EBG Rating: 7.8/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Drinks selection is a halfway house between mainstream and alternative. Well stocked back bar, and taps with some Romanian quasi-craft.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Long extended courtyard space at the entrance with some covered seating during the winter. Inside, there’s a very pleasant space of exposed wood beams and fairylights, with musical instruments in the corners.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Well-executed on a bigger budget, pleasant and enjoyable inside or out. Comes alive further during events and at peak points.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Food, snacks, instruments, live events, outdoor seating.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Typical Bucharest prices but aiming just above mid-level.

Description:
One of the most typical examples of Bucharest’s garden bar scene. The area to the east of the old town and Piata Romana is studded with old mansion houses whose leafy courtyards and abandoned interiors are ripe for conversion to alternative-feeling hangout spots.

Olari is a very typical example, set in Bucharest’s Armenian quarter.

While some veer towards alternative or at least eclectic, Olari has a bit of a balance. More money has been spent which shows in the upkeep of the courtyard and its interior.

Inside, there’s a very pleasant space of exposed wood beams and fairylights, with musical instruments in the corners.

Even the drinks selection is a halfway house between mainstream and alternative showing they’ve paid attention to where they’re pitching this.

The reality is, the venue just works, and works well too. You could visit throughout the year given the pleasant pub interior and leafy courtyard for summer, whether for food, or music or drinks and socialising.

It also feels relatively detached from the hustle and bustle of central Bucharest and a world away from the trash in the old town.

(Added March 2026)