Where to Drink in Lecce: 5 Places We Recommend

Lecce works particularly well when the evening is not over-planned. The historic centre is compact, many venues naturally exist both indoors and out, and a drink often becomes simply the starting point for everything that follows. We have chosen five places because they offer five different experiences: Quanto Basta when you want cocktails to take centre stage, Vineria La Mara when you prefer wine and a quieter pace, Sanlù when the evening calls for beer, music and less formality, Saloon Keeper 1933 when you want to step into a place with a very distinct identity, and La Tipografia when you are looking for something more complete, combining wine, cocktails and food. This is not a ranking: these are five answers to five different kinds of evening.

QUANTO BASTA Phone: +39 347 008 3176 Area: historic centre Address: Via Marco Basseo 38, 73100 Lecce Quanto Basta is the place we would choose when the cocktail should be at the centre of the evening without making the experience feel rigid. The bar has a strong cocktail-driven identity, and its relationship with the street is part of the experience: you drink inside, outside, between the counter and the movement of the historic centre. The mixology is carefully considered, while the atmosphere remains immediate and social. We would keep it mainly for the beginning of the evening, when you want to order well but do not yet know where the night will take you: it is one of those places where you arrive for one drink and realise an hour later that the evening has already begun.

VINERIA LA MARA Phone: +39 353 398 0804 Area: historic centre — Santa Chiara Address: Via degli Ammirati 8, 73100 Lecce Vineria La Mara sits almost directly within Darte’s geography in the city: it is on Via degli Ammirati, only a few steps from MUST. We would choose it when you want a drink after an exhibition without immediately stepping into the more nocturnal energy of a cocktail bar. Wine is the main reference point and the pace is quieter, making it perfect for a conversation that may last longer than expected. This is also why it works well without much planning: you leave the museum, sit down for a glass and decide only later whether this is simply a pause or the beginning of the evening.

SANLÙ Phone: +39 388 793 3961 Area: historic centre — Via Paladini Address: Via Guglielmo Paladini 34, 73100 Lecce Sanlù belongs in this guide because it completely changes the rhythm of the other four places. It is first and foremost a beer bar in the historic centre, active since 2012, and its identity is also shaped by music, events and a decidedly more informal atmosphere. We would not go there looking for the perfect cocktail or a bottle to analyse: we would go when you want a beer, want to be around people and prefer the evening to have fewer rules. Via Paladini is already one of the livelier streets in the centre, and Sanlù works precisely within that energy. This is the place we would choose when the exhibition is over, dinner is over too, and nobody is quite ready to go home.

SALOON KEEPER 1933 Phone: +39 327 883 0236 Area: historic centre — Chiesa Greca Address: Piazzetta Chiesa Greca 16, 73100 Lecce Saloon Keeper is the place we would most naturally save for after dinner. Its identity openly draws on speakeasy culture and classic cocktails, with a darker and more intimate atmosphere than most venues in the historic centre. The contrast is what makes it interesting: outside, you have Lecce stone, small squares and Baroque architecture; a few steps later, you enter a place built around a completely different visual world. If Quanto Basta works well at the beginning of the evening, we see Saloon Keeper as the place for the final drink, when you want the night to have one more chapter before it ends.

LA TIPOGRAFIA Phone: +39 328 898 2815 Area: historic centre — Santa Chiara / Roman Theatre Address: Via degli Ammirati 14, 73100 Lecce La Tipografia is the most complete of the five addresses because it does not clearly separate drinking from eating. It occupies the spaces of a former printing house and now operates as a restaurant, wine bar and cocktail bar, with a carefully selected wine list and a structured drinks programme. It is also only a few steps from MUST, so it fits naturally into the rhythm of the days around Darte. We would choose it when you want somewhere where you do not need to decide immediately how long the evening will last: you can begin with a glass of wine or a cocktail, add something to eat and stay without having to move elsewhere. It is the most suitable option when you want a considered setting without necessarily making the evening formal.

If you want to begin the evening with a cocktail, choose Quanto Basta. If you are leaving MUST and want a glass of wine at a quieter pace, choose Vineria La Mara. If you want beer, music and an evening without too much planning, choose Sanlù. If you have already had dinner and want one final drink somewhere with a very distinct identity, choose Saloon Keeper 1933. If, instead, you want to sit down once and allow aperitivo, drinks and something to eat to gradually become the same evening, choose La Tipografia. You could visit all five during the same stay without ever feeling as though you were repeating the same experience, which is exactly why these five work well together.

Opening hours, events, drink lists, wine and beer selections and booking arrangements may change. Quanto Basta, Saloon Keeper, Sanlù and La Tipografia naturally work well into the later part of the evening, while Vineria La Mara has a pace particularly suited to aperitivo as well. Before heading out, always check the venue’s official profile or website, especially if you are interested in a specific event or want to make sure you will find a table. The practical information in this guide was verified in August 2026.

Lecce at night does not need a complicated itinerary. It can begin with a cocktail in the street, continue with a shared bottle after an exhibition, turn into a beer on Via Paladini, move into a speakeasy or become a long evening built around wine, cocktails and food. These five addresses are not here to tell you where you have to go: they are here to give you five points from which to let the evening change direction. Everything else in central Lecce is close enough to decide while walking.