2610 Best Bars in USA

The original idea was a clever one for a perennially drizzly city: indoor mini golf for grownups and a great local draft beer list. Flatstick Pub's fun-focused concept was such a hole-in-one that it's since expanded to six locations total around the region, including this underground Pioneer Square spot. Set in an industrial-cool space with brick walls, exposed ducts, and colorful artwork, Flatstick features a mini golf course that spells out "Seattle" and a 12-foot tall Space Needle that lights up if you sink it on your first try. You can also try your hand at Stick Putt (think skee-ball meets putting) and Duffleboard, a Flatstick-invented tabletop golf game.

The quirky murals at all Flatstick locations were painted by local artist Ryan Henry Ward. If you spend any time driving around Seattle, you're sure to see his art and prominent simple signature on a building or wall; he's the city's most prolific muralist, with works sometimes featuring Pacific Northwest subjects, including Sasquatch. Not everyone appreciates his widespread whimsy, but nobody can deny his art is a memorable part of the cityscape.

One of Las Vegas's longest-running gay bars closed its longtime home on West Charleston Boulevard in late 2022 so that it could move to the East Side, in what's become an expanded area of Las Vegas's gay district along Twain Avenue, right next door to another alternative favorite, Fun Hog Ranch.

One of a few locations around the globe, this popular bar that is focused on playing darts was one of the first in town to offer organized socializing with cocktails on the side. The Flight Club's proprietary Social Darts is a technology-based multiplayer game that simulates the well-known dive bar pastime. Playing groups get their own seating area for 90 minutes ($15 per person) and can order drinks and food (sharing plates and flatbread).

Across Market Avenue to the south is the Flying Fig, where martinis are king and appetizers are irresistible.

Offering a regular menu of about a dozen handcrafted beers, including a much lauded black IPA and a heady barley wine as well as a few seasonal varieties—made with hops grown on-site—this pub and solar-powered brewery is a hit with beer connoisseurs. The kitchen serves juicy ribs, paper-thin onion rings, excellent burgers, and other tasty victuals.

This Fire Island institution, steps away from where the ferry from Bay Shore docks, overflows with not-long-out-of-college singles enjoying drinks and live music. If you want to skip the scene, come for lunch. Their dinner cruise (July and August, Tuesday–Thursday, departing at 7; $39, plus $14 for the ferry) includes a big buffet of seafood, sliced roast, ribs, and all the fixings, and attracts people of all ages.

A friendly spot to grab a beer and a snack while checking email—or visiting with the locals—the Fogcutter epitomizes the laid-back, unpretentious vibe for which Alaskans are known.

A quasi-subterranean bar with a nautical theme and a penchant for rum drinks, the Folly is a cool, refreshing place to chill out when the temperatures are high. The frozen painkiller—rum, creme de coconut, and pineapple juice—soothes the misery of a blazing day. The happy hour goes until 8 pm on weekdays and the snack menu includes crab mac and cheese and roasted garlic hummus.

Right on the edge of the Walk of Fame, this historic venue was one of the area's first theaters when it opened in 1926. The Spanish Colonial--style theater now hosts some of the biggest names in indie music, but don't expect any major acts on the calendar. Drinks are pricey—so grab a cocktail on Hollywood Boulevard before the show—as is parking, which will cost you at least $25 in the adjacent lot.

Pete's, in Queen Village, could easily be mistaken for just another neighborhood watering hole, but the menu is eclectic, featuring a regularly changing lineup of creative food alongside the requisite wings and burgers.

While the Marina and Cow Hollow are filled with bars, this throwback record album–themed charmer is surprisingly the only (non-restaurant-affiliated) craft cocktail bar in the area. The sharply designed space has a clubby meets groovy feel with tufted leather banquettes and Summer of Love floral wallpaper. Cocktails are ambitious and exciting but, like the bar's atmosphere, completely free of pretension.

Burial Beer Co. transformed their Biltmore-area production facility—once the building that housed laborers constructing the Blue Ridge Parkway—into this casual hangout spot known for wild and sour beers and a kitchen dishing out entrées like cassoulet and pan-roasted sea trout. 

Grab a seat outdoors or in the taproom of this award-winning local craft brewery while you listen to live music and order small bites from food trucks. It offers 25 beers on tap daily, and its crowd-pleasing offerings range from refreshing spiked seltzers to a decadent chocolate–peanut butter porter. Try a few with a flight, and take a growler of your favorite home. Both pets and kids are welcome.

Most San Francisco brewery taprooms are lacking in decor since they're usually just part of a warehouse-like brewing complex. That isn't the case with this sleek, beautifully designed bar-restaurant serving approachable, fun beers from a brewery next to Crissy Field. This is also the rare San Francisco brewery with a notable food menu. Here, San Francisco's deep seafood history is featured, led by the terrific Dungeness crab roll, and nicely accompanies the IPAs and KSA Kölsch.

Ancient statues, tapestry-covered walls, pirated Mississippi road signs—the Foundation Room gets high marks for eclectic aesthetic appeal. Though membership is encouraged and comes with perks, this secluded subsidiary of the House of Blues is open to everyone seven nights a week, provided you're willing to wait in line. Reserve in advance for a reduced cover charge. The venue itself is a series of rooms, each with its own set of design themes and type of music that could range from Top 40 hits to house, depending on the night.  A main attraction is the view of the Strip; because the club is on the 43rd floor, it provides some of the best panoramic vistas of the entire town, but the views come with a hefty cover charge.

This small but spirited venue at the Graduate Athens hotel hosts both national and local acts, including many tribute acts. At intimate shows in this repurposed historic building, guests can dance the night away in front of the stage and enjoy good service, Southern comfort food, and local craft beers.

With footie on the screens, full English breakfasts and fish-and-chips coming from the kitchen, and pints aplenty (16 imported beers on draft and 12 in bottles to be precise), this pub is as British as it gets—though they do also air American football and basketball. There's a daily happy hour and weekly trivia, karaoke, and naughty game nights.

Enjoy some of the best cocktails in Nashville at this cozy hideaway tucked beneath Nicoletto's Italian Kitchen. Drinks are creative and fun, like the rotating selection of old fashioneds, with levels of adventurousness listed on the menu. The Fox is committed to sustainability, taking great pains to use local and seasonal ingredients. You'll likely want a reservation, as the small space fills up quickly most evenings.

It may have all the fixings of a typical sports bar, but this spunky spot with striped wallpaper and black-and-white photos of sports stars on the corner of 120th Street is far from average. If you want to meet some Harlem locals, this is your spot. Grab a seat at the bar while enjoying delicious small bites, beer on tap (plus weekly happy hour), and high-quality cocktails. Try the $10 happy hour margaritas and Moscow mules, naturally best paired with the organic chicken wings (which can also be prepared vegan). You catch local and international sports games here, anything from Mongolian archery to rugby, on one of the 12 flat screens around the bar. 

Stephen Starr's big, loud, and lively beer garden brings a bit of Bavaria to Fishtown's nightlife scene. Large groups are welcome, and you and your crew can sit outside at one of the large picnic tables, or hang indoors when it's too cold for the heat lamps. Draft beers, many of them German, come in half or full liters, accompanied by rib-sticking pretzels, wurst, and schnitzel. TVs show major sports games, and yard games are a popular pastime. Reservations are welcome, and a good idea, as space fills up for big games and events.

Frankie J's is a laid-back queer oasis in the middle of busting Germantown, just steps away from beloved restaurants like 5th & Taylor and Butchertown Hall. Stop in for cocktails and casual fare before a Sounds game, or enjoy one of the bar's many weekly events like Trivia Time Tuesdays. Frankie J's is 21+, so don't bring the kids, but leashed dogs are welcome.

It’s funky, cool, and dim (not to be confused with dark) at this Oceanside bar where locals come for textbook cocktails that are made the right way, like espresso martinis, classic Manhattans, and old fashioneds where big ice cubes are the only thing that get in the way between you and that final sip. Swivel up to the wooden bar or grab a Chesterfield booth along the brick wall. For the best deals, come on Thursday for all-day happy hour.

You want Polynesian tiki-bar culture, Vegas-style? You want grass huts, carved wooden furniture, and cocktails such as the \"Green Gasser,\" the \"Thurston Howl,\" the \"Lava Letch,\" and the \"Bearded Clam\"? You'll get it all here, and more, 24 hours a day in this small, windowless but thoroughly charming tiki bar that is utterly committed to its theme. The tiki mugs are all original, and if you love yours (and trust us, you will), there's a \"merch hut\" where you can buy one to bring the spirit of aloha home with you.

A neighborhood institution, the Franklin's renowned for creative cocktails, local microbrews, fine wines, and modern American food. There's no sign: just look for the white martini logo (or folks waiting for a dinner table) to know you're there. A full menu is served until 1:30 am every single night of the week, and the bar is open until 2 am.