The Best Places in the United States

Cash only, dark inside, and on any given night you might have to squeeze past a metal band unloading gear in the parking lot just to get through the door. Palo Verde is a Tempe dive bar where construction workers in hi-vis vests share the rail with ASU newcomers and neighborhood lifers. Drinks are cheap and poured strong, and the bartender has your order memorized before you've taken your jacket off.

The décor lands somewhere in the early 1900s, all dark wood and barroom nostalgia, which makes the drink program feel like a deliberate prank. This Uptown cocktail bar carries over a hundred craft cocktails, the Ramos Gin Fizz among them, built around what the team calls a "progressive" approach to mixing. The State Thomas neighborhood keeps it grounded; the menu keeps it weird in the best possible direction.

The chandeliers have been hanging since the 1930s, back when this building was a department store, and they still look better than anything installed recently. Pegasus City Brewery turned it into a downtown taproom, keeping the art deco bones and adding a clean black-and-white bar that pours easy-drinking house beers. Grab a window seat and you've got Commerce Street on one side and your pint on the other, which is a fine arrangement.

Peticolas runs a split-level taproom out of an industrial building in West Dallas, with English, Irish, and Scottish-style ales brewed on-site. It's a semi-official FC Dallas supporters' bar, showing everything from Champions League to regional Mexican matches, which explains the noise level on a Tuesday. When there's nothing on the screens, the upstairs has foosball, ping pong, and shuffleboard to fill the gap.

A craft brewery taproom in north Scottsdale that solved the age-old standoff between beer nerds and sports fans by simply installing TVs everywhere. The brewmaster leans toward classic European styles, rotating Czech lagers, English milds, and an Oktoberfest marzen through the taps. The covered patio connects to a permanent BBQ food trailer, so there's no reason to leave at halftime. Phoenix New Times named it Best New Brewery of 2025.

Townes Van Zandt played this stage, and so did the Chicks at their first Dallas show, which tells you everything about the room's taste. Poor David's is an old-school live music bar, been around forever, built around a serious lineup of country, folk, and acoustic acts. There's a big bar, plenty of space to settle in, and the kind of crowd that actually listens.

A cowboy-hat-wearing doorman perched on a barstool out front marks the door at this Western-themed dive bar on Ross Avenue. Inside, a beer-chugging bass fish watches over the pool table and neon booths, while glitter-filled drinks pay tribute to Dolly Parton. Out back, a patio big enough for line dancing hosts chicken shit bingo, with actual chickens making the call.

The 12 tap handles are mounted in a repurposed fire truck behind the bar, which tells you everything you need to know about the vibe. Roosters is a country bar that's been an East Valley institution forever, with a red-and-black checkered dance floor, pool tables, live music most nights, open mics, and karaoke. A second stage and beer tubs sit out on the smoking patio. Strangers introduce you to their friends before the first round is done.

Rainbow decor flags this as the anchor bar of Dallas's gayborhood on Cedar Springs, and the vibe is loose, colorful, and cheap in the best way. Roy G's is a diner bar where the shot combos come with candy as a chaser and the prices make a Thursday feel like a Friday. The food, from a pickle-brined chicken sandwich to a smash burger, holds its own against the drinks, which is a higher bar than it sounds.

Erykah Badu's band plays here regularly, and Badu herself has been known to walk up and join them unannounced. That's the kind of thing that happens at Sandaga 813, a laid-back music lounge across from Fair Park where the booking swings from reggae nights to jazz and the room hums accordingly. No frills, no posturing, just a dark and groovy space that takes its sound seriously.

Pint glasses hang from the ceiling and dollar bills plaster the columns at this Irish pub tucked into the back of a downtown Phoenix hotel. The menu runs shepherd's pie, fish and chips, and beef stew, with Guinness on draft doing most of the heavy lifting. A jug of apple pie shots on the bar suggests the night can go a few different directions. Phoenix New Times named it one of the top 100 bars in the city in 2025.

Ships is a dive bar that's been around forever, wedged between the Lower Greenville club strip and an old East Dallas neighborhood. That geography shows up in the crowd: regulars who've held the same barstool for decades sit a few seats from musicians and late-night stragglers catching a game. The old guard enforces a genuine no-cussing policy, so keep it civil, or at least quieter than you planned.

Palomas come in tajín-rimmed Jarritos bottles here, and the bartender's expression suggests you should feel lucky to have one. Sidewinder is a diner-bar in Garfield that leans hard into the dingy-vintage aesthetic, the kind of place where a $3 Bud Heavy and a sloppy joe feel like the whole point. It was opened by the team behind an upscale French bistro, which explains nothing and everything at once.

Eighteen floors above Mill Avenue, this open-air rooftop bar and pool lounge sits atop The Westin Tempe, claiming the highest perch of any outdoor bar in the Valley. The bar itself is the only covered spot up there, so order first, then wander the full 360 degrees: A Mountain one way, the Mill Avenue Bridge glowing at night the other. Seasonal cocktails and local Arizona beers do the heavy lifting, with flatbreads and tacos for ballast.

Dark wood booths and old-world clutter give this Irish pub on Henderson a genuinely lived-in feel, even though it hasn't been around forever. A covered deck out back shifts the mood from cozy to open-air in about twenty steps. The beer menu runs from Hoegaarden and Paulaner to local Deep Ellum pours, and the food leans classic bar with a Tex-Mex detour. Whoever programs the 80s rock soundtrack is the unsung hero of the operation.

The sprawling outdoor courtyard is what makes St. Pete's the anchor of Deep Ellum. It's a neighborhood bar that also runs a solid kitchen, which means you can grab a stool and a beer or actually eat a meal, depending on your Thursday. The scene around it has shifted for years, but the bar hasn't bothered to notice. If you've been looking for a regular's spot to call your own, the counter here has been waiting.

Shrek raves, all-trans oil wrestling, and Christmas burlesque in July: the weekly calendar at this LGBTQ bar on 7th Avenue reads like a dare. The dance floor splits the difference between intimate and actually dancing, surrounded by decor that suggests Dracula discovered neon. The back patio exists for the moment you want to learn someone's name. Karaoke, drag brunch, and gothed-out Wednesday nights fill in the gaps.

A dive bar on Lower Greenville where the TVs outnumber the opinions, which is saying something. Stan's Blue Note runs on sports, cheap pitchers, and a rotation of barstools and soft couches that makes a four-hour game feel almost reasonable. Table shuffleboard and foosball cover the gaps when nothing's on. The Cowboys will probably lose, and this is a perfectly decent place to watch that happen.

The Yelp complaint that someone left about the music not being changeable is basically the place's mission statement. Strangeways is an East Dallas neighborhood craft beer bar with a patio, walls covered in eclectic art, and a vibe that has no interest in pleasing everyone. The beer selection earned a Dallas Observer nod. Watch for flight nights and pop-up dinners when they surface.

Three outdoor patios, one of them rooftop, is a lot of square footage dedicated to a Dallas evening. Sundown at Granada is a live music bar on Greenville Avenue, sitting next door to the Granada Theater and pulling some of the same touring acts onto its own stage. Inside, the lighting is kept low in the way bars should be. The bar staff moves fast, and the kitchen punches above the usual bar-food ceiling, which makes it an easy place to stay all night.

Perched above the old Lakewood Theater, this dimly lit jazz bar has the kind of second-floor intimacy that makes the rest of Dallas feel very far away. The dance floor leaves just enough room for cheek-to-cheek, which is either charming or a fire hazard depending on your mood. Bring someone you want to know better, because the room will do the rest of the work. D Magazine named it the city's top jazz bar in 2025.

A red light over an unmarked alley door is the only sign you've found the right place. The Branca Room is a speakeasy-style Argentine cocktail bar tucked behind Chimichurri Bistro in Bishop Arts, lit by crystal chandeliers and hung with Argentine art. The drinks lean into amaro and vermouth, and the cocktail menu has a sense of theater, one arrives in an IV bag.

The weathered wood and dim light on Gaston Avenue look exactly right for a place where the blues actually shows up. The Goat is a bar and music venue where talented blues acts take the stage most nights and weekends, with karaoke folded in when the mood shifts. D Magazine gave it Best Place to Get a Beer Before 8 AM, which tells you something about the hours and the regulars.

A sign above the bathroom explicitly bans cocaine, which tells you most of what you need to know about The Grapevine's charms. This sprawling neighborhood bar and kitchen moved from its beloved pink adobe on Maple Avenue a couple years back, and the regulars followed, along with most of the staff. Strong drinks, plenty of outdoor space, boudin balls from the new kitchen, basketball on screens, and karaoke when the mood strikes.

A big patio courtyard anchors this laid-back sports bar on Lemmon, where misters and shade trees keep the crowd functional even in a Texas August. Inside it's dark and comfortable in the way a good neighborhood bar should be. The bar food runs better than the setting implies, with the pizzas pulling more orders than you'd expect. Service is quick and genuinely warm, and regulars have a way of making newcomers feel like they've been coming here for years.

Aerial performers suspended from the ceiling set the tone at this live music and entertainment club on Main Street. The owner is Allen Falkner, known as the father of modern suspension, so the programming leans toward the spectacular. EDM nights gave way to a rotating calendar of live acts, burlesque, and aerial shows. Tacos are available when the music's running, which is a practical detail worth knowing before you hit the dance floor.

Plywood floors and neon signs for Busch Light and PBR set the mood at this Greenville Avenue dive bar, and the mood is firmly "nowhere to be." Cheap beers, darts, and well-priced shots are about the full extent of the program, which is precisely the point. The kind of place where regulars need no introduction and newcomers feel at home by the second round.

A neighborhood bar where the kitchen runs until 1:30 a.m. and happy hour stretches to 10 p.m. on weekdays, which tells you everything about who this place is for. Service industry workers fill the stools after their shifts, drawn by strong pours and a late-night burger that gets talked about seriously. The jukebox swings from Lizzo to Jerry Jeff Walker without apology. Cash in hand, no dress code required.

Texas tchotchkes cover every surface at this sprawling Uptown bar, and a live music stage ensures you'll be shouting over something with a twang before the night is done. It's the kind of place where Texas beers on tap outnumber your options for conversation topics, which is probably the point. Big, loud, and unapologetically themed, it draws a crowd that came dressed for exactly this.

A red light on a side street marks the entrance, and from there you're following the speakeasy script to the letter: website password, narrow hallway, bookcase door. What's behind it is a dark cocktail bar with leather seating, Victorian details, and locked cabinets of private-label spirits. The drinks lean technical, with bacon fat-washed bourbon and toasted tortilla bitters among the building blocks. The kind of place that makes suburbanites feel delightfully conspiratorial.

Books hang from a clothesline in the backyard, which tells you most of what you need to know about this Oak Cliff bar and coffee shop tucked into a charming old house at the edge of Bishop Arts. It doubles as a bookshelf-lined indie bookstore, with foreign titles and small-press finds sharing space with your pint. Shakespeare in the Bar happens here, as do concerts and readings. Bring the dog.

A dark, cozy cocktail bar in Oak Cliff with a faint old Hollywood atmosphere inside and a sprawling dog-friendly patio out back that leans more Sunday afternoon than Saturday night. Happy hour runs seven days a week, which is either generous or a cry for help, and the classic cocktails are priced accordingly. A tight food menu punches beyond bar snacks, with scratch-made pastas showing up alongside the usual suspects.

A small Bob Ross shrine materialized organically behind the bar here, one piece at a time, and nobody stopped it. That sets the tone for this cocktail bar just west of Bishop Arts, where the drinks are serious but the attitude is neighborly. The classics menu leans on genuine pillars of the canon, and happy hour runs deep into the week. Weeknights feel like catching up; weekends feel like something else entirely.

A massive patio bar tucked off Lowest Greenville where the menu is deliberately short: Philly cheesesteak, a sandwich, nachos, and that's the whole argument. The beers on tap include brews from their own By The Horns brewery in Mansfield, which gives the place a little more personality than your average outdoor bar. It draws the kind of crowd that would rather eat outside on a Tuesday than anywhere fancy on a Saturday.

The smoked meatloaf plate, with house-ground beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, tells you everything about what this downtown Dallas dive bar is up to. Hockey on the TVs, whiskey and craft beer behind the bar, and a menu that takes bar food more seriously than its gritty room suggests it will. The fancy bologna sandwich is a standing option; the pork tenderloin shows up Friday through Sunday for those who plan ahead.