2629 Best Bars in USA

The old-fashioned bar and lounge on the Driskill's mezzanine level is where history is made, from heavy-hitting modern political deals sealed with a handshake to storied LBJ lore like when he proposed to Lady Bird here. Rich fabrics, dark wood, and cowhide aplenty give this bar a warm and cozy appeal. Patrons can enjoy live music every weekend paired with stiff cocktails in a truly elegant Texas setting.

Making the most of its spot on Waikiki Beach, Duke's is a bustling destination featuring live music every day. This laid-back bar-and-grill's surf theme pays homage to Duke Kahanamoku, who popularized the sport in the early 1900s. Contemporary Hawaiian musicians like Henry Kapono and the Maunalua group have performed here, as have nationally known musicians like the late Jimmy Buffett. It's not unusual for surfers to leave their boards outside to step in for a casual drink after a long day on the waves. The cocktail menu is filled with Island-style drinks: try a sunset sour or coconut mojito while watching the Waikiki waves.

The dark bartop with cozy wooden booths at Dutch Kills—a cocktail den with a nod to the neighborhood's historic roots—serves finely crafted drinks for $18 each. Try Tokyo Tea, made with red oolong tea gin, creme de cassis, and lemon juice, or Tommy's Margarita, with your choice of tequila or mezcal. Expect precisely chiseled chunks of ice and skilled bartenders who, with a few queries into your preferences and curiosities, can create a concoction just to your taste. Not just drinks, but entertainment, too, the Queens cocktail bar recently opened Debbie's, a live music venue just upstairs.

This bustling gastropub produces unusual, boldly flavorful ales in the Belgian style, some using distinctive botanicals—lemongrass, ginger root—rather than hops. The food is terrific, there's an airy outdoor beer garden, and musicians perform many evenings.

Echo Park is peppered with music venues, but if you want to be in the heart of the neighborhood's live music scene, you should head to the Echo. With a full bar and recurring theme nights, the spot hosts cutting-edge music from both up-and-coming local and touring acts as well as well-known bands.

Fans of boldly flavored brews flock to this spacious, airy brewery and pub at the south end of the Mississippi strip, which also has a big pup-friendly patio that's abuzz with revelers on summer afternoons. Founder John Harris is as obsessed with astronomy as he is with beer, hence the cosmic names of beers, which include Quasar Pale Ale and Phobos Single Hop Red Ale.  Brewery tours are offered at noon three times a week.

The back of a gas station is perhaps the most unexpected location for a wine bar, yet for 30 years a passion for good food and drink has kept this family-run business among Miami's best-kept secrets—although they've added a sign outside. Tables are in the Old World–style wine cellar, stocked with bottles representing all parts of the globe (and at excellent prices). A waiter takes your order from the menu of exquisite cheeses and charcuterie, hot and cold tapas, paellas, and, of course, wine.

Jazz fanatics love to hold court at this basement locale, named one of the top 10 jazz venues in the country by famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. A respected (and locally loved) venue established in 1991, the Elephant is one of the reasons Austin still earns its keep as the "Live Music Capital of the World," with acclaimed local and traveling talent performing onstage every night of the week.

The cocktails are well crafted and affordable (by pricey San Francisco standards) at the city's second-oldest saloon location—various watering holes have operated on this site since 1858. It's San Francisco's best example of a vintage neighborhood favorite with the finest elements of a modern ingredient-focused cocktail bar. Cocktail geeks and sports fans mingle in the same room. Don't miss the holiday cocktails in December.

This place may have toys and knickknacks around the bar (including a case of macabre baby-doll heads), but when it comes to booking rock, punk, and jazz bands from the indie scene, it's a serious place with no pretensions. Grab some grub next door at Pizza Friendly Pizza before the show—the thick Sicilian-style squares, created in collaboration with fine dining vet Noah Sandoval, are among the best pizza bets in the whole city.

Based in a large garage-like space in Southeast Portland's trendy Buckman neighborhood, ENSO produces superb wines, including Malbec, Dry Riesling, and the especially popular L'American blend of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. The high-ceilinged, industrial-chic tasting lounge—with exposed air ducts, a timber-beam ceiling, and a wall of windows (open on warm days)—serves local cheese and charcuterie plates and other tasty snacks.

Ramshackle Ernie's shares a corrugated tin building with a frozen-in-time roadside garage, with part of the bar actually in the garage. Mounted stag heads and a toothy wild boar watch over this rural neighborhood hangout with a long narrow bar, a patio outside, and Pliny the Elder and another 20 or so brews on tap. There’s often live music on weekends. Signs everywhere ban cell phone use, though patrons and staffers occasionally flout them.

Originally opened in 1933 following the end of Prohibition, the Esquire Tavern has a storied past as the oldest riverfront bar on the River Walk. The legendary locale even claims to be the longest bar in Texas, at 100 feet. The sleek, dark 1930s interior blends well with an elevated pub-style menu. The evolving seasonal classic cocktail menu is a favorite of locals and visitors alike. The intimate Downstairs area is directly on the River Walk and is open Friday and Saturday from 7 pm to 2 am.

There's really only one place in downtown Austin known for its rip-roaring comedy shows. Esther's has kept Austin rolling with laughter for more than 25 years. Reservations for their popular, award-winning variety shows are required. 

The brews on Evil Genius's menu are as delicious as they are uniquely named. With options like Purple Monkey Dishwasher (a chocolate–peanut butter porter) and Ma! The Meatloaf (a Belgian white ale), the beers stick out, and for good reason. Within the Front Street brewpub, the beers are brewed and moved just a few steps to the often-busy bar. Guests can order flights, pints, and a selection of easy-to-eat food like grilled-cheese sandwiches, tacos, and dips. Brewery tours are available.

Operated by Kyle Webster and his wife, celeb-chef partner Naomi Pomeroy, this intimate, candlelit spot has a devoted following for its balanced, boozy cocktails and addictively delicious Asian bar snacks, like Burmese coconut noodles and Laotian-inspired ahi tacos. Each of the eight nightly cocktails are meticulously crafted.

A walk-in refrigerator harbors the secret entrance to this tiki-themed speakeasy, which is attached to the full-service restaurant Craft & Commerce. Beneath fishing nets full of puffer-fish lights and elaborate tiki-head wall carvings, the knowledgeable staff serves creative takes on tropical classics with the best selection of rums in town.  The bar fills up quickly, especially on weekends. Make a reservation online a week or more in advance.

Step back to a bygone era when you enter the jukebox front door of this hip-movin' shag spot that's constantly hosting shag contests. Two different dance floors guarantee you can find a melody that gets you dancing, or just hang along the edges and take in the action. The Shag City Grill sells burgers and sandwiches.

You can have two completely different experiences at The Fed—midweek and not. Tuesday through Thursday the "British-inspired cocktail bar with a sophisticated New England twist" tends to be absolutely jammed with nearby finance and banking workers, but over the weekend, the vibe is a bit more quiet. With low lights, leather high-top stools at the bar, and a fancy take on casual food, you'll feel like you're truly out for a night on the town. And don't forget the divine cocktails.

One of the latest venues to further Hood River's reputation as something of a mini Brewvana, Ferment uses traditional farmhouse techniques to craft complex beers as well as kombucha, from Bavarian-inspired smoked dunkelweisse to Japanese-style sensa kombucha. The gorgeous, airy tasting room has huge windows overlooking the waterfront, and the kitchen turns out tasty gastropub fare that utilizes the brewery's fermentation-forward approach—think salt and vinegar fries with kombucha ketchup and house-pickled veggies.

Reimagined classics crafted with precision are this nautical-themed cocktail bar's stock-in-trade. Lit with restraint, it nimbly walks the line between kitsch and hip, with a long bar, elevated booths, high-tops, and a low-slung rear lounge area to suit your mood. The entertainment includes trivia nights and live music, including the occasional ukulele plucked with verve by the bar's puckish owner.

Created by devoted soccer fans from Belfast, this popular and expansive neighborhood bar opens up as early as 6 am for European soccer matches. Fan groups of all sports teams as well as neighborhood regulars flock here for its ample TVs, indoor and outdoor seating, pool and darts, and a kitchen serving tasty pub fare. On Monday night, there's popular and competitive trivia, and if you happen to be in town for St. Patrick's Day, don't miss their rollicking daylong festival.

With a covered deck overlooking an 80-acre orchard just south of Port Townsend, this festive contemporary cider garden has developed a national reputation for its handcrafted ciders, with bold flavor combinations like apple-and-habanero and crabapple-blueberry. Live music, poetry readings, and other performances are offered many afternoons and early evenings, and the kitchen serves creative gastropub fare.

The iconic First Avenue & Seventh Street Entry is where locals go to hear top rock groups and to get their groove on. Prince played as a regular at the club in the '80s, and it was featured in his movie Purple Rain.

Opened in 2017 by a group of beer lovers that includes the great-great-grandson of the owner of the original Fisher Brewing, which flourished from the late 1800s to 1967, this lively taproom in the Granary District produces some of the finest beers in the city. Have a seat on the dog-friendly patio. Rotating food trucks dispense tasty fare.

A bar, vinyl shop, and indie-music public radio station inside a century-old warehouse, Folklore draws Napans, visitors, and wine-industry and creative types. Before heading elsewhere for dinner, many early-evening patrons quaff expertly crafted cocktails while nibbling on bar snacks, tinned-fish boards, salads, or "in-between" fare like merguez hot dogs with kimchi and saffron aioli, but a goodly number stay put for slightly more substantial fare.