Alcohol in Abu Dhabi is available only in licensed hotel bars, restaurants, and members' clubs — no independent bars, no off-licences for non-residents. In practice this means the going-out scene is concentrated in a handful of hotels: the Yas Marina cluster, the W on Yas, the St Regis on Saadiyat, and several big names on the central Corniche.
Coffee culture is the more authentic Abu Dhabi pleasure. The traditional gahwa — cardamom-spiced Arabic coffee with dates — is offered in any Emirati home. The specialty-coffee third wave has caught on hard with younger Emiratis; cafés with single-origin beans and serious baristas have multiplied across Khalidiya and the cultural district. Shisha cafés stay open late along the eastern Corniche and in the older parts of town.