16 Best Bars in Los Cabos Side Trips, Los Cabos and the Baja Peninsula

Los Cabos' Baja Brewing Company tends to get all of the love when it comes to the local craft beer scene, but this brewery in Todos Santos has a wider variety with arguably better flavor—all 28 taps are made fresh on-site. Todos Santos Brewing is open seven days a week and regularly organizes fun entertainment like live music, trivia, and karaoke.

Seis Uno Dos (La Paz's area code) is a nice rooftop lounge overlooking the malecón. Come here for sunset cocktails or to dance the night away to an upbeat DJ set.

This is a townie hangout joint, but then again, that’s everywhere in the East Cape. Cactus is one of your best bets in the entire region for nightlife; it can get a little sloppy as it gets late, but you are guaranteed to befriend a friendly expat or 10 on any given visit. There’s karaoke every Saturday, though a bigger crowd usually congregates on an outdoor patio with a billiards table.

Open later than any other venue in La Paz, this is the place to wind up if you have one more dance left in you before calling it a night. Tacos are sold for under a buck-fifty, should you need some sobering up, too.

On most days, this restaurant at the boutique solar-powered VIDASOUL Hotel is a quiet place to enjoy a drink or meal overlooking gorgeous beachfront views of the Sea of Cortez. But on Friday and Saturday night in-season (November through May), live bands play, and it becomes the best of the scant nightlife options between Los Barriles and San José del Cabo. Locals and visitors alike party down, East Cape style, and the restaurant closes when the last guest goes to bed.

This cocktail bar is the main "late night" option in Todos Santos, staying open until a whopping 11 pm. Visited primarily by the local expat community, owner and bartender James Katona is happy to chat up new faces as he slings his signature margaritas. Decorated with quirky artifacts that are mostly gifts from regulars, The Dirty Rose is located within the unmarked building with the thatched roof (speakeasy meets tiki bar, anyone?) across from Shut Up Frank's.

Liter-size bottles of beer (called caguamas throughout Mexico, but in Baja specifically, you can also say ballena, which means "whale") line the shelf behind this classic bar, part of which has been converted into an epic stage for live music. Every night of the week from 10 pm until 1 am a band performs either rock n' roll or banda, traditional Mexican music with brass instruments.

Like mezcal? Come here. Don't like mezcal? Come here anyway and your mind will be changed. El Refugio serves a constantly changing list of artisanal mezcals sourced directly from small, family producers from across five different states in Mexico. Try them in a cocktail, or better yet, order a flight—but don't forget to read the written descriptions of what each mezcal tastes like; crafted by co-owner Rachel Glueck, they are among the most unhinged segments of creative writing you'll find outside of a hipster poetry slam, and only become more amusing with each pour you consume. It's cash-only and not cheap, so make sure your wallet is packed with pesos.

Owner Os Navarro is always coming up with original recipes and inventive twists on classic cocktails from behind "the good" bar. There's limited seating here, so try to come early (or prepare to hover) to claim a spot.

This trendy spot serves natural wine primarily from Mexican women-owned labels, plus coffee and dessert from Taller 17.

"Mezcal for everything bad ... and also for everything good" is one of La Miserable's punchy catch phrases. You can order 1 oz. or 2 oz. pours of nearly every varietal under the sun, all from artisan distilleries from different states of Mexico. The house cocktails mix an espadín with fresh fruit juices, and both domestic and craft beers are available, too. Open until 2 am six nights a week, this is one of the most reliable late-night haunts in La Paz.

Take your pick from the sporting events shown on seven big-screen TVs at the consummate sports bar in Todos Santos. Enjoy the scrumptious burgers here, too.

Catch the sunset at this rooftop lounge while enjoying a "Margarita Guaycura," made with lemon, tequila, orange liqueur, and the local spirit, damiana. There's a pool, too, you can swim in or relax beside, should you visit during the day.

This sports-bar style cantina is the de facto after-work meeting place in Los Barriles for cocktails and cervezas, or whenever there's a big game on TV. For visitors, the main attraction is the barbecue straight from curing in the on-site smokehouse. Highlights include the pulled pork and the char-grilled chicken breast slathered in Maker’s Mark and barbecue sauce.

This warm, unpretentious spot has all-day drink deals and tasty Hawaiian-inspired food. There’s often live music, drawing in the same faces night after night. Credit cards aren’t accepted, but you can pay with either pesos or dollars, or even PayPal and Venmo.

Wine and charcuterie are the orders at this simple but sophisticated spot, conveniently located right in the historic town square.