Epic

Gaoyou Road After Dark

Xuhui's tree-lined residential streets carry a different energy to the Bund or the neon corridors of Jing'an. By 9pm on Gaoyou Road, the lane-house cafés have shuttered and the foot traffic thins to a knowing trickle: people who have somewhere specific to be. Epic sits at number 17, its retro-inflected room drawing a crowd that arrives with intent rather than impulse. The neighbourhood context matters here. Xuhui has historically been the part of Shanghai where the city's bar culture grew up quietly, away from the tourist-facing spectacle of the waterfront, and Epic's tenure in the area reflects that character.

Where Epic Sits in the Shanghai Bar Scene

Shanghai's cocktail circuit has matured considerably over the past decade, and it now fragments across distinct tiers. At one end sit high-volume concept bars chasing social media footfall; at the other, a smaller group of technically serious programmes that have accumulated verifiable international recognition over multiple years. Epic belongs firmly in the latter cohort. A ranking of #41 globally on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2021 placed it among a peer set that includes some of the most discussed programmes in Asia. By 2024, it held the #54 position on Asia's Leading Bars; the 2025 edition places it at #74 on the same list, while a parallel inclusion on the Tatler Leading Bars Asia-Pacific 2025 list confirms that its standing in the regional conversation has not softened. The Top 500 Bars global ranking adds a #347 position for 2025, giving Epic an unusually broad spread of recognition across different ranking methodologies.

For context, Shanghai peers like Coa (Shanghai), Constellation, and Sober Company occupy the same serious-programme tier, and together they represent the city's strongest argument for inclusion in any Asia-Pacific bar conversation. Pony Up operates in the same neighbourhood orbit. What distinguishes Epic within this group is the combination of classic-cocktail foundations with a willingness to introduce bolder, more unexpected flavour directions — a positioning that sits between the purism of some older Shanghai bars and the experimental edge of the newer wave.

The Ritual of a Night at Epic

The editorial angle that makes Epic worth understanding is not any single drink or design choice but the particular rhythm of a visit. Shanghai's better cocktail bars have developed a culture of deliberate pacing that mirrors, in its own way, the discipline of a serious omakase counter: you arrive, you read the room, and you surrender some of the decision-making to the people behind the bar. Epic operates on this register. The retro setting — referenced consistently in Tatler's coverage , provides a physical frame that encourages settling in rather than moving on. The hours reinforce this: Epic opens at 7pm and runs until 2am every night of the week, a schedule that accommodates both the early-evening first-drink crowd and the later crowd for whom it becomes the final destination rather than the warm-up.

The classic cocktail foundation means that the ritual has legibility. A guest who knows what a well-made Negroni or Old Fashioned should taste like has a reference point, and Epic's approach , introducing bold, innovative flavour directions within that framework , gives those reference points a productive tension. This is the model that the better bars across mainland China have moved toward: fluency in the canon combined with a local or creative layer that makes the canon feel alive rather than archival. Bars like Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou and Janes & Hooch in Beijing work within a similar tension between tradition and provocation, and the fact that Epic has been doing this long enough to build a cross-cycle ranking history gives it a credibility that newer entrants are still earning.

A Broader China Bar Moment

Regional context is worth stating plainly. China's major cities now collectively host a bar scene that competes seriously with Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore for depth and recognition. Epic's sustained presence across multiple ranking years places it alongside programmes in Shenzhen, Changsha, and Wuhan that have contributed to this shift. Across the wider Asia-Pacific, the competitive set now extends to venues like The Ritz-Carlton Bar & Lounge in Macau and, further afield, Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu , both of which represent the same shift toward technically grounded programmes in destinations previously associated with more casual drinking culture. Epic's position in this peer group is not accidental; it reflects years of consistent execution in a city that now exports bar talent and bar culture rather than simply importing it.

Planning a Visit

Epic is at 17 Gaoyou Road, Xuhui, Shanghai. The bar is open seven days a week from 7pm to 2am, making it accessible for an early-evening drink or a late-night session without the scheduling pressure of some of the city's more restricted programmes. Xuhui is well-served by metro, and the immediate stretch of Gaoyou Road is walkable from several of the neighbourhood's other evening options. For anyone building a Shanghai evening around the bar circuit, the combination of Epic's Xuhui location with nearby options means a single neighbourhood can anchor the whole night. Reservations and current pricing should be confirmed directly via the bar's Instagram at @epic_bar_shanghai, as operating details are subject to change. For a broader picture of where Epic sits within Shanghai's full dining and drinking offer, the full Shanghai guide provides neighbourhood-level context across categories.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the signature drink at Epic?

The available award record describes Epic's programme as combining classic cocktail structures with bold, innovative flavour directions. Tatler's coverage references a drink called the Graffiti Punch in its visual record, which aligns with the bar's Asia-Pacific 2025 recognition. Epic holds rankings across multiple lists , including Asia's Leading Bars 2025 (#74) and the Tatler Leading Bars Asia-Pacific 2025 , which reflect the programme's range rather than any single drink. Specific current menu items should be confirmed at the bar directly.

What is the main draw of Epic?

The core draw is a serious, award-backed cocktail programme in a retro-inflected Xuhui room that operates until 2am nightly. Epic's ranking history , from #41 globally on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2021 through to its 2025 Asia-Pacific and Tatler recognitions , places it among Shanghai's most recognised bars over multiple cycles. For a city with a competitive bar scene, that cross-cycle consistency is itself a signal. Pricing is not publicly confirmed in available data, but the bar's peer set and recognition tier suggest a premium programme rather than a casual neighbourhood option.