Editorial
The best bars in Brighton are The Plotting Parlour and L'Atelier du Vin for cocktails, The Evening Star and The Craft Beer Co for beer, and The Cricketers and The Druids Head for the city's oldest pubs. The Lanes and North Laine hold most of them, with a cluster in Kemptown. Pints run cheaper than London; cocktails sit around 10 to 13 pounds.
Brighton drinks across three quarters: the narrow Lanes by the seafront, the North Laine north of the station, and Kemptown to the east. The 10 below run from real-ale free houses to hidden cocktail rooms.
Kemptown
A jewel-box cocktail bar on Steine Street in Kemptown that took best cocktails at the Brighton Restaurant Awards. The seasonal menu leans on local produce; the signature is a rum plum Negroni served over a caramelised plum. Small and dimly lit, so book ahead on weekends. The room where Brighton hours quietly disappear.
North Laine
A North Laine cocktail bar in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, with two sister sites at Seven Dials and the Q Quarter. The menu runs classics and twists built on high-quality spirits, and the bartenders will improvise off-menu. Order a twist on a classic and let them lead. Smart, intimate and reservation-friendly.
Surrey Street
A free house on Surrey Street near the station, pouring ale since 1854 and once home to Dark Star Brewery. Twenty-two taps run the freshest beer and cider in the city, and a Sri Lankan pop-up kitchen serves most evenings. Order whatever is freshest on cask. A real-ale pilgrimage, not a cocktail stop.
The Lanes
The city's leading craft and real-ale pub, with more than 100 beers and around 25 on draft, including the largest Belgian and German range in Brighton. Ask the staff to steer you by style; the rotation changes constantly. Busy and beer-serious rather than scenic. The order is whatever you cannot get elsewhere.
North Laine
A cosy Fuller's corner pub in the North Laine, long on the city's best-pub lists, famous for the notes left in vintage cigarette tins on the walls. Cask ales, a deep single-malt shelf and proper pub food: ham, egg and chips or the Basketmakers burger. Dog and family friendly. Arrive early for a table.
The Lanes
The oldest pub in Brighton, a Victorian room in The Lanes crammed with vintage trinkets and dark-wood corners. The pumps pour local ales beside well-loved lagers and ciders, and the kitchen sends out pies, fish and chips and a large Sunday roast. Come for the history and the atmosphere. A short walk from the seafront.
The Lanes
A Grade II listed pub at the centre of The Lanes, one of Brighton's oldest and reputedly one of its most haunted. The period exterior hides a warmly modernised interior with a decent beer selection. A short walk from the seafront and an easy first stop on a Lanes crawl. Traditional rather than cutting-edge.
Kemptown
A tiny Kemptown free house, one of the smallest pubs in Britain and historically a brewpub with beer made on site. Standing room only when it fills, which is most evenings, with a fiercely local crowd and a rotating cask lineup. Order the house ale and squeeze in. Character over comfort.
Middle Street
A long-running cocktail bar off the seafront near Middle Street, built on classic cocktails done properly rather than theatrics. A reliable mid-evening stop between the Lanes pubs and a late one, with a calmer room than the chains nearby. Order a classic and judge the bar on it. Walk-ins usually fine midweek.
Seafront
A Brighton late-night institution known for music as much as drinks, with a seafront beach-bar offshoot for warmer months. The crowd is young and the room gets loud after 10pm. Order a pint and stay for the DJs. Best as the end of a night rather than the start of one.
The Lanes, the medieval grid by the seafront, holds the oldest pubs, the Cricketers and the Druids Head among them. The North Laine north of the station is the bohemian stretch for the Basketmakers and L'Atelier du Vin. Kemptown, east along the front, is the indie quarter for the Plotting Parlour and the Hand in Hand.
For one night, start with cask ale at the Evening Star, move through the Lanes, and finish with cocktails in Kemptown. Everything here is a flat walk or a short taxi.
Good questions