Where Helsinki eats and drinks with music

Not just dinner or drink. Not just concerts. Places where food, drink, and live sound blend naturally.

Storyville atmosphere in the evening

Storyville Jazz Club

Storyville is for listening. Really listening.

The room is built around the stage, and the audience knows why they’re there. Jazz is not background here, and your glass and snack become part of a slower, more focused evening. You sip your drink and let the music take its time.

It’s the kind of place you choose intentionally, when you want the night to move at a measured pace.

Third Place Helsinki

Third Place feels less like a restaurant and more like a living room that happens to serve food, with neighbours all around you. You might arrive thinking you’ll just have a drink, a small snack, or a proper dinner; it doesn’t really matter. The room has other plans. The lights soften. No one is in a hurry. There is a themed night or a fun event happening every day, but weekends are for pure vinyl lovers.

The music never interrupts. It slips into the spaces between conversations and gently stretches the evening. Food here is comforting and unfussy - equally right with a glass of wine, a late-night bite, or a full meal when time stops being relevant. You come for drinks, a snack, or dinner. You stay because the atmosphere feels right. And somehow it all tastes better, maybe because music can be delicious too, and here, there’s always plenty of it.

Officine Brera

Officine Brera is calm in a very deliberate way. Jazz isn’t an occasional guest here — it’s part of the restaurant’s identity. Brera even runs its own jazz station, which tells you a lot about how seriously sound is taken.

Jazz nights feel natural, not scheduled. You sit down for dinner, the room hums softly, and live music appears without changing the mood. Nothing gets louder than it needs to be. You can still talk. You can still focus on the food. The music just holds the space together.

This is where you go when you want a long Italian dinner that doesn’t need a finale.

Liberty or Death

Liberty or Death is quieter, darker, and more precise. Music here is rarely live, but DJs matter. The sound leans toward jazz, soul, and carefully selected vinyl — always intentional, never loud.

This is not a place where people watch a performance. It’s a place where music sets the tempo of the room. Conversations stay low, drinks arrive slowly, and the DJ shapes the evening without announcing themselves.

Liberty or Death works perfectly either after dinner or as a late stop when you want the night to feel contained and deliberate rather than energetic.

Siltanen

Siltanen is social — in a good way. It’s a place where dinner might turn into dancing, or at least standing closer to the stage than you expected. Live bands, acoustic sets, and themed music nights are part of the rhythm here.

Food matters, but it doesn’t slow the night down. People come in groups, move around, order another drink, stay because something interesting is happening on stage. It feels like a place that accidentally became a music venue — or the other way around.

If you want music to shape the night, not decorate it, this is where it usually happens.

Juttutupa

Juttutupa doesn’t advertise itself as a music place, which is exactly why locals trust it. Music here appears quietly and irregularly: live bands, DJ evenings, or themed nights that feel more like a neighbourhood gathering than a programmed event.

The room is large, worn in, and unapologetically Helsinki. You can come for proper food, end up staying for a drink, and suddenly there’s music filling the space without changing the mood. Nothing gets staged, nothing feels curated for social media.

Juttutupa works best when you don’t plan the night too tightly. It’s the kind of place where dinner turns into conversation, conversation turns into another round, and the music simply becomes part of the background.

G Livelab Helsinki

G Livelab leans more toward a concert space, but what sets it apart is that you don’t have to choose between music and food. You can eat properly without leaving the room or breaking the mood.

The sound is excellent, the programming is thoughtful, and the crowd comes to listen. For many locals, this is where an evening starts — not ends — especially when music is the main reason to go out.

A Quick Local Tip

Helsinki’s scene for music + dinner isn’t always heavily advertised — many gigs, jazz sets, and DJ nights are posted on social channels or announced only a few days ahead, especially in bars, restaurants, and small venues. Following local venues’ Instagram or Facebook pages is often the best way to catch a live music night you can pair with dinner.