wings
Classic Poutine
PatioFood menuGroupsLow-key
Reservations: Accepted · Closed Mon; groups of 5+ call (402) 934-8668
A family-run dive bar open since 1956 and still owned by the same family, packed with vintage memorabilia. It pours around 20 rotating local beers, champagne on tap and about 30 whiskeys. Local coverage describes it as welcoming and affordable.
What to drink
Champagne on tap
Sangria on tap
Jello shots, daily
Miller High Life pints and pitchers, Sunday special
A long-running Benson bar on Maple Street with cheap drinks, a pool table and live bands and DJs on many nights. A good starting point for a Benson bar crawl.
A casual Aksarben taphouse built around Detroit-style square pizza and a rotating list of 25+ taps. Trivia nights, daily happy hour and live music keep it social.
A plain neighborhood bar on Leavenworth Street near 46th, on the edge of Midtown. It is one of the bars featured in local writer Grant Triplett's book on Omaha dive bars, as covered by Omaha Magazine. Good for a quiet, cheap drink while bar-hopping along Leavenworth.
A small Saddle Creek Road bar in midtown that went from a hole-in-the-wall to one of Omaha's best-known indie-rock rooms, owned since 2012 by members of the band Cursive. Bands play in a corner with no stage, there is a beer garden out back, and five sand volleyball courts run leagues.
A neighborhood bar on Mockingbird Drive near 96th Street in southwest Omaha, close to Ralston. The Reader's 2021 Readers' Choice poll named it a finalist for Best Bar for Billiards, and it also drew votes for Best Neighborhood Tavern. We found no official website, so confirm hours before going.
A seasonal outdoor bar at Aksarben Village's Zone 6, with bartenders working from a repurposed Airstream. Guests can bring food from the neighboring Inner Rail food hall, and there is live music on weekends plus ping pong and cornhole. Open summers only.
A neighborhood tavern on South 77th Street in Ralston, a small city bordered by Omaha on the southwest side of the metro. The Reader's readers named The Village Bar Ralston a finalist for Best Neighborhood Tavern in 2021, and it also drew votes for best bar for conversation and best happy hour. Confirm hours before going.
What to drink
2021 Readers' Choice finalist, Best Neighborhood Tavern (The Reader)
Reader votes for conversation and happy hour (2021)
Vinton Street, South 24th Street and the old stockyards district: family-run Mexican and Salvadoran kitchens, bakeries, historic steakhouses and the Henry Doorly Zoo nearby.
A bar and grill at 70th and Q Street in south Omaha, across from Funplex, that has been on the corner since the 1970s. It pairs comfort food such as hot beef and Super Tots with sand volleyball leagues, karaoke and live music. The Reader's readers named it best bar for cheap drinks, darts, karaoke and sand volleyball in 2021.
A laid-back bar near 88th and Maple in northwest Omaha with a small stage and couches in front of it. Local musicians know it for its long-running Tuesday open mic, which moves out to the patio in warm weather. A good pick for a casual night of local music.
A neighborhood bar on Maple Street near 85th Street in north-central Omaha, and the starting point for Ollie the Trolley's Dive Bar Tour on spring Saturdays. Ollie the Trolley notes the bar is featured in Grant Triplett's dive-bar book taxi diver. We found no official website for the bar, so check its social page for hours.
What to drink
Starting point of Ollie the Trolley's Dive Bar Tour
A plush, dimly lit cocktail lounge at Wright Plaza near Village Pointe in west Omaha, with an Alice in Wonderland touch and a menu of creative cocktails. A good dressy date-night drink out west.
An upscale, intimate wine and cocktail bar in west Omaha with European-inspired custom decor. It also hosts tastings of whisky, bourbon, scotch and wine.
The remaining Infusion taproom, in southwest Omaha, with year-round beers including a hazy IPA, Mexican-style lager and a vanilla bean blonde. It also runs a member group called the Secret Society of Malt and Hops.
A neighborhood bar on Millard Avenue in Millard, in southwest Omaha. It is one of the bars Grant Triplett chose for taxi diver, his 2021 compendium of Omaha dive bars, as Omaha Magazine noted in its 2023 feature on the book. We found no official website, so call or check the bar's social page for hours before heading out.
A small-batch, taproom-only brewery in northwest Omaha with a large patio overlooking a pond. The rotating food menu covers sandwiches and appetizers, and crowlers are available to go.
A west Omaha lounge near 120th Street that locals have voted a good bar for conversation in The Reader's readers' poll. Expect a quiet, regulars-heavy room rather than a scene. It is one of the few no-frills options out west, handy for guests staying near 120th.
A lounge on West Dodge Road in the Old Mill area of west Omaha, near 108th Street, a stretch with offices and several hotels. Omaha Magazine readers named it in the Neighborhood Bar category of Best of Omaha 2025, alongside The Homy Inn and The Rusty Nail. We found no official website, so check hours first.
What to drink
Best of Omaha 2025, Neighborhood Bar category (Omaha Magazine)
A golf-themed sports bar near 120th and Blondo in northwest Omaha, decorated with golf memorabilia and nods to the movie Caddyshack. Big screens carry games in every season, and the kitchen is known for wings and Ty Webb Tots. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and a second location sits at 180th and Harrison.
A bar and grill on South 108th Street in southwest Omaha. Grant Triplett included it in taxi diver, his book of Omaha dive bars, and Omaha Magazine's 2023 feature cites it when describing his dive test, which any bar showing Cops, the evening news or Jeopardy! passes. We found no official website, so check hours first.
A 17,000 sq ft La Vista brewery and taproom with new artwork and nods to Omaha history, a summer patio and winter fire pits. Twenty-plus taps plus cider, wine and non-alcoholic options; outside food is welcome and food trucks visit.
A newly remodeled La Vista taproom pairing its beers with Cut Spike spirits in cocktails. The lineup includes a Pre-Prohibition Lager, Certified Evil and a festbier.
We picked bars rated 4.2 stars or higher with more than 50 reviews on Google. Star ratings come from Google and are refreshed weekly; tap them for current reviews. Please drink responsibly and plan a ride home. Hours and menus change, so check with each place before you go. Last updated October 2026.
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