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There’s something about a good bar that you just can’t put your finger on. It’s comfortable. It’s welcoming. The drinks are cold and the smiles are aplenty. And we’ve all got our favorite bars — whether it’s somewhere you went on a vacation or a local watering hole where your dad bought you your first beer, some place popped into your head when you read “best bar” in the headline.
Business Insider teamed up with Foursquare, an app that I’m surprised people still use, to take the top-rated bar in each state (and the District of Columbia) to put together their list of the best 51 bars in the United States.
Per Business Insider, the list is as follows:
ALABAMA: Parkside Café
ALASKA: Bear Tooth Grill
ARIZONA: Postino WineCafe
ARKANSAS: Capital Bar & Grill
CALIFORNIA: Soho House
COLORADO: My Brother’s Bar
CONNECTICUT: Local Kitchen and Beer Bar
DELAWARE: Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats
FLORIDA: The Broken Shaker
GEORGIA: The Porter Beer Bar
HAWAII: REAL a gastropub
IDAHO: Bittercreek Alehouse
ILLINOIS: Scofflaw
INDIANA: Twenty Tap
IOWA: El Bait Shop
KANSAS: The Peanut
KENTUCKY: The Silver Dollar
LOUISIANA: Bacchanal Wine
MAINE: Novare Res Bier Cafe
MARYLAND: The Brewer’s Art
MASSACHUSETTS: Backbar
MICHIGAN: Motor City Wine
MINNESOTA: Whistle Binkies Olde World Pub
MISSISSIPPI: Keg and Barrel
MISSOURI: Bier Station
MONTANA: Plonk
NEBRASKA: Crescent Moon Ale House
NEVADA: Encore Beach Club
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Barley House Restaurant & Tavern
NEW JERSEY: Vagabond Kitchen & Tap House
NEW MEXICO: Anodyne
NEW YORK: Black Mountain Wine House
NORTH CAROLINA: Battery Park Book Exchange And Champagne Bar
NORTH DAKOTA: JL Beers
OHIO: Curio
OKLAHOMA: Hodge’s Bend
OREGON: Valley Growlers
PENNSYLVANIA: Tria
RHODE ISLAND: Mews Tavern
SOUTH CAROLINA: The Royal American
SOUTH DAKOTA: Monks House of Ale Repute
TENNESSEE: The Filling Station
TEXAS: Easy Tiger
UTAH: Lucky 13
VERMONT: Jax Food & Games
VIRGINIA: Topgolf
WASHINGTON: Canon
WASHINGTON, DC: barmini by José Andrés
WEST VIRGINIA: Mountain State Brewing Co.
WISCONSIN: Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge
WYOMING: The Crowbar and Grill
Alright, here are my takeaways — first off, I’ve only been to one of these (and two if you count going to Austin’s Topgolf and not the one in Virginia). It was Easy Tiger in Austin, which I can vouch for as being a phenomenal bar if you’re trying to eat some good food and tip back some Salty Dogs when you’re feeling the heat of a hangover.
Second of all, whoever rated the Michigan bar has clearly never been to The Pink Pony’s Patio on Mackinac Island, where the Miami Vices flow like wine and the view of Lake Huron tickles your senses.
And finally, Virginia needs to step their game up because having the packaged product as Topgolf for their “best” bar is just not a good look. Sure, I love getting hammered and hitting long drives, but come on. Figure it out.
Oh, and the bar in the photo? Nub’s Nob Pub in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Place gets lit. .
[via Business Insider]
Image via Shutterstock
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Will
Will (Twitter / Instagram) is the host of The Sunday Scaries Podcast.
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Whoever put this list together is obviously a damn hipster.
Scofflaw is in Logan Square. No way those hippies have the best bar in Illinois.
Couldn’t agree more.
Should have been wrigley field. I lived in buck town last year and although scofflaw is ok, i would say it’s not anywhere near the place for the average, run of the mill, no I don’t have an art degree, man or woman. (No offense)
There are some fantastic cocktail bars in Logan Square. Have fun paying $10 for a watered down drink at a sportsbar in Lincoln Park
1. If I’m at a sports bar in LP, I’m there to drink all the miller lites. 2. I don’t need to go all the way out to Logan Square for great cocktails, I can find those all over the city. I’ll go there for Revolution Brewery, though.
That is a valid point, sir.
While I think that Scofflaw is probably not the right choice for best in Illinois, I have to agree with Robert that it’s better than some Big Ten dump with watered down whiskey cokes. I’ll bum you its smokes at Richard’s if you want to drink.
Ok hipster.
Solid burn, champ
Annnnnd this is why hipster has no meaning anymore. I’ll still bum you smokes.
So we can all agree that the people that actually go to these bars are the people who still use Foursquare?
You get a free appetizer at The Peanut if you check in on Foursquare, that’s the only reason that chain won Kansas.
Was at Nub’s Pub last weekend, phenomenal apres ski bar.
VA: Having been to Alexandria Topgolf, not sure how this beat out all of the Clarendon and ballston bars with rooftops.. It’s definitely first place for people watching though.
Virginia is a trash state for trash people
Someone is cranky.
Probably just tired.
I have not been burped if you must know
Just a heads up to the hipster that put this list together, the real Peanut is in Missouri and it has been since 1933.
El Bait Shop in Iowa and Cresecent Moon are both excellent. Many a night has been forgotten at said locales.
Maine here: Novare Res sucks ass. Unless of course you enjoy drinking $16 pints of obscure microbrew single batch beer with hipsters in tweed jackets and non-prescription glasses. There are dozens of bars in Portland’s Old Port and all of them are preferred over that place.
Really feel like Katy Trail Ice House is 10x better than Easy Tiger.
Best bar in Texas and this is not up for debate.
There are 10 bars on 6th Street (West & East) that are better than Easy Tiger.
I don’t miss much about living in Dallas, but this is at the top of that list.
I can vouch for El Bait in Iowa, they have 175 beers on tap from all over the country.