Zadar Cocktail Bars

Cocktails in Zadar are tied to the view. The bars that mix them properly are on the peninsula and along the waterfront, and they price the hour before sunset accordingly, because that is when every table facing the channel is taken. Croatian bartending has caught up over the last decade, so a list here will run past the standards into drinks built on rakija, local herbs and Maraschino, the cherry liqueur the city has distilled since the eighteenth century.

Expect to pay two to three times what a beer costs, and expect service to slow to a crawl in the sunset rush; a table taken at seven is a table held until nine. The season shapes the trade heavily, with several places open only from May to October and the survivors moving inside for the winter, when the bura makes a waterfront terrace an act of endurance.