Cheap Drinks in Malta: Where the Second One Is Free

Here's what nobody tells you about cheap drinks in Malta. They aren't cheap all evening. They're cheap for a couple of hours, at the right bar, and usually because the second one is free.

I run Last Round, a live map of happy hours across Malta. Every time and deal on it is checked with the bar itself, so this post is built on that, not on a price someone remembers from a holiday years ago. The numbers below update as bars change.

The short version

• Go during happy hour. That's where the cheap drinks are. We list 56 bars that run one.
• Look for a 2-for-1. 30 of those 56 bars, more than half, give you a second drink rather than a cheaper one.
• Bring someone. A 2-for-1 halves the price for two people and saves you nothing on your own.

If you want actual euro prices, I've written that up in how much a drink costs in Malta. The short of it: the cheapest cocktail price a bar publishes on our map works out at €3.75, at Jungle Joy Bar in Gżira.

Where to find cheap drinks, area by area

This is how many bars in each area run a 2-for-1 or a buy-one-get-one at happy hour. Tap an area for every bar there, with its times.

Sliema has the most right now, so that's the easiest place to walk from one cheap round to the next without planning much. For every 2-for-1 on the island in one list, with the exact terms at each bar, see the 2-for-1 cocktails page.

Cheap drinks later in the evening

The most common finishing time for a happy hour here is 19:00, which catches a lot of people out. If you're eating first or heading out late, these bars run a 2-for-1 that goes past 9pm:

• Punto Bar & Dine in Gżira, until midnight
• Piccolo Padre in Sliema, until 23:00
• Surfside in Sliema, until midnight (Sundays only)

There's also a list of every happy hour that runs past 8pm, 2-for-1 or not.

Read the small print

"2-for-1" doesn't mean the same thing everywhere. Some bars mean any two cocktails. Some mean the same drink twice. Some mean a second one for a euro, or two for a set price. The wording each bar gave us is on its page, so check it before you order two different drinks and pay for both.

Bars people call cheap

I can't rank bars by price, because most of them don't publish one. What I can tell you is which bars Google rates as inexpensive, or where reviewers keep mentioning the prices:

• Street Fellows Pub in St Julian's, a young pub built around its pool tables
• The Hatter Irish Pub in Gżira, with karaoke and a quiz night
• Vilhena Band Club in Floriana, an old-school bar where regulars book ahead in season
• The Room by Jungle Joy in St Julian's, where reviewers call the prices fair
• The Crew Cafe Bar in Gżira, where reviewers say the prices are unusual for the area

Cheap drinks right now

If you're reading this on a night out, what's on tonight shows every happy hour running now and starting soon, and happy hour near me sorts them by how far you'd walk.

Drink responsibly, and be nice to the bar staff. They're the ones pouring the second one.