Bahrain has the most open licensing environment in the Gulf. Alcohol is available in hotels, licensed restaurants, and a range of bars and clubs that wouldn't exist in the same form anywhere else in the region. This is not incidental — Manama has positioned itself deliberately as the Gulf's nightlife destination, and it draws visitors from Saudi Arabia specifically for this. Thursday and Friday nights (the Gulf weekend) are when the hotel strip along King Faisal Highway fills with Saudi visitors and the larger clubs are at capacity.
Adliya is where the more interesting drinking and cafe scene is. The neighbourhood has independent bars and restaurants with outdoor seating, a more local-expat crowd than the hotel nightclub circuit, and the best coffee in the city. It is the right place to spend an evening if you want to eat and drink well without the weekend tourist volume of the hotel zone. The pace is relaxed, the venues are mostly small-scale, and the clientele reflects the city's professional and creative class more than any other part of Manama.
Hotel bars and rooftop venues across the city tend to be overpriced but some have decent views across the Gulf. The Four Seasons and Gulf Hotel both have multiple licensed venues. Cheaper drinking happens in dive bars attached to smaller hotels, particularly around the Adliya and Juffair areas.