Le Twenty Eight, the Lafayette bar that plays every night

On a Monday night in Tunis, rue de Cologne promises nothing at all. This is Lafayette, north of avenue Habib Bourguiba, the district of the national radio and of the great synagogue of 1937, in the shadow of the Paquebot, the ship-shaped block that holds the whole corner between rue de Cologne, rue du Koweit and avenue de la Liberte. The shutters are down, the taxis do not slow. At number 28 a blue sign stays lit: 28 | Le Twenty Eight Lafayette, and under it, small, By l'etage. Behind the door, a double bass is tuning up.

A wall of records, a low stage, and that is it

The room takes one look to read. Red walls, a black ceiling left open with its ducting and a speaker horn hanging in the middle, a red neon running along the beam, a brass sconce on the side. At the back, the blue 28 sign hangs above a wall of records: sleeves propped face out in lit alcoves, Ace of Base two shelves below the Rolling Stones, a disco compilation, reggae, old funk, shelved like someone's own collection rather than bar decor.

Underneath it, the stage. Low, carpeted, three paces wide, and already dressed: a digital piano on its stand, a bass on a stand, a white Stratocaster, a Marshall amp, two wedge monitors on the floor, mics on boom stands, a champagne-coloured Premier kit with its ride and its crash. Nothing gets packed away between shows, because there is a show every night. No pit, no barrier, no backstage: the front row is the edge of the carpet.

Google files the place plainly, Bar, six reviews, 3.7 on average: the listing is as young as the venue. One of those reviews runs to a line and says about as much as there is to say so far, the staff are kind, the atmosphere and the music are good.

Monday: a jazz professor playing a hotel bar

Monday is called Social Groove Company. On piano, Omar El Ouaer. The name may mean nothing at the back table; it means a great deal to the rest of the room. He entered the conservatory at eleven through Arabic music, graduated from the Institut Superieur de Musique in Tunis where he now teaches jazz piano, has played the big stages at Carthage and Hammamet, has two albums under his own name, a quartet called Another Perspective and another, Amber, that leans into its rock accents. In the same week he plays here, he posts a solo piano intro recorded in a radio session in Slovenia and announces three days of masterclasses at a Tunis conservatory. In between, on Monday night, he is at the 28, on a low stage with his back to the record wall.

With him, Ala Bejaoui on double bass, who turns up the following Friday in Fawzi Chekili's Jazz Standard Trio, and Marwen Ouni on drums. The trio rotates, changes, invites: the 12 October edition brought Nader Bargui together with Marwen Ouni and Ala Bejaoui, with announced guests and a few others who walk in carrying their instrument. The rule of the night fits in one sentence the house repeats itself: no playlist, just live playing and improvisation.

Tuesday: words first, then maqams

Tuesday is cut in two, and it is the best idea of the week. From 7pm to 10pm, Salade Verbale, سلاطة كلام: Wissal Labidi reads poetry, Ahmed Agili accompanies her on piano, then the microphone goes to the room. A text, some slam, a song, a joke, an improvisation. Nobody checks your level at the door.

When the microphone goes quiet the instruments take over with Makaam Jam, spelled Maqam Jam on some weeks, the jam where the Arabic repertoire leads. On 27 October, Haythem Hadhiri on vocals and oud, Mokhles Laouinti on percussion, Taieb Farhat on bass, Ilyes Blagui on keys. A fortnight earlier it was Mohamed Aidi, Hsin Ben Miloud and Riadh Bedoui. The line-up changes, the principle holds: a melody everyone knows, a rhythm that settles in, and a room that joins in without being asked.

Wednesday, the volume goes up

Wednesday carries a name written in consonants only, HRDZ, and it is loud. A band turned up high, a DJ behind it: Alive Band and BoomJ on 14 October and again on the 28th, a five-string bass, a white guitar, a singer who does not need the monitor to carry the room. On 13 October the band was already here with Amen Ben Mlouka. On their account, that night's story runs to four words: see you at the 28.

On 28 October the night doubles as the house moiniverssaire, its monthly birthday, with a deal on shots and beers to go with it: when you are called 28, the 28th of every month is an anniversary, and there are twelve a year.

Thursday and Sunday bring the tone down a notch with Entre Potes, a band and a pair of decks, with no programme more complicated than its name: on Thursday the 29th, Sofien Ayech's trio and Za'dude on the decks; on Sunday 1 November, Knox and Bouzguine, all night long.

The weekend belongs to other people

The house holds the week and leaves Friday and Saturday to the collectives that knock on the door. That is where the 28 stops being a musicians' bar and becomes an address in the Tunis night. On 15 October, Groove Dealerz put Rawnoize and Lunarhaze on; on the 17th, Lafayette Vibes had Lil Jack playing; on the 24th, Mariem Benedetto sang Edith Piaf in costume, accompanied on piano by Ilyes Blagui, and la Mome sat very well between two bar walls.

On Friday 30 October it is Uptown moving in, with Hamdi Ryder, Lil Jack and Space 909 live, from 8pm to 2am. The series belongs to Downtown Vibes World, the house collective that calls itself Tunisia's first association for the development of the electronic scene, and it has always had a weakness for hotel bars: The Grand Return at the Laico in July 2024, Hotel El Bahy in September, Bellini City at Hotel El Mechtel for Uptown OFF in January 2025, then again that spring. Tunis has the habit, from Bar Jamaica on the tenth floor of the El Hana to the Atom Bar at the Ibn Khaldoun: the night happens where there is a licence and a lift. Tunez Magazine reports limited capacity, entry by guest list, 20 DT in presale, 30 DT on the door, 21 and over.

The next night, Saturday the 31st, the house takes the microphone back for Bal3aween, its Halloween party, DJ Flamme and guests.

Getting there

28 rue de Cologne, Tunis 1002, on the Bab El Bhar side, a few minutes on foot from avenue Habib Bourguiba. The week's programme, the line-ups and the times go up on Instagram; the dates open for booking are on their Tunis Events page. House nights start early in the evening and are announced without a price; only the weekend's guest nights carry one.

One piece of advice all the same: come early. The front row is the edge of the carpet, and there is not a great deal of it.

Photos: the stage, Tunis Events; the nights, © Hamza Bennour and Ahmed Amine Zarrouki / Lafayette 2026.

Find the next concerts, jams and nights out in Tunis on Tunis Events.