Winners For

Best Bar

You know it's a good bar when all of the city's top bartenders go there to hang out after they punch the clock at their respective bars. Such is the case with The Windmill Lounge, which has earned its place as the elder statesman of the local cocktail craft. That's because long before the current mixology trend was in fashion, owners Charlie Pap...

Nick Badovinus is a bar food specialist, but you don't have to be starving to pay this Henderson Avenue spot a visit. The whiskey list at this place is phenomenal, and the bartenders know how to pour a drink. If you get the urge to snack and you don't want to tear into an entire burger, there are peanuts on the tables everywhere.

Oh, Gabe. There's nothing better than a bartender who knows your drink. Apparently Gabe Sanchez has a hard drive larger than most bartenders in Dallas. Order a cocktail once and it's yours for life. All you have to do is walk through the door and he's already working on it.

If The Windmill Lounge is bartender's bar, The Loon is a drinker's bar of the highest order. Don't come here expecting involved mixology. This is where you come to get the strongest whiskey and Coke you've ever ordered. Those tacos dorados are pretty good, too.

Don't come here to eat unless you're already drunk. But if you're sober, this is a pretty good place to get the job done. There's always a solid crowd here and most of them crowd the outdoor patio while they sip on beers and pull on cigarettes.

If you need a cheap cold beer, or you've got a cheap scotch that needs drinking come to Ships. For $3 you can buy an ice-cold Budweiser or a set up of ice and soda to mix with your own liquor to your liver's content. Too expensive? Fine, you cheap bastard, order a PBR draft. They're only two bucks, but you better bring cash. Does it look like th...

The best patio in Dallas coupled with a great beer selection and interesting decor makes the Foundry an obvious addition to the list. If the weather is good, find yourself a picnic table and flag down a waitress. Relax. You'll be here a while.

You don't have to be a high-roller to enjoy this fine dining destination. The hotel bar is one of the best places to take a date for a drink. It's a dimly lit and sexy spot with live jazz on Thursdays.

This dark East Dallas bar serves up properly poured pints of Guinness alongside some the best burgers and Reuben sandwiches you can buy in Dallas. It's a great neighborhood haunt that's hardly ever packed, but you can always find someone to talk to while sitting at the bar.

Goodfriend is still kicking out great burgers with some of the best taps in town. Every time we stop in the place the bar is full, and the patio is packed with customers enjoying a solid beer selection. If you're a fan of local breweries, Goodfriend has you covered. If you like beer in general Goodfriend has you covered. Goodfriend is a good fri...

"Come on in! Shiiiit," says a bartender by way of greeting to a trio of dogs who have found their way inside the Shanti's bar area from its patio. The bartender could easily be mistaken for a patron, but he happens to be banging out an air conditioner's filter on a broken-down cardboard box. The greeting given to humans — either by the staff or ...

Columbia Room Restaurant Review: This exclusive bar-within-a-bar features the fresh, hand-crafted libations of mixologist Derek Brown. The cocktails are composed with the bar's own cordials, bitters and tinctures, hand-carved ice and high-quality spirits. Reservations are suggested at the Columbia Room, as it is only open three nights a week – T...

El Centro D.F. Restaurant Review: Richard Sandoval’s El Centro D.F. buzzes on all its dining levels, with crowds and chattering heralding good times and food. Where to start with a menu that reads like a guidebook to Mexican street food? First, order a sumptuous guacamole made tableside and served with hot, crispy chips. Accompany this and the e...

Acadiana Restaurant Review: Jeff Tunks's splashiest effort in DC reflects his Big Easy cooking life, and the results are splendid, if a bit overwhelming. A large, stately and almost ship-like interior suggests an luxury liner, with the kitchen positioned mid-dining room, and the two dining areas on an upper and a lower level. In the mid-level, ...

Old Ebbitt Grill Restaurant Review: When it comes to busy, bustling restaurants in the nation’s capital, there is none more vibrant than the grand dame of the Clyde’s Restaurant Group: Old Ebbitt Grill. The interior invokes images of a late nineteenth century saloon in its Victorian décor and use of rich mahogany wood. While the historic memorab...

Poste Moderne Brasserie Restaurant Review: Entering Poste takes one through an elegant courtyard and up a stone staircase; a sleek modernity has transformed this once-historic General Post Office building that dates from 1841. But somehow, the grand charm remains in what almost seems like a European enclosure. A lounge area hosts Washingtonians ...

Topaz Bar Restaurant Review: Creative cuisine and cocktails, with international sounds coming from the DJ.

Helix Lounge Restaurant Review: Unwind on the Inside Out Patio, groove to the DJ's electronic beats, and finish the day right at the Helix Lounge.

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar Restaurant Review: Cuba Libre is part of a small restaurant group; the DC location’s flashy setting features a host of intoxicating rum and rum-free cocktails, loads of ceviches in delicate portions (you may wish for big bowls, but not here), a guacamole that contains chunks of fresh pineapple, and “piqueos” (smal...

Bar Rouge Restaurant Review: Relax on oversize armchairs, groove to the DJ's beats, and enjoy the happy hour margaritas and quesadillas.

Firefly Restaurant Review: With an edginess that seems fitting for a restaurant in this boutique hotel domain, the contemporary menu appeals to all ages and to all taste buds, with such appetizers as chopped chicken liver, old-timey stuffed hard-boiled eggs (a must-order dish), and matzoh ball soup. Follow with a dandy roasted organic chicken an...

Eastern Standard Restaurant Review: Owner Garrett Harker, the former partner of Barbara Lynch (he put the G in B&G Oysters), reigns over the enormous dining room where everyone from Red Sox fans to pre-theater diners come to indulge in retro cuisine for the post-millennium. Though Eastern Standard is located in the Hotel Commonwealth, you'd neve...

The Beehive Restaurant Review: The South End’s Beehive is located in the Boston Center for the Arts complex in the Cyclorama building; its striking split-level layout includes chandeliers and hunting trophies, funky drapery and giant artworks. Chef Rebecca Newell offers dinner plates such as Spanish paprika chicken and Moroccan couscous (chicken...

UpStairs on the Square Restaurant Review: Institutions are a dying breed in ever-more-commercialized Harvard Square, so kudos to restaurateurs Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes for fighting the good fight---with wild style. After losing the lease for the site of their much-loved UpStairs at the Pudding, they reopened as Upstairs on the Sq...

Hungry Mother Restaurant Review: Alon and Rachel Munzer, who developed a following at their Bay Village breakfast spot Rachel's Kitchen, have joined forces with talented chef Barry Maiden to open this intriguing, well-thought-out hybrid near the Kendall Cinema. The food is an arresting blend of Dixie comfort and refined French technique, as refl...

No. 9 Park Restaurant Review: A special event is one reason to come to this French and Italian restaurant, but serious foodies, fans of chef-owner Barbara Lynch, and those with unlimited expense accounts round out the crowd. Lynch has made a name for herself with a wide range of eateries to her credit, including B&G Oysters, The Butcher Shop, Sp...

The Bristol Restaurant Review: The Bristol features everything from soups and salads to steak frites and the famous Bristol burger. Power players dine center stage in a room featuring plush couches and mahogany tables, and with tuxedoed waitstaff and live piano music. The menu, too, takes a luxe approach to casual fare. For breakfast, you will f...

Sorellina Restaurant Review: Black and white and hot all over, Sorellina is from Midas-like restaurateur Jamie Mammano of Mistral and Teatro. Occupying the ground floor of a wedge-shaped Copley Square condo, this night-spot is as striking inside as it is from the outside, at once sleek and posh, clean and comfy. Likewise, its contemporary Italia...

The Bar at Taj Boston Restaurant Review: Classic elegance and an old-world vibe prevail at this stately gentleman's club-like bar, with its fireplace, expanses of dark wood and upholstered, overstuffed armchairs. Tourists and locals alike flock here for strong martinis and to consider an extensive Champagne menu. Service is over the top, as befi...

Doyle's Cafe Restaurant Review: This Jamaica Plain institution has attracted politicians since its opening back in 1882. During their infamous Senate battle, John Kerry and William Weld shared a beer here, as has every major pol for decades on end. And why not? There are 30 drafts available on tap and even more by the bottle. The food is run-of-...

With less than 10 votes separating all the nominees this former jazz club on Griswold is often quiet, but on Friday and Saturday, the doors open wide to let metro Detroit’s smooth cats inside to view its elegant retro motif.

If The Most Interesting Man in the World came to Baltimore, he would almost certainly drink at the Owl Bar. You can’t beat the atmosphere: lush and grand, with high-ceilings, chandeliers that seem to invite a swashbuckling sword fight, artifacts galore, and that mosaic of exposed brick. To be the best in a city like Baltimore, you’ve got to have...

Ambonnay specializes in beautiful, small-house producers [of Champagne/sparkling wine], many of which are hard to find. The owner, David Speer, is terribly knowledgeable and incredibly helpful.

No matter how urban – or urbane – you think you are, sometimes nothing beats a lazy day drinking alongside a good old-fashioned gator-infested Central Florida river. Wekiva Island, a little hot spot for boating, drinking and other outdoorsy good times tucked just off a main thoroughfare down the road from Wekiwa Springs State Park, is one part m...

Tryst Restaurant Review: Steve Wynn is best known for his attention to both luxury and detail, so it’s no surprise that Tryst, the nightclub inside Wynn Las Vegas, is so breathtaking. The venue covers 12,000-square-feet, and it gets packed to capacity almost every weekend night. The entire club, done in rich red and chocolate tones and velvet, s...

Ghostbar Restaurant Review: This neon blue and green bar, with metallic fabrics and plastic and vinyl furniture, looks like a 1960s TV space station. And with floor-to-ceiling windows on the 55th floor, it feels like one, too. If you're not afraid of heights, head out to the ghostwalk, an outdoor deck with a translucent acrylic floor and unbelie...

Mix IN LAS VEGAS Restaurant Review: Owner Alain Ducasse may very well be the most famous chef in the world. Mandalay Bay honored him with a $14-million restaurant, which boasts a $2-million kitchen. Ducasse only visits Las Vegas periodically, but chef Bruno Riou, who now oversees the menu, ensures the master's handiwork is not compromised. Avant...

Nine Fine Irishmen Restaurant Review: This dynamic, two-story authentic Irish pub seats 350, and offers outdoor dining on the spacious patio overlooking the Strip. The brainchild of The Irish Pub Company of Dublin and New York-New York executives, it is named for nine mid-nineteenth-century Irishmen who rebelled against the British Empire, were ...

Le Central Restaurant Review: Stroll from the lobby or the casino at Paris Las Vegas into the gazebo-like Le Central, where you can enjoy a glass of Champagne or a late-night pousse-café and feel like you just landed on the Left Bank of the Seine---that is, if the Left Bank were accompanied by a cacophony of bells and jangles from slot machines ...

Formerly the pooch-friendly Decatur Lounge, the Avery (the first floor of the historic Avery Pettis House) looks like a swanky SoBe or SoHo lounge (with the black curtains closed, you'll forget you're in the west end of Provy). But it's light on attitude and a big-time favorite with service industry folks (who fill the place on Monday nights). T...