10 cozy bars in Munich that are perfect for a relaxed evening out! Munich is known for its lifestyle, atmosphere, for a stroll in the English garden or the old town – but the nightlife is definitely not to be underestimated. Even Freddy Mercury was a regular in the coziest bars of Munich and the area Glockenbachviertel was famous in all of Germany and the rest of the world for its gay scene. Today, though many things have changed and even in Munich it is “not all as it used to be”, in our choices for 10 cozy bars in Munich sometimes nothing has changed in the past decades. All of these ten cozy bars in Munich are classics, but not one is like the other. So, we will take you on a merry trip through the Munich’s best cozy bars and therefore say: Prost!

Cozy Bars with neighborly atmosphere

1.      Sofa So Good

Hadern, Ossingerstraße 4, 81375 München

Sofa So Good in Hadern is an extremely cozy bar in Munich’s west and therefore in first place on our list. Sofa So Good convinces the guest mostly with its familiar atmosphere which is created by the team and guests alike. What is so special about the team of Sofa So Good? Imagine, 2016 a group of young students had this idea: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if in our neighborhood there would be a bar that looked like a living-room?” Said and done!

Sofa So Good really looks like a living-room: a little untidy, all kinds of knick-knack on the walls, a bicycle on the ceiling, couches (or sofas) in the corners. Most of the evenings the team is doing exactly what most of the guests are also doing: Getting drunk slowly in Munichs cozy bar.

2.      Bergwolf

Glockenbachviertel, Fraunhoferstr. 17, 80469 München

During the day, the perfect place to grab some quick fries with mayonnaise and onions, during the night, the best place for a night-cap-drink on your way home or, get something in your stomach before going out. If the Bergwolf is actually a bar, doesn’t need a definite answer. What is sure that in Bergwolf, Bar or not, it’s cozy. The atmosphere is created by the location, right next to the entrance to the subway station, and the classic beer-tables.

Sometimes, a bit of dim isn’t so bad and here the absent brightness makes light (Helle) beer even better. Mostly, we would recommend Bergwolf for that time of day when it is still daylight outside. Because, you can comfortably drink your beer and wait for the darkness to come so you can start your way through Glockenbachviertel.

3.      Loretta Bar

Glockenbachviertel, Müllerstraße 50, 80469 München

Loretta Bar is situated directly on Müllerstraße on the upper end of the street where many clubs and bars also are. Most people know Müllerstraße as a very hectic place, which it is, but Müllerstraße has a different face, too. Whoever wants to see that face and wants to rest in a less hectic, less dresse-up, in short, a cozy Bar is a perfect fit for Loretta Bar.

As it is normal in a good neighborhood bar, you will see many of the same faces in Loretta Bar reading the papers for hours, conversing, or watching the hustle and bustle of Müllerstraße from the relative safety of Loretta Bar. Small plates are also being offered, but only in a small range of choices. That shouldn’t bother anybody to much, as you don’t come here to eat like in the Ritz or get shitfaced as in Rote Sonne, you come for the coffee and stay for the atmosphere.

4.      Valentin Stüberl 

Glockenbachviertel, Dreimühlenstraße 28, 80469 München

Valentin Stüberl, or short and cute just Stüberl, definitely enjoys classic cultural status in Munich. Sometimes, one could wonder how many small, definitely rustic, sometimes a bit stuffy, cozy bars exist in Munich and how much they are valued by Munich’s people. The super-clubs in the inner city mostly attract tourists, Isarpreißen, and moved-ins, cozy bars like Stüberl are on the other and much more Munich!

In Stüberl you, of course, will find many known faces if you live in the neighborhood, but even if you drive to Isar from another part of Munich to get a beer in Stüberl you will be able to enjoy the cozy, friendly, and neighborly atmosphere and maybe already during your first visit make acquaintances.

5.      Café Rennbahn

Schwabing, Feilitzschstraße 12, 80802 München

Many cozy bars in Munich have the habit of calling themselves “café”, even though, they obviously aren’t anything close to a café. Of course, Rennbahn isn’t a café either, it’s a bar, but, as most of the so-called cafés, Rennbahn is a very cozy bar. Not only cozy is Bar Rennbahn, in Schwabing it is also special for one unique aspect: The mixture of generations.

2017 the proprietor of the bar told a group of young students to come and help him run the bar, since then, not only the choices of drinks have changed slightly also the people that go there have evolved. Still, Rennbahn isn’t spectacular, neither the furnishing, nor the music has changed and slithered off their old ways, but the young crew drew a younger audience. In Rennbahn Schwabing is alive and in Rennbahn Schwabing is rejuvenated, cozy bar environment for all age groups.

6.      Die Niederlassung

Glockenbachviertel, Buttermelcherstraße 6, 80469 München

Niederlassung: branch, establishment subsidiary, Das Niederlassen: to settle or sit down. Niederlassung satisfies our drink-sit combination again completely, as the name would already suggest. Equipped with couches, sofas and armchairs, decorated with book-shelves you will feel directly at home in this very cozy bar. What you probably don’t have at home and what is most likely the reason for visiting a cozy bar is a selection of gin and craft beer that big! Of course, the bar also serves “normal” beer and long-drinks.

The music in that plays in the cozy (couch) bar Niederlassung is closer to the normal music taste of the (still) young 2020s and doesn’t scare anybody off, who doesn’t like more unconventional music styles.

Cozy bars with alternative underground atmosphere

7.      Schwabinger 7

Schwabing, Feilitzschstraße 15, 80802 München

This and the next cozy bars on our list fall under the category of the subcultural cozy bars in Munich. Schwabinger 7, or simply the 7, maybe find itself facing some problems on our list of cozy bars in Munich, as it doesn’t have any sofas or armchairs, like many others on this list, but just tables for the guests, at least if they find one.

Schwabinger 7 has its very own cozy bar flair, she is located in a basement with high ceilings, the walls are black, or used to be, before they were covered in graffiti and stickers. The tables are brightened by candles in various kinds of (empty) bottles of alcohol, and we don’t even want to imagine how it smelled or looked in here before the Non-smokers law forbade inside smoking. In 7 you will have amazing evenings if you come with friend or even alone, that you will remember for a long time, of, as it is well known that that’s a quality mark for evenings of drinking, you won’t. Author’s tip: Definitely try “the Mexican”, in my opinion it’s one of the best in Munich.

8.      Xbar

Lehel, Sternstraße 20, 80538 München

Is that the last cozy Jazz bar? To be exact, X-bar isn’t really a jazz bar, but she certainly feels like a bar that is caught in time 70 years ago and traveled here from the other side of the Atlantic. The website of the bar and even more the bar itself embodies the Munich underground feeling. In the (still) young 2000s the music that is played in Xbar is more unconventional, from Rock’Roll to Rockabilly or Jazz, Xbar offers it all and more.

The cozy bar is located in a traditional student neighborhood which today is more known for its high rent prices, rather than its subcultural scene. In Xbar the subcultural tradition of the place is celebrated and “defended” against other influences. Who comes to this red-lighted, musically decorated and propped-up with sofas and armchairs cozy bar doesn’t only feel like traveling back in time, but also into a not very well known and for many long-forgotten Munich.

9.      Flex

Glockenbachviertel, Ringseisstraße 11A, 80337 München

Whoever finds coziness in bars in the presence of Hardrock, Punk or Metal is in exactly the right place in Flex. One characteristic of subcultural spaces is that the destruction or property paragraphs are taken very seriously all the time, this is why, in Flex the walls are covered with stickers and graffiti. It is a perfect past time to thoroughly inspect every sticker and read every graffiti, but of course, you could also play Billiard or Table-Football.

In, or more accurately, in front of Flex you should pay special attention to not making too much noise while smoking outside. The bouncers are all very nice people, but they really have a soft-spot for this issue. Furthermore the charms of this cozy bar, which also applies for many other cozy bars on this list, are that it is a place that many people frequent regularly. The thing is about Flex that is the favorite bar of half Munich’s metal-scene. Maybe it has something to do with the neighborhood? Just 10 minutes away you will find the Café Marat, the favorite bar of half the punk-scene.

10.  Cafe Kosmos

Maxvorstadt, Buttermelcherstraße 6, 80469 München

Café Kosmos, named after the Greek word for “people” and “world”, is exactly that in the Bavarian Munich: A place for worldly people. Confused? Then you haven’t been there, yet, it’s a bar for students mostly. The bar is incredibly tight and, on the weekends, it’s packed to the brim, which doesn’t really make the bar any less cozy. Upstairs, after climbing a metal staircase, there are two rooms, one hallway with tables, and another room with sofas.

Why is Café Kosmos a cozy bar? It is classic, natural, and it can be very quiet during the week, which is the perfect time to befriend yourself with the waiting staff, as a perk for the crowded weekends.

And, have you already decided where to go for your next bar tour? If it’s not the good Munich beer, then you will certainly feel at home in the Stenz Deli Coffee Bar or the Aroma Coffee Bar!