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Your week-long guide to the best Shanghai happy hours
Don't know where to hit tonight? Here's a day-by-day guide to Shanghai's top drink deals: And, yes, happy hours in Shanghai run much longer than 60 minutes
As summer sets in and drink specials abound, we’ve done the hard work for you and come up with an after work schedule so you can hit up some of the best deals in town.
Be it old or new, dive-y or classy, sports bar or hipster hangout, enjoy the best of Shanghai’s bar scene, one discounted drink at a time.
Monday
Venue: Cotton’s
Cotton's garden is home to one of the city's best happy hours in the summer. In the winter, enjoy your drinks inside by the fire and challenge the table next to you to a game of Scrabble.
Deal: Buy-one-get-one-free drinks, Monday - Friday 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. at both locations.
Opened in 2003, Cotton’s is still going strong as one of Shanghai’s mainstays of the upscale bar scene. Good staff, tasty mixed drinks and a gorgeous, renovated French Concession space all make this a reliable option to start your week. Now that summer’s here, enjoy the outside bar and the bartenders’ crushed-ice mojitos.
Cotton's Anting Lu, 132 Anting Lu, near Jianguo Xi Lu 安亭路132号, 近建国西路, +86 21 6433 7995; Cotton's Xinhua Lu, 294 Xinhua Lu, near Fanyu Lu 新华路294号, 近番禺路, +86 21 6282-6897, www.cottons-shanghai.com
Venue: Boxing Cat Brewery
Grab a pint -- or two -- during happy hour at Boxing Cat.
Deal: Pitchers for RMB 75, and pints, wine and house pours for RMB 35 every day 3 p.m. - 8 p.m. at both locations.
The ultimate beer lover’s happy hour: brewed on-site, Boxing Cat’s long list of available microbrews frequently rotates. The change has been known to annoy some, but roll with it -- they're all good. For a malty pint, go for the Right Hook Helles. The Standing 8 Pilsner is deliciously hoppy. If it’s a buzz you’re after, check the board for the Big Boy Double IPA -- at 9.4 percent, it’s like drinking three Tsingtaos at once.
Boxing Cat Brewery, 82 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Yongfu Lu 复兴西路82号 近永福路, +86 21 6431 2091; Bldg. 26A, Sinan Mansions, 519 Fuxing Zhong Lu, near Chongqing Nan Lu 复兴中路519号, 思南公馆, 26A号楼, 近重庆南路, +86 21 6426 0360, www.boxingcatbrewery.com
Venue: Blue Frog
Deal: Buy-one-get-one-free drinks, every day 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. at all locations
Go for Monday’s buy-one-get-one-free burger deal and stay for the same on all drinks. With extremely attentive servers -- a rarity -- and a solid bar selection (nothing too fancy, but quality martinis and a menu of imported beer), secure a table early as all locations get packed early. Draft Tiger or Heineken go great with the enormous Montana burger.
Blue Frog, multiple locations, 207-6 Maoming Nan Lu, near Yongjia Lu 茂名南路207-6号, 近永嘉路, +86 21 6445 6634, www.bluefrog.com.cn
Want to take your next drink outside? Check out "Shanghai's 15 best al fresco drinking spots".
