There are two places I frequent when drinking in Odessa, Ukraine.
- Is Friends and Beer or Друзья и Пиво (Russian).
- Is Oрех. That’s in Russian. It’s not OH-Pex. It’s Oh-Recks. Or, “Nut”.
Friends and Beer has a great outside location shaded from the hot summer sun. They brew some of their own beer (or their parent company does) and it’s not too bad. Of course there is normally some Czech beer on the menu as well. Figure about $1.15 for beer. The food menu is good. Not great. But good. Typical bar food. What is good is that you can also order pizza from their sister Italian restaurant around the corner! For ambiance and relaxed “pub” atmosphere, this is number one on my list. Google Maps
Opex has no outdoor patio. In fact, its buried deep under ground. Some people are weirded-out by the fact that they don’t sweep up the peanut hulls folks throw on the ground! How do they not have giant rats?
But… I love the “dive bar” atmosphere. They also have dive bar prices. You can still get a sub-dollar beer here. About $.90 a pint, or more accurately, “ноль пять” (nul pyet). A half liter. You can order stinky fish snacks and gooey prawns/shrimp. And… BTW… the proper local way to eat there very small shrimp is with the shells and all. Yep. Not for me. Google Maps
Now you can drink like a local. Both places normally have people who speak enough English to get you drunk. Both have English menus. Enjoy!