Abstract: Many city dwellers like to enjoy the happy moments in entertainment venues such as pubs and bars. However, they are exposed to an environment that may cause health hazards. It is because people are exposed to mood lighting, second-hand smoke, and high noise levels when they stay in pubs and bars. This paper reviews the extant literature on noise in pubs and bars. Noise measurements were performed in six pubs and bars in Hong Kong SAR, China. The analyzed results show that L_eq,10-min noise levels ranged from 66.5 to 79.9 dB(A) during happy hours, i.e., between 17:00 and 21:00 and L_eq,10-min noise levels changed to 69.5-97.0 dB(A) during peak hours, i.e., between 22:00 and 23:30. The maximum noise levels L_eq,10-min ranged from 78.5 to 96.5 dB(A) during happy hours and they changed to 80.9~107.8 dB(A) during peak hours. It was found that loudness in a pub/bar can be characterized by L_eq,10-min value while noisiness, i.e., background noise can be characterized by L₁₀ value.