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Esquire Best Bars in America 2026

By Derek•12 Places

Half Time Rec

Dive Bar • (651) 488-8245 • WEBSITE
1013 Front Ave

St. Paul neighborhood bar. Best Bloody Mary you will have, served with a beef jerky stick and a bump of beer. Bocce in the basement, pull-tabs, homemade chocolate chip cookies from regulars. Hockey on every TV.

Derek

Gold Clover Bar

Cocktail Bar
251 Florida Ave NW

Washington D.C. The only Negroni worth craving is the white Negroni here. Strong sense of local community and consciousness. Friday nights: homemade fried chicken that sells out in under 30 minutes.

Derek

Bar Tonique

Cocktail Bar • (504) 324-6045 • WEBSITE
820 N Rampart St

New Orleans French Quarter edge, North Rampart St. Known for its Ramos Gin Fizz — shaken five minutes until the highball glass towers with cloudlike foam. $8 daily rotating specialty cocktail.

Derek

BALL & CHAIN

Bar • $$ • (305) 643-7820 • WEBSITE
1513 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135, USA

Little Havana, Miami. Built 1935 — predates the name of the street it sits on. Billie Holiday sang here. Rum-heavy drinks, pineapple-shaped band shell, salsa on the floor.

Derek

Stir Crazy

Wine Bar • (323) 934-4656
6903 Melrose Ave

Melrose Ave, Los Angeles. No traditional bar setup — a minimalist wine spot with genuine conviviality. Anchovies with herbs and hazelnuts, leek toast with chevre and kombu oil, glasses of Colombard.

Derek

Nashville Palace

Bar • (615) 889-1540 • WEBSITE
2611 McGavock Pike

Nashville honky-tonk open nearly 50 years. The Nashville Palace Angels in-house dance team will whisper the line-dance steps to you. Ruby neon guitar light. The kind of place where love stories start.

Derek

papercut

Cocktail Bar
908 E 5th St. #107

Austin cocktail bar doubling as a rotating contemporary art gallery. Menu changes with the art. Namesake Papercut cocktail: mezcal, Aperol, tangerine liqueur, served in a coupe blast-chilled in a CO2 machine in 6 seconds.

Derek

Cody's Public House

Bar • (773) 799-8217 • WEBSITE
1658 W Barry Ave

Lakeview, Chicago corner pub with a beer garden out back. Everyone shows up by telepathy. The rare February warm snap brings the whole neighborhood out at 4pm. Hits its stride in summer with Cubbies on TV.

Derek

The Double Windsor

Bar • (347) 725-3479 • WEBSITE
210 Prospect Park W

Prospect Park West, Brooklyn. Gimmick-free, mismatched chairs, Turner Classic Movies on a corner TV. 14 craft taps. Great wings. Never closed during Covid — just opened a window and served roadies. All seating is COMMUN L.

Derek

Kelly's Korner Tavern

Sports Bar • (714) 961-9396 • WEBSITE
907 E Yorba Linda Blvd

Placentia, Orange County. Sports bar lit by 30 flat screens. Carne asada nachos with house-made salsa. Tuesday trivia nights. A box of chilled Underberg always on hand. The kind of bar that outlives trends.

Derek

Russell's Tavern

Bar • (206) 547-1653 • WEBSITE
4111 Stone Way N

Wallingford, Seattle. Neighborhood bar on Stone Way with zero pretense and one of the best agave spirit selections in the Pacific Northwest. Deep whiskey bench too. Affordable by-the-ounce pours. Taco Mondays. A before/after shift haunt for Seattle hospitality workers.

Derek

Jonathan's Cork

Seafood • (520) 296-1631 • WEBSITE
6320 E Tanque Verde Rd

East Tucson, since 1966. Adobe slump-block walls, 14 stools, three high-tops. Bartender James Hernandez is the best in the desert — will leave the bar to bring your drink when there is no seat. Manhattan poured gorgeously murky with micronized ice. If you are lucky you sit next to Coach, an octogenarian regular who will drop his circa-1980 Super Bowl ring in your palm.

Derek