The best bars and cafés Yerevan

Opened in 2011, ideally located a stone's throw from the Place de l'Opéra, at the corner of Toumanian and Lazar Parpetsi streets, in a lively and rather young district, this French brasserie-style establishment offers a wide range of snacks if you have a small or not so small hunger and of course all kinds of drinks and cocktails presented with taste and care for hospitality. Its shaded and nicely arranged terrace allows you to be in a quiet place in summer, while enjoying the animation of the district and the show of the street

Initially created in the prestigious Rue Abovian, it has moved to the no less prestigious Opéra district where it is once again distilling the charm of the Parisian terraces in the heart of the Armenian capital. A stopover is essential on the terrace as well as inside, tastefully decorated, where you can order in French to taste excellent Armenian (not to say Turkish!) or espresso coffee and all types of drinks, which you can possibly share with the French-speaking people who frequent the place.

Reading a book while sipping coffee... This is the concept, which has taken hold in Yerevan, that this establishment, where earthly foods are close to spiritual foods, offers you: books, films, records and handicrafts. In a cosy decor of natural wood, you can read the foreign press, while tasting simple and tasty, refined dishes or drinking your tea. The place also hosts monthly exhibitions of painters, photographers and sculptors.

Situated in the greenery of the circular boulevard, near the Opera House, it remains one of Yerevan's "must". Also called by its Russian name Paplovok ("sailboat"), for the architecture of the place, "anchored" on the edge of a vast basin, it was already very popular in the Soviet era, by intellectuals, artists, even dissidents and ... enlightened apparatchiks. The trendy and gilded youth meet there, to meet there in the evening especially around a drink to the sound of a jazz band. The terraces are crowded and you have to wait your turn, or even reserve.

As the sign suggests, the establishment is dedicated to beer. Armenian of course, like kilikia or kotayk, but also Irish and many other beers, but also alcohols, in a Celtic atmosphere, guaranteed by the expat clientele who frequent this warm place. Beer and pub also means football, and when the football fans don't meet on match nights in this pub, concerts can be organised, or DJ's can play on the decks to ensure the musical atmosphere.

You had to dare to claim such a sign. This establishment, recently installed in the basement of a shopping mall near the Opera, did so, and justifies it with a decor dedicated to the painter and more generally to art. Indeed, the place hosts painting and photography exhibitions as well as musical events, to the sound of which one can consume all sorts of drinks and cocktails and lightly eat mezze and other tapas. All of this in an atmosphere that makes you feel like a club after midnight

Located between the Cascade and the Hrazdan Gorge, in a relatively remote area, the Process nevertheless attracts the golden youth or the bobos of the Armenian capital who meet there in a tavern atmosphere, brought up to the standards of modern design, with a rather elegant decor. Here you can dine on some Armenian and European specialties in a warm atmosphere, especially when beer and wine, which the house specializes in, attract customers to the basement, where music helps to warm the atmosphere.

Armenia prides itself on being the country of wine, but a few years ago wine bars were still rare, if not non-existent, as "gognak" or brandy had a monopoly on Armenian spirits. In Vino opened the way in 2013, with a rich cellar of 600 wines from different countries, with France at the forefront and Armenia of course not forgotten. They can be tasted here, accompanied by Italian delicatessen and French cheeses, in a neutral décor and furnishings reminiscent of Parisian bistros

A relatively recent address on a very lively street, which already has many signs. The huge and nicely furnished establishment, which has an impressive bar, specializes in the most original and inventive cocktails. In a decor of brick and wood, without being a brick-and-brac, a warm and friendly atmosphere is created around the tables where fish dishes in particular are served for dinner, and which becomes downright torrid when bands perform there; but the music is always there.

You should not hesitate to push the coarse door of this building south of the Place of the Republic to discover this place still confidential and to make a stop there. Located in a beautiful tree-lined courtyard, it is accessed after a stole of steps from a wooden staircase to this literary café, a popular concept in Erevan. Created in 2016 by photographer Karen Mirzoyan, winner of numerous photojournalism awards, this space was originally dedicated to photography; You can now sip a glass and taste some delicacies while visiting the library or admiring the artworks displayed there. 

Behind a beautiful pink facade hemmed with grey stones on the prestigious Abovian Street, a large barrel at the entrance of the establishment announces the colour. Although it is not located in the area of the wine bars, on the side of the Opera Square and Sarian Street, Mamoor has a rich wine cellar, which you can taste before you sit down to dinner. The speciality menu is on a par with the wine list, and a little less salty. Beautifully presented dishes and cocktails can be enjoyed on the terrace.

Opened relatively recently, this establishment is certainly not located in the rue Sarian, the artery of the capital dedicated to wine bars, but nevertheless offers very good Armenian wines, especially Armenian, but also other grape varieties, including French. They can be tasted for the simple pleasure - no doubt new to you - of tasting Armenian wines, or accompanied by a simple platter of local or more western delicatessen meats, or served at the table to accompany the menu of Armenian and European specialties served there.

It is located in one of the most lively streets of the Cascade district, with many cafes and bars, frequented by all the youth of the capital. This also young establishment offers in all modesty, but in a nicely modern decor, with a few tables to taste on the spot while consulting its computer, or to take away, a wide range of sandwiches and other zakouski prepared with guaranteed organic products of the soil and made on the spot cleanly in front of the customers. And this, with a smile, which does not spoil anything

One of the many wine bars that settled on Sarian Street. You can enjoy very good wines in an authentic and intimate décor, between parquet floors and wooded paneling. A large balcony awaits guests who can also taste Armenian and other culinary specialties served in the Tapastan restaurant to accompany their wine. 

This café also presents itself as a tea room, a rather rare establishment in Yerevan, all the more so as this city, which was once part of the Persian Empire, had a number of "tchaîkhana", those tea houses that can be found throughout the East and particularly in the countries of Central Asia. In any case, the establishment is not part of this tradition, given its minimalist decor which does not evoke the East, and is rather English style, offering a wide range of teas among other drinks and some dishes and sandwiches.

A new, very busy place in the trendy Cascade district. Its shady terrace occupies the entire esplanade between the lower Cascade and the Place de France, at the foot of the Opera. In other words, it can welcome the world, especially children, who are entitled to a games area with slides, swings, sandbox and paint studio on the grass, and at morning especially for them on Saturday and Sunday. The hotel is a little less family-friendly in the evening, since the hotel is open until 2 a. m., with musical shows to provide entertainment. Often crowded, it often takes a dozen minutes for a coffee, and much more for seafood dishes and Japanese specialties on the map. 

A club such as we did more at one time in Yerevan, dedicated to jazz, as its sign points out, and whose owner, Levon Malkhazian, himself a pianist, is a fan. The biggest names in Armenian jazz, such as the now famous Armenian Navy band, have performed in this club, where it is also possible to eat mezze or other Armenian or international dishes. Atmosphere guaranteed... and not only to the sound of jazz, until very late at night when the clientele, often numerous, is late to go to bed!

In the luxurious and hushed decor of the lounges of the Marriott Hotel, on Republic Square... You will find the atmosphere of a Viennese café, in the broadest sense of the term, since it serves, with elegance and distinction, some twenty different types of coffee accompanied by as many or more varieties of Viennese pastries, Viennese pastries - like black forest - and international pastries. Ideal for business meetings, or romantic dates later in the evening, in an international atmosphere that will take you away from the hustle and bustle of Yerevan.

This café in the foliage of the Opera esplanade is distinguished by its terrace, the largest, which has a "VIP" square that attracts great success. Fast food, ice creams and various desserts are on the menu of this establishment, which is available in its closed version, or "indoor" under the same name "Djazve" (the container in which Armenian coffee is prepared) in other parts of Yerevan. A coffee therefore, without ambition, but an address to start the day or end it in a cool place with a certain comfort.

This cafe with a cosy, rather lounge-like atmosphere and designer décor with large bay windows, which has another sign on Abovian Street (corner of Sayat Nova Street), is very popular with the youth of Yerevan, who can enjoy a light meal there and still find a wide selection of wine drinks and other cocktails to be sipped in the comfort of an armchair, with a view of the street on the first floor. Hot chocolate is curiously the speciality, so thick that one regrets the absence of churros, compensated by other pastries.