Cubao Expo Bars: A Four-Stop Crawl on Foot

The Cubao Expo bars fit into one four-stop route: wings and a first beer at Fred's Revolucion, craft pints at Cubao X Brewery, records and a drink at Good Vibrations Records, and a last cocktail at INT.Bar. Go from Tuesday to Sunday, start by 6 PM, and no stop is more than about a 2-minute walk from the last.

Why this order

The order follows closing times, not taste.

The dive bar goes first because it may close earlier than the rest. Be there by 6 PM, move on by 7:30, and check its page for tonight's closing time. It also serves food, and a crawl should start with food.

The vinyl bar closes at 10:30 PM, the earliest firm closing time of the four, so it cannot be the last stop. The taproom runs until midnight daily, and the speakeasy shares a space that stays open until 12:30 AM, so those two can absorb a night that runs late.

The route

• 6:00 PM, the dive bar. Fred's Revolucion is at Shop 66, with craft beers and Ho Chi Wings. It is loud, so save the catching up for the next stop. Expect under ₱500 a head. Rappler named it in its 2019 list of LGBTQ+ safe spaces.
• 7:30 PM, the taproom. Cubao X Brewery is an open-air microbrewery taproom on two floors. Order the Kiamoy Sour, the Fairy Pale Ale or the Mt Choffee Milk Stout. There is no kitchen, so bring food in from the neighbours: Ichiban Takoyaki is in the same compound and opens at 3 PM.
• 9:00 PM, the vinyl bar. Good Vibrations Records is a record shop with a listening room and a small bar. It is the slow stretch of the night: one drink, a dig through the crates, and out before it closes at 10:30 PM.
• 10:00 PM, the speakeasy. INT.Bar is behind a photobooth door, and its cocktails are named after films. Tuesdays are movie nights and weekends bring DJ sets. Expect under ₱500 a head.

Take the group photo at the start: the convex mirror by the entrance is where groups line up for a mirror selfie, and everyone is still presentable.

Group size and what to book

This route is written for four to six people. Of the four bars, the taproom is the one that takes big groups.

For a bigger barkada, make the taproom the base for most of the night and treat the other three as side trips in smaller batches. INT.Bar takes reservations, so book the final stop ahead and the crawl has a guaranteed ending.

Money and days

The dive bar and the speakeasy both cost under ₱500 a head. Agree on a round system before the first order so the bill at each stop is one person's problem.

Monday cuts the route in half. The dive bar and the vinyl bar are closed, which leaves the taproom and the speakeasy. Tuesday adds the speakeasy's movie night. The weekend adds DJ sets, and on Fridays and Saturdays the takoyaki stall stays open until 1 AM.

The taproom is open-air, so rain changes that stop. The other three are indoors. The speakeasy is the evening side of a space it shares with EXT.Cafe, so check when the bar side starts if you plan to arrive early.

Pacing, and the friends who are not drinking

Four bars in one night is one drink per stop, with water in between. The stops are about 2 minutes apart, so skipping one costs nothing.

Non-drinkers have two places to wait in the same compound. The Brewman Coffee pours espresso drinks until 11 PM from Tuesday to Sunday and has board games to borrow. Silingan Coffee serves coffee and simple rice meals until 11 PM daily and has no alcohol at all.

Book the ride home before the last round. The compound is on Gen. Romulo Ave, about a 5-minute walk from Ali Mall.

Plan the rest

For the hotel bars and the rooftop outside the compound, read bars in Cubao by type. The last stop has its own page: the Quezon City speakeasy behind a photobooth door. When the crawl ends hungry, late-night food in Cubao lists what is still cooking, and the barkada night out guide shows how the night-out planner handles a group.