Szimpla Kert

Ruinpubs are Hipster Heaven

Over the last 15 years or so, in inner city Budapest, new places were opened one after another in tenement houses and factory buildings doomed to destruction. These were equipped with rejected furniture of old community centres, cinemas, and grandmothers’ flats, bringing a retro feeling into these places. They were soon called ruinpubs and became popular very fast among the youth of Budapest - ruinpub is the exact translation of the Hungarian name.

Ruinpubs often move to a new place, or close for some years, then open in a new place again. They are are not only good places to drink and have a party but also function as cultural community areas with film clubs, theatre performances, concerts, exhibitions, and creative workshops, too. There is no specified design, and there are no rules, how to make them. Every place has a unique style and atmosphere. In Szimpla kert (Simple Garden) you can have a beer in a cannibalized old Trabant car. In Instant you can stroll around in the labyrinth of the tenement house. In Kertem (My Garden) you can feel the atmosphere of a socialist beer-garden of the 1980s. From Corvin tető (Corvin Roofgarden) you can have a view at the nightlife of this cosmopolitan city. Some of the ruinpubs are open in Summer only, while others have indoor areas, so you can visit them all year.