Trailblazing Super Whatnot is a funky, industrial laneway space, with a mezzanine floor and sunken lounge. Drinks: bottled boutique Australian beers and cocktails (try the authoritarian Border Control). Food: American-inspired bar snacks (hot dogs, mini burritos, nachos). Tunes: vinyl DJs Thursday to Saturday spinning funk, soul and hip hop; regular live acoustic acts. Winning combo!

A chilled-out spot for an afternoon ale, down by the brown Brisbane River at the base of the Eagle St Pier complex. Decked-out like a boat shed, with coiled ropes, white-painted timber and woody booths, the vibe is casual, breezy and free-flowing (like the river itself). Good food too.

A stylish new speakeasy showcasing Nant whisky – super-duper single malt from Tasmania's central highlands. Also on offer are bourbons, ryes and Prohibition-style gins: taste a few too many, then wobble into the City Botanic Gardens to look for bats. Leather couches, high ceilings, affable bar staff and regular live music.

This 1928-built boozer has experienced a lot of reincarnations over the years, the latest one involving craft beer, pressed-tin wall panels, exposed red brickwork and killer steak sandwiches. Expect plenty of backpackers on the loose from the hostel upstairs.

Beneath the bridge at Kangaroo Point, this beautiful 1886 pub and beer garden is perfect for a pint after a long day exploring. Live jazz on Sundays (from 3pm); lots of different drinking and eating areas.

The coolest place for a beer in South Bank, hands down. Laid-back, beardy bar staff pour craft beers and organic ciders, with lots of Danish, American and a single Kiwi offering in the taps. Bar snacks are a hit too: pork-belly burgers, baked discs of Camembert and fish-stick butties.

Wow! Fabulously eccentric A&C occupies two old weatherboard houses away from the main Valley action. Inside, fluoro-clad ditch diggers, tattooed lesbians, suits and surfies roam between the tiki bar, rooftop terrace, cafe area and lounge rooms checking out the interior design: chandeliers, skeletons, surfboards, old hi-fi equipment… It's weird, and very wonderful.

Whisky is the flavour of the month in Brisbane (or maybe the year), with a crop of whisky-wizened bars popping up around town. This one is a good 'un, with cherry-red chesterfields, gilded walls, a '90s-heavy playlist and an ace beer (or rather, whisky) garden.

The exposed-brick walls, gilded mirrors, booths and foot-worn floorboards at this long, narrow bar bring a touch of substance to the Valley fray. The cocktails and wine list are top-notch (and priced accordingly), and there’s live jazz/dub Tuesday to Thursday. DJs spin on weekends.

Amber hues, leather sofas, ottomans, glowing chandeliers, fabric-covered lanterns… It’s all rather glamorously Moroccan here (with a touch of that kooky cantina from Star Wars). Live music on Thursdays (jazz, funk, rockabilly) and DJs on weekends.

Like stepping into a surreal cloud forest, this multilevel club has a huge plant-filled lobby with a retractable glass roof, vast chandeliers and wrought-iron birdcagelike nooks. Even if you’re not a clubber, peek through the windows during the day: the interior design is astonishing!

Oh hello! Fancy seeing you here. This convivial club is perfect if you like the idea of clubbing but find the reality a bit deflating. It’s unpretentious (you can wear a T-shirt), there’s a great selection of craft beers, and the cool kids here don’t think too highly of themselves.

Queue up for one of Brisbane’s biggest and best clubs. The music here is phenomenal, pumping through four levels with myriad dance floors, bars, funky themed booths and elite DJs from home and away. The 'Fluffy' gay dance party happens on Sundays.

Feel like swinging a hip? This bedeviled, black-painted holy house on a Valley sidestreet is home to the Magic City Superclub, an unfettered dance fest held on Friday and Saturday nights.

Five rooms + seven bars + three chill-out areas + hard house/electro/retro/techno beats = the perfect storm for dance junkies. It’s big with the gay and lesbian crowd, with regular drag performances.

At the arts-loving Brisbane Powerhouse, this snappy upstairs bar/restaurant has an enormous balcony with chunky timber tables overlooking the river – a mighty fine vantage point any time of day. There's a devastatingly good wine list and marvellous food.

A sophisticated affair, Gertie’s always seems to have groups of good-looking city girls sipping cocktails inside the fold-back windows. Even without the eye-candy, Gertie's – moodily lit, with old soul on the stereo and retro photos on the walls – is a great place for a low-key drink, or a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine.

This lofty old red-brick warehouse on a quiet New Farm backstreet has been reborn as an effervescent beer barn, with 60-plus craft beers available, a daily selection of which flows through eight taps. Super bar food too (Peking duck pancakes) and weekend breakfasts (beer, anyone?).

Interesting beer, interesting people, interesting place: welcome to Archive, a temple of beer with many a fine frothy on tap (try the Holgate Cowboy Sour Porter). Check the bar made of books! Oh, and the food’s good, too (steaks, mussels, pasta). Upstairs is Loft West End ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.loftwestend.com; 100 Boundary St, West End; h4pm-late Wed-Sat), a sassy cocktail bar and food room.

This mod-industrial shopfront conversion is a real locals’ hang-out, with hipsters, cheese boards, Morrissey on the turntable, DJs and live acoustic troubadours. The Blackstar mocha stout (caffeine courtesy of the local roaster) will cheer up your rainy river afternoon.

Sink into the lush furniture and stare up at the macabre doll-head chandeliers at this exotic Asian lounge bar, with mellow beats, mood lighting and an open frontage to Boundary St. Is this what a real opium den looks like?

Remember those two cynical old critics from The Muppet Show? They leer down from a painting above the fireplace at this atmospheric booze room, which has given the otherwise trashy Caxton St a much-needed lift. Expect old floorboards, craft beers, cocktails, Scotch appreciation sessions and good conversation.

Brisbane’s old police barracks have been converted into a complex of quality bars and eateries, the pick of which is cool Cabiria. It’s a skinny, dimly lit, moody room with big mirrors and shimmering racks of booze (35 different tequilas!). Awesome New York–style sandwiches, too.

The chalkboard out the front of this cool cafe-bar grabbed our attention: 'We serve beer and whiskey, because no great story ever started with a salad'. The food here is terrific too (and terrifically calorific: try the confit duck nachos or pork-belly fries). Live acoustic music Sunday afternoons.

Tucked underneath the bigger, flashier Iceworks bar, Dowse Bar is an intimate, retro-quirky booze room that brings a bit of bearded student/hipster vibe to Paddington. Live acoustic acts croon to the crowd, who sit on old couches among wacky lamps and murals.