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Nightlife
Nightlife
The most popular place in Zurich for nightlife is the Old Town, on the left bank of the River Limmat, with many bars and cafs tucked away on the side streets such as Niederdorfstrasse and Oberdorfstrasse. New bars and clubs keep opening up in the city, especially to the west of the Hauptbahnhof in the fourth and fifth districts, around Langstrasse and Escher-Wyss-Platz. The majority of bars and clubs close around 0200 but there are bars and discos open until 0300 or 0400. The minimum drinking age is 18 years. Very few clubs have a dress code.
Information on club nights and performances (as well as theatres, concerts and opera) is listed in Zri Tipp, published in Friday’s Tages Anzeiger (website: www.zueritipp.ch). Clubbers should get hold of Forecast, published monthly, which has extensive listings of Zurich’s club scene.
Bars: Quite a few of the city’s best bars serve food or have a restaurant attached. Kaufleuten, Pelikanstrasse 18 (tel: (01) 225 3300; website: www.kaufleuten.com), is a popular bar with a hip restaurant. Upmarket and hyper-trendy Caf Bar Odeon, Limmatquai 2, attracts the beautiful people and those who think they are (tel: (01) 251 1650). Somewhat more irreverent is Iroquois, Seefeldstrasse 120 (website: www.iroquois.ch), a bar with a Tex-Mex restaurant. BaBaLu, Schmidgasse 6 (tel: (01) 383 7077), is an eclectic place, sometimes hosting interesting live music. The Jules Verne Panorama Bar, on the 11th floor between the Brasserie Lipp and the Urania Observatory, Uraniastrasse 9 (tel: (01) 211 1155), is always crowded but offers wonderful views over the city. The Ziegel oh Lac bar and restaurant, in the Rote Fabrik arts centre, Seestrasse 395 (tel: (01) 481 6242; website: www.rotefabrik.ch), has waterside seating in summer and reasonably priced food.
Casino: Although gambling is legal in Switzerland, there is as yet no casino in Zurich. The major complex currently being built at the airport will contain a casino. However, it will be several years before this opens.
Clubs: In Switzerland ‘nightclubs’ refer to venues with erotic floorshows and/or lap or table dancing. ‘Discos’ or ‘dance clubs’ refer to clubs with music for dancing. Many of the new clubs are located in Langstrasse/Zurich West, the former red light and industrial district, and now being redeveloped as the heart of young Zurich. Excellent new clubs often including bars and restaurants include Labor, Schiffbaustrasse 3 (tel: (01) 272 4402; website: www.laborbar.ch) also used for the TV show ‘Aeschbacher’; Soul Cafe, Lwenstrasse 2 (tel: (01) 211 6367) for hip hop, soul and Latin music; and Supermarket, Geroldstrasse 17 (tel: (01) 440 2005; website: www.supermarket.li). Many of the older established clubs are part of larger arts and entertainment complexes with restaurants or cafs. In Rote Fabrik, Seestrasse 395 (website: www.rotefabrik.ch/musikbuero), 5km (3 miles) south of the centre (bus 161 or 165 from Brkliplatz), are the Klubraum and the Aktionshalle; a wide range of dance music is played, as well as live acts. Limmatbar is part of Palais X-tra, Limmatstrasse 118 (tel: (01) 448 1500; website: www.x-tra.ch) features DJs, live bands and attracts a trendy crowd. Kanzlei, Kanzleistrasse 56, near Helvetiaplatz (tel: (01) 241 5311; website: www.kanzlei.ch) features different nights with techno, house and disco. For techno and alternative dance music, Rohstofflager, Duttweilerstrasse, Ecke Pfingsweicerstrasse (tel: (01) 439 9090; website: www.rohstofflager.ch) is still a good bet, as is the newish Dynamo, part of the Jungendkulturhaus, Wasserwerkstrasse 21 (tel: (01) 365 3444; website: www.dynamo.ch) which also features live concerts, usually of punkish music. Salsa and funk are featured nightly at El Cubanito, Bleicherweg 5 (tel: (01) 226 2012; website: www.elcubanito.ch).
Live Music: Large rock concerts are usually held in the Hallenstadion, in the Oerlikon district, but this is closed for refurbishment until August 2005, so in the meanwhile they will be held either in the Stadion Hardturm, Hardturmstrasse 321 (tel: (01) 447 4646), or the Volkshaus, Stauffacherstrasse 60 (tel: (01) 241 6404; website: www.volkhaus.ch). For top-flight jazz in a striking setting, there is Moods Jazz Club, Schiffbaustrasse 6 (tel: (01) 276 8000; website: www.moods.ch), which is part of the major cultural centre in the former Sulzer shipbuilding works. The building also has a restaurant and theatre. There are concerts from Tuesday to Sunday but only two concerts per week in summer. The Casa Bar, Mnstergasse 30 (tel: (01) 261 2002), is Zrich’s longest-running jazz venue offering nightly entertainment. The chic Hotel Bar Widder, Widdergasse 6 (website: www.widderhotel.ch), has recently and successfully revived the old jazz nights on Wednesdays. An older clientele is drawn to the elegant Dolder Grand Hotel Bar, Kurhausstrasse 65 (tel: (01) 269 3000; website: www.doldergrand.ch), for popular piano music.
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Nightlife