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The Best Places to Drink in the United States

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  1. A steel gallery runs high around the room, stacked with antique bric-a-brac as if the trading company never quite unpacked. This atmospheric Tribeca bar leans heavily on the Portuguese Macau fantasy, all dark wood and red lantern atmosphere, and skews more restaurant than dive. Come for a cocktail and a reason to explain to your date that Macau predates Hong Kong by several centuries as a European foothold in East Asia.


  2. Rank 1780. Macleod's

    Beer Bar


  3. Rank 1780. Mayahuel

    Mexican

    Named after the Aztec goddess of the maguey plant, Mayahuel is a two-floor mezcal and tequila bar on the East Village's reliably lively 6th Street. Rustic booths, bare brick, hand-painted tiles, dark wood, iron, and candlelight do the decorating, leaving the agave spirits to do the talking. The cocktail list is the whole point here, built around a serious collection of both spirits for a crowd that knows the difference between the two.


  4. A wall lined with metal cafeteria trays and merit badges sets the tone at this sprawling Los Feliz bar, where the summer camp theme is played completely straight. The cocktail menu splits neatly into Citrus/Refreshing and Aromatic/Boozy, which is honestly a more useful taxonomy than most bars manage. The glassed-in fire pits on the patio do a convincing impression of a campfire, without the s'mores obligation.



  5. Rank 1780. Old Absinthe House

    Cocktail Bar

    The bar where the Absinthe Frappé was invented, back when this corner of Bourbon Street was still a serious place to drink. The original bar counter survived Prohibition by getting auctioned off and exiled down the block; it's back now, in a back room, which feels about right. A French Quarter institution that pulls tourists, locals, and everyone in between through the same swinging door, trading on history that most bars would kill for.


  6. Rank 1780. On the Rocks

    Beer Bar

    A whiskey bar on 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, small and sleek and stocked with over 200 bottles, ranging from everyday pours to Pappy Van Winkle at the kind of price that makes you sit up straight. There's no cocktail menu, but the staff know their classics, and the regulars mostly want a single-malt Scotch or an Old-Fashioned anyway. The beer list is longer than you'd expect for a place so clearly devoted to whiskey.


  7. The Hurricane, that tall, rum-soaked fruit bomb, is said to have been born here, though New York City has lodged a competing claim. Either way, Pat O'Brien's is where it became a phenomenon, and five bars spread across several rooms and a sprawling courtyard ensure you have ample space to test that theory. The carriageway entrance, lined with crossed muskets, sets the tone before you even order.


  8. The bar is a skinny brick-and-wood-floor sliver off the dining room, one row of tall tables against the wall and barely enough aisle to turn around in. A cocktail bar where the staff in flannel and jeans serves a menu that, despite the name, doesn't lean especially hard on rye whiskey. The attached restaurant runs fine-dining prices, so expect the drinks to match.


  9. Rank 1780. Rye House

    Cocktail Bar



  10. Rank 1780. Sweetwater Social

    Cocktail Bar


  11. Rank 1780. The Alibi

    Dive Bar



  12. Rank 1780. The Famous

    Cocktail Bar

    The entry corridor sets the tone: a wall-sized photo of the old Famous Department Store, vintage neighborhood shots lining the walls, and classic films rolling on the screens inside this cocktail lounge tucked into Glendale's historic Huntley-Evans building. Live bands and DJs take over on weekends. Most of the crowd is passing through before or after the Americana at Brand across the street, which makes the retro-local atmosphere feel like a quiet act of mild resistance.


  13. The original redwood paneling dates back forever, but Philippe Starck's redesign layered in an illuminated Venetian bar top, a floor-to-ceiling light-box back bar, and plasma screens set in classical frames that slowly animate the portraits hanging in them. A Martini in hand when a painted subject blinks at you is a specific kind of San Francisco evening. It's a cocktail bar that reads as a grand room first, a drinks destination second.



  14. A cocktail bar off the lobby of the Loews Hotel, run by the Brennan family, the Commander's Palace dynasty that makes hospitality feel like a genetic condition. The signature Adelaide Swizzle comes with a "secret ingredient" the bartender will strongly imply is Falernum, plus a couple of theatrical pours he'll perform on request if you ask nicely and look like you mean it.


  15. A long marble bar anchors this windowless cocktail bar on La Brea, where the Art Deco bones and Venetian chandeliers give the room the air of a Middle Eastern hotel lobby, in a good way. Gold leather tub chairs and plush booths line the perimeter, which draws a crowd that came dressed for it. The cocktail list keeps things short, leaning on classics and originals, which suits a room this serious about atmosphere.


  16. Rank 1780. The Tippler

    Cocktail Bar

    Tucked into the basement of Chelsea Market, a former Nabisco factory, The Tippler is a cocktail bar with exposed brick, a long marble bar, and Oriental rugs thrown over the floor like someone's eccentric living room. The drink menu runs long and complicated, courtesy of the Tippling Bros. team. Come on a weeknight if you want to actually think; weekends belong to the Meatpacking overflow crowd and their very different priorities.


  17. Rank 1780. The Wren

    Cocktail Bar

    Willow branches in wall niches and Edison bulbs overhead give this cavernous Bowery gastropub a warmer feel than its scale suggests. The long front bar is the move, with a cocktail program that holds its own alongside a solid beer and spirits list. The bays and high ceilings let beautiful people on dates and shaggy types debating film grain coexist without crowding each other. A good call for the neighborhood.


    Address
    344 Bowery, New York, NY 10012, United States · Manhattan
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3 PM

    Thursday 3 PM–4 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  18. Rank 1780. Wayfare Tavern

    Cocktail Bar

    Leather booths, wood paneling, and casual taxidermy give this cocktail bar the feel of a gentlemen's club that decided to relax a little. It sits inside Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern, and the bar downstairs splits the room between cocktails and food. Local lore insists a gangster is buried somewhere in the foundations, which does make the old-fashioned taste slightly more interesting.


    Address
    558 Sacramento St, San Francisco, CA 94111, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Thursday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  19. Address
    398 W 29th St, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Thursday 11 AM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  20. Address
    2229 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–11 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  21. Address
    100 E 23rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Thursday 8 AM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  22. The awards


    Address
    1801 E Lombard St, Baltimore, MD 21231, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 2 PM

    Thursday 2 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  23. The awards


  24. The awards


  25. The awards


    Address
    313 S High St, Baltimore, MD 21202, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  26. The awards


  27. The awards



  28. Address
    3123 Elliott St, Baltimore, MD 21224, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–1 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  29. Address
    1733 Maryland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Thursday Noon–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  30. Rank 1826. The Wren

    European

    A chalkboard menu that changes daily, just 20 bar stools, and a kitchen running on two induction burners and a small convection oven: The Wren looks like every other dim, welcoming Fells Point tavern, and that's precisely the cover it's working. The pub food, though, is meticulous seasonal cooking. The New York Times put it on their Restaurant List, and Bon Appétit named it one of America's Best New Restaurants. Come for the draft beers; stay through the beef-and-ale pie.


    Address
    1712 Aliceanna St, Baltimore, MD 21231, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–10:30 PM

    Reserve
    Tock
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  31. The awards





  32. The outdoor bar lives inside a repurposed shipping container, which tells you something about this brewpub's sensibility. Arizona Wilderness pours a rotating slate of seasonal ales alongside house classics, and the kitchen keeps pace with oversized burgers, an Arizonan hot fried chicken sandwich, and duck fat fries that have developed their own following. The vegan options are less afterthought than actual draw. Bench seating, a beer garden, and desert weather do the rest.





  33. Address
    1420 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–2 AM

    Reserve
    Tock
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  34. Address
    320 Beauregard, San Antonio, TX, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram



  35. Address
    1516 Wazee St, Ste A, Denver, CO 80202, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4:30 PM

    Thursday 4:30 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  36. Address
    422 Pereida St, San Antonio, TX 78210, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  37. Address
    3563 Wazee St, Denver, CO 80216, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11:30 AM

    Thursday 11:30 AM–10 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  38. Address
    411 Bonham, San Antonio, TX 78205, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 8 PM

    Thursday 8 PM–2:30 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram



  39. Address
    980 Grant St, Denver, CO 80203, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  40. Address
    19141 Stone Oak Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78258, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3 PM

    Thursday 3 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  41. Rank 1841. Don Woods' Say When

    Rooftop Cocktail Bar


    Address
    400 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–Midnight

    Reserve
    Tock
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  42. Address
    231 E Cevallos St, San Antonio, TX 78204, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Thursday 11 AM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  43. Address
    103 E Jones Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  44. Rank 1841. Espiritu

    Mexican Cocktail Bar


    Address
    123 Main St, Mesa, AZ, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–11 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  45. A wine bar where you skip the sommelier entirely and pour your own glass from a sleek, self-serve kiosk loaded with 24 options, several of them from Arizona. You fund a chip card at the bar, pick your wine, choose one, three, or five ounces, and push the button. Former schoolteachers run the place, which might explain why the whole system is genuinely easy to figure out after one drink, or even before.


    Address
    888 N 1st Ave, Unit 101, Phoenix, AZ 85003, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3 PM

    Thursday 3 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  46. Address
    4700 N 12th St, Unit 118, Phoenix, AZ 85014, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  47. Address
    4460 W 29th Ave, Denver, CO 80212, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Thursday Noon–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  48. Address
    1514 W Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78207, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  49. Address
    312 Pearl Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78215, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–2 AM

    Reserve
    Tock
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram





  50. Address
    255 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3 PM

    Thursday 3 PM–1 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  51. Address
    1201 S Pearl St, Denver, CO 80210, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Thursday 11 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Website


  52. Address
    2327 N St Mary’s, San Antonio, TX, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 1 PM

    Thursday 1 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  53. The concept here is a Japanese jazz kissa, a vinyl-focused listening bar, filtered through a chef who thinks huitlacoche and yuzu belong on the same plate. The food runs "Nikkei-Mexa," meaning Mexican and Japanese ingredients trading places freely, and the cocktails follow the same logic: sotol meets sake, charanda meets shochu. A taco cart parks out front most nights. Small room, big sonic ambitions, and a crowd that showed up for all of it.


    Address
    1541 Platte St, Denver, CO 80202, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Thursday 11 AM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  54. The draw at this Thai bar and mookata spot is the tabletop grill sunk into a pot of bubbling broth, where you cook your own meal at the table. It lives on the patio behind Lom Wong, small and casual, with craft cocktails doing serious work alongside the smoke. The New York Times put it on their Restaurant List, which is a lot of attention for a patio bar where dinner is technically a DIY project.


    Address
    218 E Portland St, Unit B, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–10:30 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  55. Address
    4280 Tennyson St, Denver, CO 80212, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–11 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  56. Address
    7150 E Sixth Ave, Scottsdale, AZ, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 11 AM

    Thursday 11 AM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  57. Address
    1506 E Houston St, San Antonio, TX 78202, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–1 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  58. Address
    1920 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Thursday 5 PM–Midnight

    Online
    Website


  59. Address
    114 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80209, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  60. Address
    8400 N New Braunfels Ave, San Antonio, TX 78209, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Thursday 5:30 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  61. Address
    3763 Wynkoop St, Denver, CO 80216, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram




  62. Address
    1416 N Main Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 3 PM

    Thursday 3 PM–2 AM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  63. Address
    5713 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80002, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Thursday Noon–8 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  64. Address
    431 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 4 PM

    Thursday 4 PM–Midnight

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  65. Address
    119 El Mio Dr, San Antonio, TX 78216, United States
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Thursday Noon–2 AM

    Online
    Website

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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.

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