Image by Tiki Room

You feel a whole mixture of excitement, curiosity and the slight need for a wee as you walk down the iron staircase of the average run-of-the-mill restaurant (that serves portions too small on plates too large) and enter the bar with bamboo covered walls, Tiki heads and bartenders in Hawaiian shirts. “Aloha!” you say, catching your balance after tripping on the last step.

The Tiki Room is located in the basement of Mellow, a slightly upscale restaurant located in St. Eriksplan. The bar serves up drinks inspired by Polynesian culture and are served in a Shrunken Skull. If you’re in the party mood you can order HAWAI’IAN LANAI (LAVA BOWL) which is made for 2-3 people to share. It’s served in a large bowl with Tiki heads surrounding it and a volcano in the middle with a flaming shot of sambuca. A must try!

The bar has the Polynesian theme running through everything. Retro tv, 50′s rock, red leather chairs and diner-esqeue sitting booths to through you back in time. The cocktails are great and the bartenders super friendly and can make you anything you want even if its not on the menu. Just tell them what sorta flavors you’re jonesin’ and consider it done.

Definitely one of my most unique find here in Stockholm city.

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The Tiki Room | Bars, Music
Birkagatan 10 | Vasastan | +468331555
Mon – Sat 16:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Papercut Shop

On a quiet street, parallel to the busy traffic on Hornsgatan lies a few hip boutiques, one of them being Papercut. What you notice straight away is how spacious and open the place is and the wall covered with fashion magazines of all kinds and from all over the world from floor to ceiling.

It’s an awesome place to come browse and flip through books that aren’t sold in the huge book stores like Akademi Bokhandlen. At Papercut it’s not niched to a particular kind of genre, the books here range from cook books, to autobiographies, novels, fashion and art.

In addition to books and magazines, they have have a selection of music CD’s, DVD’s and movies. It’s definitely worth a swing by to check out what you can find. If you come out empty handed, walk a few meters along the street and you’ll find three small fashion boutiques catering to both men and women. Make sure to check out Nitty Gritty, a mens boutique/salon where you can find sportswear brands, indie labels and Swedish designers.

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Papercut | Art & culture, Music, Shopping
Krukmakargatan 24 | Södermalm | +468133574
Mon – Fri 11:00 – 18:30, Sat 11:00 – 17:00, Sun 12:00 – 16:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Mona Sedghi

Obaren is a great place to come to chill with a few friends and listen to a good live band. It’s pretty unique and special in the fact that its actually located right at the back of one of Stockholm’s most famous and swankiest restaurants called Sturehof (check Anna’s Sturehof article), where they serve oysters and lobsters which you wash down with a bottle of Bolli… you get the idea.

Obaren is best described as a mullet: as it’s business in the front and party in the back. It’s got a great chilled out vibe and the people who frequent this place is quite different from the clientele who dine at Sturehof. I would say its a younger crowd, creative professionals and those who would best identify with the indie/alternative scene.

Music is a huge focus at Obaren and you’ll always hear something different each time you come in. Hip hop, 80′s new wave and if you pressure them enough…some light yodeling is possible too. Its a great place to come listen to some local or international acts and meet some of Stockholm’s best looking locals as well.

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Obaren | Bars, Music
Stureplan 2 | Östermalm | +4684405730
Sat – Thu 19:00 – 02:00, Fri 17:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

You feel like doing something, seeing something, feel a bit cultural? Kulturhuset is the place to get inspired or just to wander around. There’s always something going on for everyone!

The bottom floor welcomes you with a café and nice library with lots of comfy sofas, here you can hang for hours.

This place really makes me happy, the exhibitions are cheap or for free and they always have interesting activities going on. They have several exhibitions, theatres, a cinema, cafés, music performances, an impressive library with lots of art-books and newspapers from all over the world, an unique library for comics, a large imaginative place for children, a creative place for teenagers called LAVA, they arrange meetings with writers and much more…

This is a big bubbling place that wants everyone to get inspired, to think for themselves and to share their big and small thoughts with each other; or just to sit down, play some chess and drink coffee.

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Kulturhuset | Art & culture, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Music, Theaters
Sergels torg | City/Norrmalm | +46850831508
Check the website for opening times

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

Saturday night is Soul night and has been for pretty much 20 years now.

The atmosphere at Fasching’s Club Soul stands out from most clubs in Stockholm. It’s like going back in time entering a beautiful old theatre where the floor is smacked with dancing people. Yeah, people dance like crazy here.

People are not here to get drunk or to flirt (okay maybe some, but it’s not as obvious as at other places), they’re all here to dance their shoes off and that’s very liberating. It’s not weird starting to dance with some stranger, which it can be at other places. We’re all here to dance like there’s no tomorrow.

Fasching has different clubs but is mainly known for their Jazz concerts. So if you’re into Jazz, this is certainly your spot!

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Fasching’s Club Soul | Bars, Music | Entrance & wardrobe SEK 120.00
Kungsgatan 63 | City/Norrmalm | +4670783049
Sat 23:30 – 04:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

Fancy a drink with a vampire? This is one of the coolest bars in Stockholm, for sure! Pass the door, go down the stairs and enter a very different atmosphere set in a cave.

The drinks really make this place, most of them have vampire-names and are delicious as hell! You have to try a Milkshake drink, they’re like candy. My favourite is Vlad the Impaler and yeah, Monday is the day to come here since it’s much cheaper. There’s a new DJ playing records every night and if you’re not into alcohol it’s alright, all drinks can be ordered alcohol-free!

You have to leave your jacket for 20 kronor, even if you’re there only for a drink. I don’t like these kind of small expenses but this place is totally worth that 20. Sit down on a comfy, red sofa with your drink, red wine or beer and enjoy the atmosphere with candle lights and interesting ornaments. The toilet is also quite interesting…

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Vampire Lounge | Bars, Music, Snacks | Drink SEK 60.00
Östgötagatan 41 | Södermalm | +4686432240
Mon – Fri 17:00 – 01:00, Sat 19:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

This is one of my favourite places to dance for sure! They have many different clubs and they’re usually for free if you come before 22:00. They also have lots of concerts, check their homepage for dates! Some of them here at Medis and some of them at Debaser Slussen.

One night that was particularly wonderful was during Debaser Medis “Berlin night” where one of my favourite artists Apparat performed. It was an excellent night, packed with different electronic music which made us dance for at least 6 hours.

The first floor has two rooms. The larger room gives me a feeling of prom-night or something. The ceiling is really high, the stage is large and the floor spacious. There’s lots of room to dance, though it does get pretty packed during the night. Losing your friends in the crowd is not unusual, which is okay, you always find someone else to chat or dance with.

The smaller room is more chilled out with a bar, seats and you can order food. They also have a nice bar and a small cinema on the second floor.

Bring earplugs!

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Debaser Medis | Bars, Cinemas, Music, Snacks | Entrance SEK 100.00
Medborgarplatsen 8 | Södermalm | +4686947900
Fri – Sat 17:00 – 03:00 (concerts 19:00) | Check their website

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

Stockholm’s House of Dance is the place if you enjoy contemporary art forms and want to see something live. You can enjoy it (or hate it) without knowing a word of Swedish.

Dansens Hus has a bunch of interesting performances every season; at least 35 every year.

I guess I really started going to Dansens Hus after seeing Virpi Pahkinen dancing for free at Parkteatern a couple of years ago. She totally blew me away. I looked her up and discovered that she usually presented her work at Dansens Hus. I’ve been going there regularly since then.

Other performances at Dansens Hus that I’ve really enjoyed are by Dorte Olesen, Cullbergbaletten; and DV8. DV8 was truly outstanding a couple of years ago, got standing ovations and left the audience clapping for 10 minutes.

Dansens Hus was founded in 1991 and has two stages, the prices are low; especially if you’re a student or below 26. They also arrange lectures, workshops and show movies; often for free.

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Dansens Hus | Art & culture, Music, Theaters | Entrance student SEK 130.00
Barnhusgatan 14 | City/Norrmalm | +46850899090
Mon – Fri 14:00 – 18:00, Sat 14:00 – 19:00 (only in conjunction with performances)

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Natalia Urbanska

I don’t know what happened but my favourite café isn’t my favourite anymore. I still come here and enjoy the furnishing and cosy atmosphere but the sandwiches aren’t like they once used to be.. It’s still cheap though and definitely worth going to, it hasn’t lost it charm.

The atmosphere is warm, relaxed and creative. It was really hip a couple of years ago but people keep coming. Downstairs you find more seats and if it’s nice weather they have a couple of attractive tables outside.

It’s been serving us cheap sandwiches since 1992. Every sandwich comes with a tasty little salad as well. Their Soya-latte is one of the best in town and their carrot cake is excellent. They have music and theatre performances downstairs every Wednesday and the art hanging on the walls is for sale.

Oh, if you like the chair you’re sitting on you can buy it as well, all furniture is for sale.

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String | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Music, Shopping, Snacks | Sandwich SEK 40.00
Nytorgsgatan 38 | Södermalm | +4687148514
Mon – Thu 09:00 – 20:00, Fri 09:00 – 19:00, Sat – Sun 10:30 – 19:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm

Image by Vasco Castro

The building that now hosts landet, used to be a post office. Even though people go there nowadays to grab a mushroom soup with pesto or a beer instead of a package, the concept is pretty much the same. And it’s not only the students from konstfack and people living and working in the area that come here. Landet manages to have followers from all over town, something that not many places in the Stockholm surroundings can brag about.

This spot is mainly divided in a restaurant and a bar, and both of them are extremely popular. In the restaurant, one can get excellent crossover food with clear Swedish influences and the personnel working here is both professional as well as very kind.

In the club arena there’s a lot going on. From Wednesday to Saturday there are many fun live concerts and DJ gigs that probably make Landet among the best places outside town for a beer…and among the best in all Stockholm too!

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Landet | Bars, Music, Restaurants (Crossover) | Lunch SEK 95.00
LM Ericssons väg 27 | Outside South/East | +46841019320
Mon – Thu 11:00 – 13:30 & 17:00 – 00:00, Fri 11:00 – 13:30 & 16:00 – 01:00, Sat 17:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Stockholm