There has been a revolution slowly stirring in bars across the country and over the past decade that revolution has caught fire. Cocktail bars have sprouted up all over the country, offering the rarest of spirits and custom concoctions at the hands of the world’s best bartenders. The cocktail resurgence happened so quickly no one has taken the time to separate the wheat from the chaff, until now.
For its October issue, GQ traveled 34,462 miles around the country to bring you a list of the top 25 cocktail bars, lounges, and holes-in-the-walls of America. Seattle’s Zig Zag Café sits at the top of the list, with the following endorsement:
At Zig Zag Café, “patrons come for the easy conversation and the drink-all-day coziness. Above all, though, they come for the cocktails of Murray Stenson. The man is effortlessly talented, a bartender superhero. In fact, he may be the country’s best,” writes Kevin Sintumuang. “Each drink Murray pours is a mini-revelation, an introduction to rare spirits and a bold use of common ones.”
The Zig Zag Café is followed by these 24 bars:
2: Angel’s Share – New York
3: The Violet Hour – Chicago
4: Clover Club – Brooklyn
5: The Alembic – San Francisco
6: Death & Co – New York
7: PDT – New York
8: PX – Alexandria, VA
9: Comstock Saloon – San Francisco
10: Holeman & Finch – Atlanta
11: Tiki-ti – Los Angeles
12: The Patterson House – Nashville
13: Eastern Standard – Boston
14: Rickhouse – San Francisco
15: Anvil – Houston
16: Arnaud’s French 75 – New Orleans
17: Elixir – San Francisco
18: Columbia Room – Washington, D.C.
19: Cole’s – Los Angeles
20: The Whistler – Chicago
21: Drink – Boston
22: Pegu Club – New York
23: The Edison – Los Angeles
24: The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. – Philadelphia
25: Needle and Thread – Seattle
For drinking lessons learned, tips, and more information about each bar, pick up the October issue of GQ,available now on newsstands and on iTunes, or visit GQ.com.
Photo Credit: Mitchell Feinberg/GQ
