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Rheinfelder Bierhaus
It's all about beer and friends here. This warm, cheap and unpretentious beerhall is considered one of the best in Zürich despite the fact that noise levels can reach ear-splitting decibels. The food is tasty and good value, particularly the all-day menus which usually include a soup dish. Chug-a-lug!
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Riff Raff
Another one of Zürich's cinema-cum-bar happenings, it seems having a drink beneath the crisp dancing lights of a movie projection is the acme of style in Zürich these days. No one can really say if the movie takes precedence over socialising or vice versa, either way the silver screen gets silhouetted with slick, shiraz sippers.
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Rote Fabrik
This is a great venue for alternative arts and is a long standing Zürich institution. Truly representative of the full postmodern media/arts spectrum, it features concerts most nights ranging from rock and jazz to avant-garde, as well as original-language films, theatre, dance, and a bar and restaurant.
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Sphéres
Didn't finish Harry Potter on the plane over? Now your friends won't let you read it because they want to party? Well, here's the joint you've been looking for. Sphéres is a bookshop/cafe during the day, then at night, the litterati become the glitterati and the bookworm becomes the tequila worm.
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Supermarket
Zürich's number one club is smaller than the name suggests, but boasts three cosy lounge bars around the dance floor, a covered back courtyard and an interesting roster of DJs playing house music.
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Tonhalle
An opulent venue used by Zürich's orchestra and chamber orchestra, Tonhalle is patronised by the city's elite.
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Widder Bar
Whether you're reclining on a padded red velvet banquette or propping up the polished wood bar, this is the smoothest place to hear jazz in the city. It's also one of the oldest - jazz luminaries have been blowing their stacks at the Widder Bar before the hotel it's now attached to was even thought of.
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Wings
When Swissair went bankrupt in 2001, some ex-employees set up this lounge bar using the airline's cutlery, crockery and even a few aeroplane seats. Given a few Hawaiian additions, it's Barry Manilow meets Wallpaper* magazine.
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Wings Airline Bar & Lounge
It caused a major scandal when former national airline SwissAir went bust in 2001, but some ex-pilots and cabin crew grabbed the initiative and kitted out this lounge bar with cutlery, crockery and even a few aeroplane seats bought at the bankruptcy auction - adding a few kitsch Hawaiian touches.
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Wüste Bar
One of our top choices, this small and groovy spot underneath the Hotel Otter has plush red seats and a cowhide bar. There's sometimes live music.
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X-tra Limmathaus
X-tra Limmathaus is a bar/lounge/restaurant/club complex that attracts a relaxed 20-something crowd with everything from nu-metal bands to UK garage tunes, via salsa, 80s and dance-floor jazz. You can let all your alter egos out to play on the dance floor here.
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Xenix Filmclub
A cinema sitting alongside a bar and disco (mostly funk, house, techno).
