These are the 33 best new bars in America
Because there's no better place to celebrate a promotion,
wedding, or acquittal for accidentally inciting a riot at a Third Eye
Blind concert than a bar, we spent the year drinking our way across the
country to find the newest watering holes par excellence. And now that
the quest is over -- and our tolerance for Creole bitters and fancified
tiki drinks is at its peak -- here are the greatest, booziest bars that
opened in the US in 2013. (And in case you somehow missed it because you
were drinking in bars, here's our list of
the country's 33 Best New Restaurants.)
KIMBALL HOUSE, Atlanta, GA
What you're getting: Blood Water
Mixologist Miles Macquarrie, formerly of Holeman & Finch and Leon’s
Full Service, is not just an awesome thing to say because it's an
alliteration. He’s also the person behind the drinks at Kimball House, a
Decatur cocktail/oyster bar in the throwback elegant style of the days
when everyone loved discussing the Fordney-McCumber Tariff and winking
at women with bobbed hair. And that person -- with his meticulously
fresh cocktails impeccably made using his own tinctures, and bitters,
and other magic potions -- is the reason you need to hit this
increasingly popular spot, and order up a Blood Water featuring Death’s
Door gin, toasted almond orgeat, lime, ginger, and Bitter Truth Creole
Bitters.
Dan Gentile
CRAFT PRIDE, Austin, TX
What you're getting: A Jester King seasonal
Craft Pride is Austin's latest and greatest beacon for lovers of Texas
beer. Built largely with longleaf and curly pine reclaimed from the
bar's past life as a residence, CP's bread and butter spew from over 50
taps lined to kegs of all-local beer from up-and-coming breweries like
Jester King and Adelbert's. And for dessert, Detroit pie-slingers Via
313 are serving some of
the best pizza in the nation from a trailer out back.
Dan Gentile
WHISLER'S, Austin, TX
What you're getting: The Dealer's Choice
On Austin's East 6th Street, old Tejano haunts have been flipping into
trendy bars faster than you can say "Fernet". But while many white-wash
the buildings' histories, Rabbit's has been revamped into Whisler's with
the blessing of the former owner (who recently celebrated his 80th
birthday there). It maintains a massive Cesar Chavez mural, stripping
the interior down to its original 1917 stonework and adding bizarre
details like chairs draped with old postal bags. The cocktail list leans
heavily on bold flavors like mezcal and house-made seasonal syrups, but
the best move is to just let the experienced bartenders size you up and
pour to your personality.
Jaqueline Dole
BEAT HÔTEL, Cambridge, MA
What you're getting: A VFW Old Fashioned
The Tannery in Cambridge used to be the place I went in high school to
find prohibitively expensive North Face jackets that at least 85% of the
other kids at my school were also wearing, but now it’s the Beat Hotel
-- a funky sister bar to the much-beloved Beehive in Boston’s South End.
The vibe is eclectic (they have funkily painted support poles and
psychedelic murals throughout, plus a giant goat just kind of hanging
there), but -- like their sibling -- they manage just the right mix of
legit eats (um, pulled lamb nachos?), eclectic clever cocktails (we
recommend anything from the “Dad’s Liquor Cabinet” section), and
well-curated live music nightly.
THE RAREBIT, Charleston, SC
What you're getting: Moscow Mule with homemade Sweatman’s ginger beer
Do you remember the volatile years of the 1960s, when everyone was doing
free love and getting involved in debates about Canada’s National Flag?
We don’t either. But we do dig the '60s diner/cocktail vibe from the
folks at Rarebit, with their track burgers and grilled cheese, and Brent
Sweatman’s classic cocktails, especially anything using his delicious,
delicious house-made ginger beer.
Sean Cooley
BILLY SUNDAY, Chicago, IL
What you're getting: Fernet & Cola
Named for a Prohibition-promoting evangelist (jokes on you, buddy!),
Billy Sunday's really spiking the football on the whole "end of
Prohibition" thing, even if the ambiance harkens back to that era. The
owner's a protegé of the late Charlie Trotter, so unsurprisingly, the
attention to detail is exceptional (house-made bitters, tonics,
hand-carved ice, etc). They're constantly exploring kegged and bottled
cocktails -- try their take on a Fernet & Cola, made with both
Fernet Branca & Fernet Angelico and a house-made (obviously) cola
mixture that's carbonated and kegged before being bottled. The
bitterness of the Fernet gets tempered just enough. Throw one back with
an order of crispy pig ears and you have yourself a little slice of the
heaven that Billy Sunday's pretty sure you aren't going to.
Anjali Pinto
THREE DOTS AND A DASH, Chicago, IL
What you're getting: Poipu Beach Boogie Board; a Treasure Chest (if you're a baller and/or shot-caller)
Hidden away beneath bustling upscale BBQ joint Bub City and named for a
classic Don the Beachcomber tiki cocktail, Three Dots represents an
evolutionary step in the tiki paradigm from Paul McGee, formerly of
Chi's beloved cocktail den The Whistler. It's got all the classic tiki
trappings, from hula girl paintings to over-the-top drinking vessels you
are sternly warned not to steal (though they're all available for
purchase), and the menu divides cleanly between well-executed tiki
classics and McGee's own creations. A skull denotes some serious
strength, so naturally that's gonna be narrowing down your choices. On
the new side of the ledger, the rye- and 151-proof rum-based Poipu Beach
Boogie Board is balanced out with grenadine, maraschino, and pineapple.
If your group is big and well-funded, go for the $385 Treasure Chest,
serving up to eight people and packing a bottle of Dom Perignon (and
plenty more tiki goodness) enveloped in a dry-ice haze.
Sean Cooley
PUNCH HOUSE, Chicago, IL
What you're getting: Dusek Punch
A glorious dive of a basement bar in the same building as Best New
Restaurant Dusek's, Punch House is a destination in its own right. As
you might expect, punch is the thing here, served either
old-school-style in a communal bowl (or a carafe) if you have a group --
but for the sake of trying more of them/possibly being lonely, you can
also opt to go single-serving as all eight varieties they serve are
kegged and tapped. The list's split evenly between classic centuries-old
recipes and their own creations. Try the Dusek Punch (bourbon, lemon,
raw sugar, dark ale, nutmeg), one of their creations (clearly) that has
achieved such balanced drinkability, you'll briefly ponder tackling an
entire bowl solo. Stare at the mesmerizing fish tank at the center of
the bar and enjoy.
PAT'S BACKYARD AT THE RUSTIC, Dallas, TX
What you're getting: The Hidalgo
You know what’s nice? A kick-ass backyard. You know what’s even nicer? A
kick-ass backyard, set up to be a beer garden, where you can hear live
music, sometimes even by the co-owner/Texas Legend Pat Green, while
you’re drinking a Texas beer from one of the most impressive lists of
locals around, or sipping on the aforementioned Hidalgo, with Waterloo
gin, Pecos cantaloupe syrup, muddled poblano, lemon juice, and orange
bitters.
Brian Boeckman
CAPTAIN FOXHEART'S BAD NEWS BAR & SPIRIT LODGE, Houston, TX
What you're getting: A Manhattan
Useless fun fact: I was born in Houston, so its recent emergence as a
place to be reckoned with on the national food/drink scene pleases me in
a strange nostalgic way, as does Bad News Bar. The downtown spot is
from Justin Burrow (of local craft cocktailery Anvil fame) and partners,
and it’s the straight dope: not overly pretentious, not overly judgy,
not overly adorned with captains or foxes (though there are a few) --
just a great classic cocktail bar that brings me back to a time I really
wish I could remember.
Matthew Parvis
VELVETEEN RABBIT, Las Vegas, NV
What you're getting: The Crucifix in a Deathhand; the Burning Bush
This Victorian-era-ish cocktail bar, opened by sisters Pamela and
Christine Dylag, seems like exactly the type of place where an author
could get just boozed up enough to pen a tale of a stuffed bunny
desperately trying to be real. Between all the crushed velvet, the
bronze hand draft handles pouring brews like German Chocolate Cake Milk
Stout, and the complete and utter lack of TVs, you get an atmosphere
that pretty much encourages intriguing conversations regarding Nursery
Fairies and the like, especially when you see the Dylags light a lemon
peel on fire for your, um, Burning Bush.
Jeff Miller
NO VACANCY, Los Angeles, CA
What you're getting: A delicious gin cocktail
The Houston brothers are known in the cocktail bar scene of LA for both
their crazy-secret entrances and inventive cocktails, but No Vacancy is
likely their opus. Taking over the 112yr-old Victorian Janes House, it
looks like a creepy
Clue mansion bed-and-breakfast, but once
you get beyond the secret entrance (we’re not party poopers here --
figure it out yourself!), you’ll get cocktails from a Murderer’s Row of
the US’s best bartenders (from the likes of Pour Vous, PDT, Roger Room,
etc.), which change often, though -- like us, after writing for too long
-- they tend to skew towards gin.
Joey Maloney
HONEYCUT, Los Angeles, CA
What you're getting: Any drink on their extensive list; the Toucan Sam if they've got it
Combining disco dancing and great cocktails in a way that won't get any
premium booze all over your very nice and hopefully not-shiny shirt,
Honeycut is an LA-based 3000sqft underground hall dedicated to moving
and shaking (the drink variety). Featuring a list of 50 distinct 'tails
and a light-up dance floor in their Disco room, the latest venture from
the dudes behind Las Perlas also boasts a former Death & Co.
bartender and a beverage brain from The Varnish -- a pedigree that'll
become apparent as you sip any of their awesome drinks, or rock a draft
'tail with sous-vide'd syrups & infusions while grooving to some
killer live tuneage... or, you know, just play some pool.
EL CAMINO, Louisville, KY
What you're getting: Whatever sweet tiki drink Susie Hoyt wants to make you
The Silver Dollar is a sweet-ass honky-tonk bar in Louisville, and you
should definitely go there for choice drinks. Silver Dollar’s beverage
director Susie Hoyt -- who did time at Chicago cocktail bar
extradordinare Violet Hour -- is responsible for said choice drinks. And
now the owners of the Silver Dollar have opened up El Camino, a
monument to SoCal sitting right in Kentucky, and Hoyt's created the menu
of “artisanal tiki drinks” there as well. You might be able to see a
trend emerging.
Matt Meltzer
DROGERIE, Miami, FL
What you're getting: The Pain Killer
Make a right when you enter South Beach's Albion Hotel and you’ll think
you ended up in the lab of a really, really tasteful mad scientist,
where colorful beakers and glass bottles line the brick-arch windows and
are filled with boozy herbal essences that mixologists in lab coats
claim will actually make you feel healthy and energized after a night of
drinking. Their line of “Pain Killers” -- the Aztec medicine w/ muddled
pineapple & cilantro, habanero bitters & Santa Teresa rum, etc.
-- are apparently so good, people fly all the way from Kentucky just to
bring suitcases of them back home. Oh, AND they make their own absinthe
in front of you, meaning they take French-imported herbs drenched in
fermented sugar cane juice then light them on fire and serve it to your
group of four or more. So, yeah, you should probably check this place
out.
BOONE & CROCKETT, Milwaukee, WI
What you're getting: The Trinidad Sour
Okay -- first we have to admit something: B&C opened a few months
before our normal cutoff date for this story. But we love it, and
Milwaukee needs a place in any discussion of drinking, and look:
(self-inflicted) rules are made to be broken. From the team behind the
also popular Hotel Foster, B&C looks like the bar my grandfather Ray
Tuller kept in his basement, if he was much wealthier, and hunted
things, and found more plaid couches. The drink to get here is the
Trinidad Sour, mostly because it’s one of the only ones we’ve seen that
has bitters as a base booze, and also manages to be intoxicatingly
delicious. So go here, and tell them Ray Tuller sent you. It won’t mean
anything to them, but I’d really kind of appreciate it.
Drew Wood
THE TORPEDO ROOM, Minneapolis, MN
What you're getting: The sno-cones or the Corn Tiki
Minnesota is one of the last places you'd think of when you hear
"tropical paradise", but the guys at already popular Eat Street Social
are making it a reality (at least for one roomful of people) with their
newly appointed Torpedo Room. It's a Polynesian-style tiki bar smack dab
in the middle of their restaurant, complete with a thatched roof,
tropical bar snacks like house-made SPAM sliders and sausage-and-papaya
salad, and boozy sno-cones that're served alongside carefully curated
cocktails featuring Oceanic ingredients (Tahitian bitters, White Lion
Arrack) with a good ol'-fashioned Midwestern twist (think candied bacon
and sweet corn cream).
PINEWOOD SOCIAL, Nashville, TN
What you're getting: The Honesty of Constant Human Error
We happen to be blessed with food writer friends in Nashville. And they
happen to be blessed by the seemingly millions of cool things going on
in the food/drink scene there now, including the opening of brand new
Pinewood Social. Less of a bar than a collection of things (a coffee
shop, a bowling alley, a karaoke space, a dining room, and oh… also a
bar), Pinewood is like your rich friend with a cool job’s extremely
sweet house. But the bar lies in the center, and that focus is likely
intentional, seeing as the project comes from the Goldberg Brothers of
Patterson House fame, and the man in charge of that bar, Matt Tocco,
also did the drinks at Rolf and Daughters, and has our vote for the best
cocktail names ever. After all, where else can you sit down and enjoy
The Honesty of Constant Human Error?
CANE & TABLE, New Orleans, LA
What you're getting: The Last Island
When this place opened -- thanks to the pedigree of owners Neal
Bodenheimer from legendary cocktail joint Cure, alongside rum savant
Nick Detrich -- the hype was Bourbon Street-at-9pm-on-a-Saturday loud.
And although the food menu has received mixed (though improving)
reviews, the drinks in this Havana-inflected, “proto-tiki” joint are the
real deal, and not only because they’re authentically excellent
cocktails that often come, as one NOLA restaurant friend described, “in
pineapples, or coconuts, or lit on fire, OR poured in a lime and THEN
lit on fire..."
TØRST, New York, NY
What you're getting: A beer you've never heard of before that's probably been barrel-aged
Perhaps the premier beer bar in all of NYC, this paradise of brew
geekery was opened by the brewer of Evil Twin, looks like the inside of a
super-modern viking ship complete with a tap system called the Flux
Capacitor, which ensures that all 21 rare, unusual, or one-off beers are
served with the optimal pressure and temperature, and also that you can
get the Sports Almanac back from Biff.
DEAD RABBIT, New York, NY
What you're getting: Morning Reviver
Tales of the Cocktail winner for World's Best New Cocktail Bar, World's
Best Cocktail Menu, and International Bartender of the Year, this
bi-level tavern housed in a historic financial district building throws
out an encyclopedic menu of cocktails you will be happy just to know
exist (Bishops, Possets, Invalid Drinks). Big communal punch bowls can
be had at the parlor upstairs, while a slightly less refined tap room
downstairs hosts an actual grocery slinging house made bitters, HP
sauce, and mushy peas. Do you know any other bars in the US selling you
mushy peas? No, no you do not.
AMERICAN WHISKEY, New York, NY
What you're getting: Remember the Maine
The traditional image of a great whiskey bar is a small, gentlemanly den
probably lined with shelves of books and a really expensive globe, but
this Midtown complex is a sprawling multi level affair loaded with
buffalo heads, "board rooms", and private liquor lockers. It also has an
absurdly top notch collection of brown stuff, cocktails on draft, a
perfectly rowdy game-day vibe, and pub grub like fried crab claws and
duck duck goose sliders, y’know, for the kids.
Joe Starkey
BROTZEIT LOKAL, Oakland, CA
What you're getting: Brotzeit Alt Shule
Take a sweet biergarten, and put it right on the waterfront on the
“Oakland Riviera”, and make sure it is stocked with a selection of 17
hard-to-find German beers (three types of Schonramer!), choice local CA
brews, and even some Belgians. Then give it a delectable selection of
sausages, pork shanks, and even freakin’ smoked peanuts smoked with
bacon fat & garlic, then tossed with pimentón, chipotle & ancho
chili from chef Lev Delany. And then you’ll finally start to understand
why Krista and Tony Granieri’s bar is worth including on this list.
PORTLAND HUNT & ALPINE CLUB, Portland, ME
What you're getting: Industry Sour or a Smoke & Bitters
As anyone who ever skis can attest, the best part of the day is when
you’re actually done and warm inside drinking and talking about how
awesome it is that you’ve stopped skiing. So the Scandinavian après-ski
spot from Andrew and Briana Volk does the honorable thing, and cuts
right to the booze -- serving up crafted cocktails (Volk has been a
bartender at choice spots across the country) -- selected out of a large
leather bound list that seems to have cherry picked Volk’s favorites
from across the country (shout out to Tommy’s Margarita in SF!),
alongside Nordic small plates served on wood planks. If you want to be
uber-hip, they’ve also got a $2500 membership that gets you access to a
special room in the back (plus $2500 in food/drink credits), so you can
discuss your secret distaste for skiing in private over an Industry Sour
(Fernet, Chartreuse, lime).
Drew Tyson
MULTNOMAH WHISKEY LIBRARY, Portland, OR
What you're getting: A rare whiskey you definitely didn't know about
Drinking in libraries is an activity usually reserved for bums. But bums
can't have all the fun (unless they're played by Joe Pesci), so for the
rest of us there's Multnomah Whiskey Library, a gorgeous emporium of
mash that features 1500+ varieties stacked up on a gigantic,
ladder-accessed wall and pushed around on carts, dim-sum style, by
vested bartenders. The place feels like you've been transported back to a
gentleman's lounge from the '20s, with leather couches underneath
vintage portraiture hanging from old-school brick and wood-laden walls.
Though it’s already notorious for its 3+ hour waiting list, it has the
distinction -- in a town where that kind of wait is typical for brunch
-- of actually being worth your time.
Kyle Hall
POLITE PROVISIONS, San Diego, CA
What you're getting: Ocean Side
Take a team already known as one of the best, most innovative in SD --
thanks to having opened places like Noble Experiment, UnderBelly, and
Craft & Commerce -- then add in Erick Castro of Bourbon & Branch
in SF to design a crazy ambitious drink program, then add a crazy
ambitious 46 tap system, so you can pour spirits, craft sodas, and even
some cocktails right from said tap, then know they’re also doing sweet
beertails, and even homemade egg cream sodas, and you get quite possibly
the bar of the decade in San Diego. Plus a decently epic run-on
sentence.
Sara Norris
FRAUDS AND SWINDLERS, San Diego, CA
What you're getting: The Inigo Montoya; This is the End punch
You'll feel downright dastardly after spending enough time at Frauds and
Swindlers in San Diego, mostly because the cocktails are so good it’s…
waitforit… criminal (sorry). LA transplants Aidan Demarest and David
Whitton (Neat, Villains Tavern) opened this crooked honky-tonk as a
temple of innovative drinkage, and're offering swigs such as rye
whiskey/champagne punch, the tequila/jalapeño/cucumber Inigo Montoya,
and even fresh-pressed fruit juice, the most dastardly thing of all. It
certainly doesn’t hurt that you can take it all in while hanging in
their ironic church-pew seating, listening to the old-timey piano and
eating (sort of old-timey?) house-made pizza.
Joe Starkey
TRICK DOG, San Francisco, CA
What you're getting: Eye of the Tiger
Undoubtedly one of the biggest openings of the year anywhere, Trick Dog
is the three-year-in-the-making cocktail bar from Josh Harris and Scott
Baird, aka The Bon Vivants -- a cocktail consulting partnership with
serious national pedigree. And despite the deafening hype, the spot
itself has lived up to all of it and more, with its clever drink menus
(first made to look like a Pantone, then made on the labels of real
records stored in old albums) and its cleverer drinks. Go early during
the week, if you want a seat, and stay late, because you’re likely going
to want to try every one of those damn albums, er, drinks.
Joe Starkey
MIKKELLER BAR, San Francisco, CA
What you're getting: A crazy sour beer you’ve never heard of
Though normally we don’t advocate copying the Danes, in Mikkeller’s
case, we’ll give it a pass. MB is the first US iteration of the
world-famous Copenhagen bar, and is both aesthetically handsome as hell
(yes, those are street lights imported from Denmark) and pleasing to any
beer geek's palate, thanks to 42 beers on tap, and a semi-secret
basement “Sour Room” dedicated to that deliciously tart sudsy iteration.
Chona Kasinger
THE OLD SAGE, Seattle, WA
What you're getting: Summer Smash
Opened by the team behind some of Seattle's sweetest eat/drink spots
(Spur Gastropub, Tavern Law), TOS is a casual take on an old-school
drinking club (right down to the shelves stocked with second-hand books,
and the ironic portrait of a teetotaling city father) where chefs
McCracken & Tough are pairing hugely attractive smoked meat/seafood
dishes with a huge range of smoky, Scotch-based cocktails like an
Amontillado sherry/lemon/Demerara combo that's called what Will Smith
and Tom Cruise could really use about now: a Summer Smash.
Bradley Foster
VON TRAPP'S, Seattle, WA
What you're getting: A German Beer
If you like beer, or beer-based cocktails, or lawn games, or artisanal
housemade sausages, then Von Trapp's -- a massive 420-seat suds hall
from the guys behind Poquitos (and Bastille, and Stoneburner, and
Macleod's), fitted with two bars, five indoor bocce courts, two elevated
mezzanine-style sitting areas, and a "bier den" tricked out like a
grandiose Bavarian hunting lodge -- will be like The Sound Of Music to
your ears.
Leo Schmid
2 BIRDS 1 STONE, Washington, DC
What you're getting: The Daily Punch
Tired of drinking in bars that just kind of look like bars? Well then,
welcome to 2B/1S, which sits below popular DC resto Doi Moi behind an
unmarked door and -- from the outside -- pretty much looks exactly like
an apartment, save for the little lamp with the bird on it. But, on the
inside, the guys behind Estadio and Proof have created a sleek space to
showcase their cocktails, which you can order after perusing their
hand-drawn, comic-book-style menu. Though, if you’re smart, you’re just
getting the punch of the day, then heading to one of the little alcoves
to try and tongue kiss Tipper Gore. Or, like, a hot chick or whomever.
Laura Hayes
BLUEJACKET, Washington, DC
What you're getting: James & the Giant; the Stroppy pale ale
A former munitions manufacturing warehouse that's now turning out a
completely different type of rounds, Bluejacket is a 7000sqft DC Navy
Yard brewery/bar/restaurant from the same folks behind the wildly
successful ChurchKey and Birch & Barley. They brew many of their
beers on-site, such as the 9% ABV James & the Giant, a Belgian
strong blond made with Pennsylvania peaches, and're preparing to churn
out even more varieties (than their 20 current offerings), like sour
beers aged in wine barrels. Also expect to have some seriously awesome
bar snacks, like five-spice pork rinds and fries topped with "General
Satan's Sauce", which we can only assume was created by General Tso's
more diabolical comrade-in-arms.
Kevin Alexander is Thrillist's National
Food/Drink Executive Editor, and enjoys drinking gin, because it smells
like Christmas and secrets. Follow him to freedom/Twitter at KAlexander03.
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