Serious Cocktails: Best Bars in America
Barcade in Brooklyn, New York, from Esquire's list of Best Bars in America.
A great bar is a composite creation; it’s not all about the drinks. For all the consideration that’s given to the quality of the cocktails, wine, and other drinks poured in an establishment, a bar should be judged along many other factors. Is it comfortable and neither too frenetic nor too sleepy? Does the music fit the mood without leaving you humming that damn Journey song for the next three days? Does the bartender laugh at your jokes, then come back with even better ones?
In the May issue of Esquire, the editors present the third annual collection of the Best Bars in America. The list covers the full range of drinking establishments, which are added to a growing compilation from past years of the nation’s best spots to bend an elbow. High-grade cocktails bars such as Alembic in San Francisco and the Varnish in Los Angeles are new additions, but so is The Buffet, a dive bar in Tucson that’s occupied a spot by the railroad tracks since the Great Depression, and the Helen Back Café in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, an unpretentious beer-and-pizza joint on the Florida panhandle.
Whether they’re serving pitchers of Bud or well-honed martinis, the characteristic these bars share is that they're all fantastic places to spend a couple of hours, regardless of if you’ve gone there to experience a great cocktail or simply throw darts and drink beer. And as happens every year when Esquire’s list comes out, the bars mentioned receive some well-deserved congratulations from new customers and regulars, while there’s a good deal of grumbling over beer (and online) by patrons of places that were somehow, inexplicably, overlooked.
Here’s Esquire’s list of the Best Bars in America. What places do you think deserve recognition as some of the best watering holes in the country?
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
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21 Comments:
The Brooklyn Inn is nice but pretty generic to be one of the best rated bars in NYC.
bobbob at 3:39PM on 05/13/09
I've seen so many of these "best in America" lists as of late, and they're all guilty of the same sin--namely, not everyone in America lives in NYC or San Fran. this list at least had bars in my state, but still, it's like they're saying "if you're not in a hip city, you're not worth our time." I know that the local watering holes around here aren't going to measure up to the $15 a drink hip night spots in big cities, but still, these lists, because of their largely exclusionary nature do nothing except irritate me, and i suspect a large number of people would agree.
rasellers0 at 3:45PM on 05/13/09
@rasellers0 -- You bring up a good point; many of these lists are limited to major cities such as NYC or SF. But the Esquire list reaches a bit farther beyond the "hip city" limits (unless places like Decatur, Georgia, Sarasota, Florida and Wellfleet, Mass. are way more hip than I realized). And, as noted, the bars on the list range from the $15 cocktail places you mention, all the way to places that pay their rent by selling $2 cans of PBR. Many lists may be guilty of the same sin, but some are more guilty than others.
Paul Clarke at 4:04PM on 05/13/09
I can't believe the two bars they listed for Portland, Oregon, included Jimmy Mak's (great jazz but lousy drinks). The other was Clyde Common, a terrific restaurant with good cocktails, but nowhere near Secret Society, Teardrop Lounge or Ten-01. Obviously the compiler only talked with some flak rather than actually coming here and trying them out. Egad.
GoodStuffNW at 4:10PM on 05/13/09
Hooray, my favorite NY spots made the list - Spuyten Duyvil and The Angel's Share. Spuytin Duyvil is the best beer bar I've ever been to, and The Angel's Share is the kind of hidden, classy joint that makes me feel like a millionaire everytime I walk in. Quality establishments, for sure.
erichan726 at 4:18PM on 05/13/09
I think you missed Mr. Goodbar in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. :)
sammie at 4:34PM on 05/13/09
Ooh - and too bad their highest rated bar in MA (B-side lounge) closed last year...
GoodEaterKenji at 5:25PM on 05/13/09
No Houston bars on the list. I gotta vote for a very newly opened Houston bar called Anvil Bar and Refuge. Awesome. http://drinkdogma.com/anvil-video-online/#more-569
lambowner at 5:46PM on 05/13/09
Eh. These lists are always completely arbitrary. Best bar in the country? That little place down the street on that quiet corner with giant sunny windows, soccer playing all day, great beer, and medieval madness pinball.
missdk at 7:02PM on 05/13/09
Yay Brewer's Art!!!! My mom used to work with the guy who owns it...I remember when he quit the library to open the bar. It's a fantastic place.
AliceBlue at 9:34PM on 05/13/09
I don't like Barcade.
cmballa at 10:35PM on 05/13/09
Details Magazine has named Jimmy's Corner and O'Connor's in Briijlyn the best bars in NYC.
I completely agree. Jimmy's is the perfect dive and O'Connor's has the perfect atmosphere- nice people, great bartenders, relaxed, old-fashioned vibe and cheap cheap drinks. When in doubt it's where I go.
DanielJ at 12:37AM on 05/14/09
@lambowner, i noticed that there were no houston bars, too, and about a million in austin. (confirms my belief that austin is the most overrated city in america.) if you're voting for anvil (i think that scene might get kind of old fast, don't you? i have enjoyed their cocktails, though.), put beaver's on the list, too, for the same reason. what else would you vote for in houston?
carriebwc at 9:31AM on 05/14/09
Yes! I love the Brewers Art! They have a fantastic cheeseburger with rosemary garlic fries too. You need to review it! Come to Baltimore. :)
mem296 at 9:33AM on 05/14/09
Carrie, I don't go to bars often, so the novelty of Anvil may take more time to wear me down. I love the vintage glassware and old school drinks. Most of our other forays into bar scenes are at restaurants like Beaver's, Max's Wine Dive (wish they had cocktails, though), Four Seasons (2 great bars) and the like, prior to dining. In fact, we hit Anvil on the way to Feast, Dolce Vita or Indika, three of our favorite eatin spots!
lambowner at 10:56AM on 05/14/09
Oh, by the way, I concur on Austin. It's establishments are generally suited to the 20 year old drunken palate and entertainment preferences.
lambowner at 11:10AM on 05/14/09
Funny how The Beachcomer in MA is listed as #3 on the front page but didn't make the "complete" list.
gratefulted at 1:15PM on 05/14/09
Brewer's Art for the win? You gotta be kidding! They have 2 things going for them: good food and a large, nicely-curated beer list. Meanwhile, there's not enough seating upstairs and the downstairs is dark, dingy, and disgusting. The bar tenders make decent but absolutely undistinguished cocktails. And the service is apathetic and occasionally even unpleasant. I stopped going there years ago and I can think of at least two other bars in Baltimore alone that are better. Give Ixia a try, for example. They kick Brewer's are to the curb in every criteria except beer.
james_m_stevenson at 2:32PM on 05/14/09
Wow, I can't believe something around me topped the list. Brewer's Art sucks! Resurrection is crap...
steamsoldier at 8:30AM on 05/16/09
@James: Yeah, Ixia is way better than Brewer's Art. Right on.
steamsoldier at 8:33AM on 05/16/09
All the bars in New York are in New York City??? Gotta add the Old Pink in Buffalo to that list. That place is classic.
midgepingleton at 4:07PM on 05/17/09