Singapore has always had a relationship with the bar. From the colonial-era Raffles Long Bar — home of the Singapore Sling — to the modern craft cocktail movement reshaping neighbourhoods like Bugis and Tanjong Pagar, the city’s drinking culture has never stood still.
From Singapore Sling to Craft Cocktail
For most of the 20th century, Singapore’s bar culture was defined by hotel bars and international hotel chains. Drinking out meant the Long Bar, the cocktail lounge of a five-star property, or a hawker centre Tiger Beer.
Then, in the early 2000s, things started to shift. Boutique bars began opening in shophouses across Tanjong Pagar, Chinatown, and eventually Bugis. Bartenders started treating cocktail-making as a craft rather than a service function. Singapore drinkers, increasingly exposed to global bar culture through travel and social media, started demanding more.
The Rise of the Neighbourhood Bar
Today, the most interesting part of Singapore’s bar scene isn’t the world-ranking cocktail destinations — it’s the neighbourhood bars. Places like Joo Bar in Bugis represent a shift away from the spectacle of high-concept, award-chasing venues toward something more sustainable: bars people actually return to because they like being there.
These bars succeed because they understand their regulars. They’re not trying to be the best bar in Asia. They’re trying to be the best bar in the neighbourhood — and that’s a much more honest ambition.
Where We Fit In
Joo Bar has been part of Bugis for long enough to have watched this evolution happen in real time. We opened when the neighbourhood was still finding its identity as a nightlife destination, and we’ve been part of its character ever since.
We’re still here, still pouring, and still part of the neighbourhood’s character. Come in and see us.
