Georgetown's drinking and café scene splits between the old town's heritage shophouses — turned into hip cafés, craft beer bars and speakeasies — and the open-air food courts of Gurney Drive and Batu Ferringhi. The Chulia Street area south of the old town has the densest concentration of bars and is where most travellers' nights start; the Hin Bus Depot, a converted bus station turned arts complex, is the centre of the city's craft-beer and indie food scene.
For coffee, Georgetown has become one of Southeast Asia's most interesting third-wave cities. Specialty roasters cluster in the old town along Stewart Lane and Armenian Street, often inside restored shophouses where the original tile floors and air-wells make for atmospheric settings. The classic Malaysian kopitiams — old Hainanese coffee shops serving thick black coffee with butter-and-kaya toast — survive in numbers, particularly around Kimberley Street and Lebuh Carnarvon.
Beer culture is strong in Penang because of the Chinese majority. Tiger and Carlsberg are the easy mainstream lagers; the local craft scene has produced several solid breweries. Penang Hill closes early, but back in town the rooftops on Beach Street and the lanes around Love Lane stay busy until late.