2610 Best Bars in USA

Located inside the Plaza Hotel & Casino, this dive bar is renowned for stiff drinks and hard living. While the original Sand Dollar near Chinatown is renowned for live music (it opened in 1976 and has a long history of being a great place for live blues), the Downtown outpost is more of a watering hole. A modest menu from Pop Up Pizza is available all night long; just be prepared to wait a while for food.

For decades the home of off-Strip rock and blues, this Las Vegas institution lies tucked away in an office park so bland as to be invisible by day. Its fortunes have risen and fallen over the years, but the place is riding high enough now that it has a second location Downtown, inside the Plaza. Once a pitch-black joint where you could choke on cigarette smoke, The Sand Dollar is lighter and brighter these days, with a friendly center bar separating the “pool table side” from the “music side.” The music gets going at 10 pm and the bands vary by genre, but the larger umbrella is the “Austin sound” of rootsy blues and rock. Good pizza helps soak up the craft cocktails and beer.

Live music, dancing, karaoke, drink specials, Christmas in July, and toga parties—this is the place to party in Ocean Beach if you're post-college age, or want to feel as if you are.

Locally owned and operated, SandBar Nashville has a coastal vibe in the middle of the city. It’s best to visit on sunny days when you can sip on something refreshing—like their boozy juice pouches—and watch a sand volleyball game from the patio.

In many ways, the Baytowne Wharf—with its restaurants, nightspots, and jam-packed schedule of festivals and other events—is the beating heart of the Sandestin Resort. When the sun goes down, though, the fun here really revs up. Live-music venues include John Wehner's Village Door Nightclub and Rum Runners, home of the "World Famous" dueling pianos. Fat Tuesday Daiquiri Bar adds to a "spirited" evening, and Hammerhead's Bar & Grille promises to stay open "until the fun stops."

This classic dive bar with live music on weekends has been in Laguna since the 1940s.

A bit off the beaten path, about a 20-minute drive south of the Plaza right where the Turquoise Trail intersects with Interstate 25, the state's oldest brewery serves fine ales at its two-story flagship location, the Beer Hall at HQ. Food is sometimes available via an outdoor shipping container kitchen. Across the parking lot, the outdoor music venue, the Bridge, hosts live bands. Santa Fe Brewing Company also has a small downtown tasting room called the Brakeroom tucked into a historic building on Galisteo Street.

Microdistillery Santa Fe Spirits operates this convivial tasting room from a small adobe home tucked on a side street. Known for its award-winning Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, Wheeler's Gin, and Apple Brandy, among several other robust elixirs, it's a great place to sip drinks on the cute little patio on warm evenings. Distillery tours, by reservation, are available at the main production facility out near the Santa Fe airport.

A kitschy dive bar—that's cash-only—with a holiday twist, Santa's is located in a double-wide trailer decorated with vintage and retro Christmas decorations, including a faux flickering fireplace. This karaoke spot is loved by all sorts, including Ed Sheeran, who hung out there after a summer 2023 record-breaking show at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. Open until the wee hours with cheap beer (no liquor is served), the pub is also located within walking distance of GEODIS Park.

Sapphire is billed as \"the world's largest gentlemen's club,\" and until willing volunteers comb the globe to verify the claim, there's no disputing it here. After all, Sapphire was once a gym, which explains the 70,000-square-foot sprawl and the adjacent swimming pool, which operates seasonally as Sapphire Day Club (it's not topless, but there's plenty of indoor-outdoor commerce if you find a dancer you like outside working on her tan). There are no bargains here beyond the usual free-transportation and VIP-upgrade promotions, but the sheer spectacle when you first walk in may well justify the inflated drink prices and $50 cover. The adjacent El Dorado Cantina shares an owner and many customers but is a worthy enough 24-hour Mexican restaurant in its own right. Resorts World is now across the street and has brought a crosswalk and traffic light to the intersection just across from the club at Industrial Road—an addition only more likely to keep Sapphire at the top of the jiggle-joint heap.

In the lobby of a former brothel in lively Hawthorne, the deep-red, candlelit Sapphire Hotel serves cocktails, beer, and wine with an intimate, sultry atmosphere. There's a terrific food menu, too, served late and at bargain prices during happy hour—try the salmon cakes with mustard aioli or the tinned-fish board.

Put on your dancing shoes and step back in time. The Sassafras boasts not only an oddly cozy, Southern-style atmosphere, but also plenty of opportunities to strut your moves on the dance floor. Indulge in exquisite craft mezcal, whiskey, and tequila cocktails for some liquid courage before you dance the night away.

Reminiscent of an old roadside honky tonk, Savannah Smiles features dueling piano players that take requests via napkins, and a tip will get your song bumped up in the playlist. Patrons are encouraged to participate in the onstage antics. The kitchen is open late.

If you can get past the Saxon's lackluster exterior on an ugly stretch of South Lamar, then you'll find a phenomenal local music experience. Bands play every night, usually from the local rock, country, and blues scene. There's Shiner Bock on tap and a well-worn pool table that draws regulars from all over the city. The legendary venue always packs bands in back-to-back throughout SXSW.

One of the most famous bars in Louisiana, this Art Deco gem and slinger of fine libations has a pedigree that dates back to the mid-19th century. Drawn to the signature Sazerac cocktail and Ramos gin fizz, a famous and intriguing clientele has graced this hotel bar over the years, including Governor Huey P. Long, who in the 1930s built a 90-mile highway between New Orleans and the state capital, just so, many believe, he could get directly to the hotel lounge for his signature drink.

This low-key bar is the lone remaining LGBTQ+ hangout in the West End, which used to be the city's gay nightlife district (most of the gay bars are now spread around the city). There's a pool table, and light food service noon to closing. The plate-glass windows offer a view of Harvey Milk Street, and there's also popular sidewalk seating.

This open-air waterfront bar and grill retains its funky Key West charm and hosts live entertainment daily. Its margaritas rank among Key West's best, as does the bar itself, voted Best Local's Bar six years in a row. For great views, head up to the second floor and be sure to order up some fresh seafood and fritters and Dark and Stormy cocktails.

Built as a "tied house" in 1903 by the Schlitz Brewing Company (whose logo still adorns the exterior), Schubas Tavern favors local and national power pop, indie rock, and folk musicians. The laid-back, wood-paneled back room is the perfect place to hear artists who are just about to make it big. The attached and appropriately named restaurant, Tied House, serves creative comfort food.

Beer tastes better inside a castle, served in a heavy glass mug and backed by Bavarian oompah music. That's the scene at this German-inspired beer hall and outdoor biergarten inside a towering gate and turreted walls.

This friendly newcomer to the Granary District's hip Central 9th strip offers a vast selection of ciders from all over the world, with about 20 available on tap and many others sold in bottles and cans. Scion also produces its own small-batch ciders, and the staff is incredibly knowledgeable—if you're new to cider sipping, they'll steer you in the right direction. Wine, beer, cider cocktails, and cheese and charcuterie plates are offered, too.

That the once-shabby stretch on which the Scofflaw sits grows hipper by the month is no coincidence; the cozy, brick-walled cocktail bar, which boasts a huge collection of gin, put the intersection of Kedzie and Armitage Avenues on the map. The kitchen—which turns out one of the city's best burgers—stays open till 1 am.

Few San Francisco bars can match the drink quality paired with the friendly atmosphere here. Cocktails are creative and well-made; the craft beer roster is strong; there's a pool table; and dogs often watch sports at the bar with their human owners. Then there's the main decor talking piece: an octopus chandelier below the Gilded Age–evoking ceiling.

The waterside often presents four live bands at four different entertainment venues. The crowds run in age from those in their early 20s on through baby boomers, proving that you're never too old to sip a piña colada while on an inner tube.

With its low lighting and cozy seating, SeaMonster makes the tame Wallingford neighborhood just a little bit sexier. The space is small and the stage is sandwiched between the bar and a few tables—but that just makes it all the more intimate and friendly. The bar presents high-quality local acts, mainly of the jazz, funk, and soul varieties.

Enjoy one of the dozen European brews on draft at this fun and friendly place. It also has one of the largest scotch collections in Arizona. A small kitchen turns out traditional Irish fare.

This chatter-filled taproom inside the old city jail is as worthy a stop for well-crafted, European-influenced beers, including a potent Belgian Tripel and sweet but lightly hoppy vanilla cream ale, as for the extensive menu of pub fare. Texas-style brisket, sausages, and cod fish-and-chips are among the top noshables.

The Railyard location of this local brewpub is especially popular thanks to the easy walking distance from Downtown hotels. There's great live music (usually rock or folk) or DJs most nights along with a rotating selection of terrific beers. A substantial food menu includes good burgers and pub favorites.

The lively taproom of local favorite Second Street Brewery is located in a 20,000-square-foot building that houses a production brewery and canning line. Popular for its live music line-up, it offers an extensive pub food menu (including everything from tater tots to ramen), and has a large, dog-friendly deck. Located near Meow Wolf and other arts-focused start-ups and nonprofits, it's one of the best places to rub elbows with Santa Fe's hippest locals.

This moody bar inside the historic Hotel St. Francis has long been known for its creative craft cocktails, including a classic Manhattan with a clove tincture spritzed over the top and a popular smoked-sage margarita. Food from the restaurant next door can be enjoyed in the bar, and you can also sample superb New Mexico wines at Gruet Winery's Tasting Room, just across the hotel lobby.