The tourism of Iloilo City doesn’t just pride itself with beautiful old mansions, century-old buildings, well-known universities, historical churches as mirrors of its rich culture and tradition. The City of Love keeps up with the times too, and now has also become a hotspot for hip and exciting nooks which are best explored at night. Hotels and resorts boasting of luxury, restaurants of all cuisines, and bars of all kind have sprouted here and there, making Iloilo nightlife as vibrant as it is during the day.
As such, every local and tourist must know where to go in Iloilo hours before the dawn when they visit the City of Love. It doesn’t matter if they go alone, with friends, with partners, or their families—it’s a guarantee that they’ll enjoy their time anyway!
Here are 10 best places to discover nightlife in Iloilo.
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1. City Time Square
Where: Diversion Road, Mandurriao
Celebrate the most significant events of your life with your loved ones at City Time Square Iloilo.
Image from: City Time Square - Iloilo
If City Times Square looks familiar, it’s because this is Iloilo City’s version of New York’s Time Square and Cebu’s 10,000 Roses Cafe. The nightlife place offers a wide array of options for families and friends to spend their time: they can dine, chat over coffee, sing their hearts out, or just hang out and chill over cozy conversations.
The latest additions to the place include Yakimix, the biggest buffet as of now in Iloilo, and HiFi, Iloilo City’s most modern KTV bar.
2. Festive Walk and Iloilo Business Park
Where: Megaworld Boulevard, Mandurriao
Ilonggo hospitality means always being served delicious food at the table.
Image: Iloilo Festive Walk
The famous IT district of Iloilo also boasts of the various homegrown restaurants and bars that line the block <, where you and your peers can kick back and have a good time. For one, you can spoil yourself with the food prepared by the chefs from DoVa Brunch Cafe or by the chefs from Farm to Table, a fusion resto which features local taste with international face. If a sumptuous main course wasn't enough, Dulgies is here with all its local pastry and baked goods to cap off a great meal.
Or if you plan to just have a good time after work with the close company of friends, you can stay at Cable Car Iloilo across Richmonde Hotel, and indulge in music and drink to your heart’s content.
3. Shops At Atria
Where: San Rafael, Mandurriao
Dine while being serenaded by homegrown Ilonggo artists at Atria.
Image: Shops at Atria, Ayala Malls
Hasn’t it always been food that complements the best conversation among family and friends? If you agree, then you might want to visit Shops at Atria. The best Iloilo restaurants are here in perfect attendance, namely: Y2K Talabahan, Netong’s La Paz Batchoy, Kamalig, Asian Spoon, Biscocho Haus, Madge Coffee, and even Bacolod’s Aida’s Chicken. To add, only a few steps away from Atria is Tatoy’s Manokan, widely considered to be a league of its own in terms of seafood cuisines in all of Iloilo.
The place also has a playhub for your kids to enjoy while you do your errands. It has a grocery store, pharmacy, and to top it all off, it has a house musician who constantly plays acoustic music—the perfect food for the soul.
4. The Foodville
Where: Diversion Road, San Rafael, Mandurriao
This is where art meets with food, drinks and friends.
Image: The Foodville
Along Diversion Road is a famous destination among teenagers who wish to sing, eat, and drink until they drop—The Foodville. It is a compound where small-time restaurants and bars set up shop, hoping to indulge their customers with their varying fortes and specialties. Since they are all independent food businesses, prices are relatively cheaper too. Inside, there is also a common area if you wish to sing in front of everyone, if that’s what amps you up.
On the other hand, if you and your team wish to sit and bond in solitude inside the venue, they also have KTV rooms.
5. Downtown Iloilo
Where: Iloilo City Proper
Relive the memories of the old nightlife district with beer, barbecue, and stories.
Image: @maikelsabido
Are you the type to spend Friday nights with barbecue and beer? If so, then you might want to make your way to the stretch of Calle Real near Freedom Grandstand. Others would come here to take a breather after a stressful day at work, or catch up with their friends. Minors beware, though, as places that line this block will bar your entrance.
Otherwise, feel free to take a step back from life for a moment, and take in the rest and respite that Calle Real offers aplenty.
6. Food Park Iloilo
Where: Molo, Iloilo City
Experience what is truly local when spending the night with Ilonggos at Iloilo City.
Image: Food Park Iloilo
Just behind Iloilo Supermart Molo Branch stands Food Park. If you frequent the Produkto Lokal activities in Iloilo, then you might find some tenants here familiar. These are all homegrown businesses that offer Ilonggos’ most beloved dishes with a drink to match. This place is perfect for people who are growing weary of the loud music that most bars at Smallville play, or for groups of friends who intend to keep it low-key with their vintage taste in music
7. Hideout Bar Iloilo
Where: San Rafael, Mandurriao
Hide away from the harsh realities of life for a while with beer, food, and friends.
Image: Hideout Bar Iloilo
All of Iloilo’s eccentric and exciting adolescents, rejoice! Hideout Bar isn’t a single bar, but a place where individual budget-friendly bars are found.
Of course, as the name suggests, Hideout Bar can’t easily be found when you pass by the main streets of San Rafael, Mandurriao. You’d have to make a right turn before reaching the first gate of S&R, or you can immediately turn right at District 21. Once you spot it, it’s like hitting gold in a mine, and odds are, you wouldn’t want to pass up the chance to go in and grab a drink. Cheers!
8. Riverside Boardwalk Complex
Where: Diversion Rd, San Rafael, Mandurriao
Dine by the Iloilo River as you try restaurants at Riverside Boardwalk.
Image: Riverside Boardwalk
Another destination that you and your family’s hungry tummies can consider exploring is the Riverside Boardwalk Complex, which is just next to Iloilo Esplanade 1. You can choose from a wide array of restaurants that don the avenue: Pizza Pizza, where they let you put toppings on your own pizza; Ramboy’s, the home of quite possibly the best pork belly in Iloilo; and Punot, a standout seafood restaurant, among other great options.
9. Smallville Complex
Where: Mandurriao
Never miss a chance to dance with Ilonggos; they are simply one-of-a-kind.
Image: PRISM Nightlife Iloilo
The most popular nightlife district in Iloilo is the Smallville Complex, where party-goers flock. Here, there are bars, hotels, KTV bars and restaurants, disco bars, restaurants, and cafes where you can sit down and relax over a cup of coffee or party the night away. It welcomes everyone from all walks of life, and it’s truly the best response to what Iloilo does for fun and recreation once the sun sets.
Check out our list of bars in Iloilo City or browse the Dining & Leisure category of the Yoorekka Directory.
10. Stockroom
Where: Mc Arthur Drive, Jaro
Care for a round of beer pong?
Image: STOCKROOM Iloilo
Far from the madding nightlife destinations in Mandurriao is Stockroom, just beside Iloilo Supermart, in Tabuc Suba, Jaro. This disco bar is the first choice for many of Iloilo’s night people as well as foreign teenagers who wish to find new acquaintances as they get down to the music of this generation.
Besides, the place is small enough for everyone to get to know everyone else, so you better not miss that chance!
Truly, Iloilo is teeming with uncharted and underrated places, and this makes it the ideal place for both locals and tourists to find friends and build memories. This is just a few of what makes Iloilo the next destination at night, and the only thing that’s missing from the City of Love is you!
