With sultry cocktail clubs, laidback breweries and waterfront haunts, Naples and nearby Marco Island offer plenty of ways to imbibe.
LessLocated in East Naples’ Bayshore Arts District, Ankrolab has all the makings of a great modern brewery: eco-friendly, industrial design; breezy, indoor-outdoor setup with garage doors that open to the leafy beer garden; and a robust, diverse beer list. The vibe is young and artsy, with murals adorning the walls, and there’s always a food truck or two parked outside to fuel the crowds, who congregate here for the constant rotation of live music and other events.
Like a good Italian restaurant, stylish Barbatella takes its wine seriously. The more than 100 vinos poured by the glass are perfect to pair with the wood-fired pizzas, decadent pastas and grilled standouts from land and sea. As for cocktails, the menu is inventive and features amaros in refreshing ways, like with the Barbatini, made with citrus vodka, limoncello, basil, lemon and prosecco. If you love dinner and a show, inquire about the Opera Nights, when sopranos perform.
Located in the middle of Fifth Avenue South, the brainchild of star restaurateur Vincenzo Betulia is a standard-bearer for artfully crafted cocktails in Naples. (So much so that the team recently debuted a second location for Bar Tulia in North Naples at the Mercato shopping district.) With its dimly lit, narrow space, the bar is ideal for date night or a solo drink. Feel the urge to nibble? The assortment of charcuterie boards, wood-fired pizzas and highbrow bar food is sure to satisfy.
Located a few blocks from the Naples Pier, this indoor-outdoor, plant-filled gastropub serves some of the area’s freshest cocktails. The 10-drink cocktail menu frequently changes, with plenty of fun, buzzy concoctions, like The Bevy Punch. For spirit-forward drinkers, the Woodford barrel-aged Manhattan is an exercise in patience: The cocktail rests in a small oak barrel for 12 days and the extended aging helps the flavors meld, making it worth the wait.
In 2020, in a space adjacent to Campiello, restaurateur Richard D’Amico added live entertainment with the restaurant-within-a-restaurant The Club Room at Campiello. The lounge carries on its parent restaurant’s Italian swagger with its menu and vibe. “We imagined this space as a melodic jazz-era oasis,” D’Amico says. After dinner, servers roll out the Cart del Salone, stocked with top-shelf spirits and liqueurs, for an elegant finale. Note: The Club Room closes for the summer.
Opened by trustees of the illustrious Naples Winter Wine Festival wine auction, this bistro has the look and feel of an underground wine cave and access to handpicked vintages sold at the owners’ nearby bottle shop. Vino may be the calling card, but the thoughtfully composed cocktails, locally informed beer list, hearty French and Italian-focused dinner menu, and late-night snacks are equal draws.
A series of galvanized steel sheets provide shade over the wraparound bar, overlooking the water at this food truck park. Take away the food, and the bar is still a draw from noon until about 10pm every day. Wine and higher-end spirits match any bar downtown, and “build your own buckets” are a hoot—five picks of either imported beer, craft suds or splits. Add in game-day-colored punches, live music and some flat screens, and you have the definition of fun in the sun.
During the Celebrity Startender Series at Dorona, local luminaries pour drinks behind the bar, with proceeds benefitting a local charity. That’s the kind of creativity and heart that drives all of Ingrid and Fabrizio Aielli’s restaurants, including this one, and it’s why Dorona is a local favorite for raising a glass. The restaurant is named after an Italian wine grape, so you can be sure the vino selection is expertly curated and ample.
Sushi and small plates reign supreme at this stellar restaurant tucked inside the Ritz Carlton, Naples. Dusk is known, in part, for its gorgeous and sultry decor, especially as the sun hits the horizon and an amber glow sweeps over the restaurant. Guests obsess over a robust selection of signature cocktails (perhaps best enjoyed on Dusk’s private terrace).
Even though it’s about a mile from the beach and in Mercato, one of Naples’ busiest shopping districts, The Hampton Social feels as if it’s steps from the water, with its white-washed dining room, nautical accents and “rosé all day” vibe. While there are plenty of beachy and zero-proof cocktails, blush wine is the libation of choice. There are nearly 20 bottles on offer, plus a special bottle of the day and the frosty blended frosé.