EBG Rating: 8.1/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Rum-specialists with a good cocktail selection, but with a few decent beers too including Pilsner Urquell. A well stocked back bar.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Pirate themed but not over the top. Well-lit small bar with low-slung seating by the entrance and bar area to the rear. Colourful.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
An atmospheric, friendly and fun bar with a distinctive personality and a vibe that invites loyalty and repeat visits.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️
Snacks?

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Decent but not outstanding prices. Generally in line with the area.

Description:
Set on the North end of St Pauli, Tortuga is the ideal bar for an area where the scuzz and squalor of the Reeperbahn eases and becomes, if not exactly Scandinavia, then more fun, less excessive, Bohemian without the corporate slickness that accompanies bars that buy all their décor from the same place.

A pirate-theme is appropriate given the district, and is applied without choking you with cargo nets and yo-ho-ho bollocks.

They just get it right. You enter – the lighting is good, the mood is good, the soundtrack is good and at the right volume. Staff do the business, it’s the type of place you can get a conversation going at the bar or take friends to.

Drinks wise, this is a late bar that’s well equipped, specialising in rum and rum-based cocktails but covering other bases pretty well considering, including beer, with Pilsner Urquell on draft representing a dramatic improvement on the typical options around this district.

Closure on Sunday and Monday is a disappointment – these days are cursed in North Germany if you’re travelling around hoping for nightlife, and even in St Pauli, famous for partying 24 hours a day, you can’t get a drink in half their bars on Sundays and Mondays. Still, it’s not like that’s the fault of this specific business, more a wider issue.

Tortuga should definitely be at the front end of venues to visit in St Pauli.

(Added August 2025)