From Houstonchronicle · · 3m
Houston's best craft cocktail bars
Houston's top cocktail bars blend Mexican flair, craft spirits and neighborhood charm.
In brief
Houston's top cocktail bars blend Mexican flair, craft spirits and neighborhood charm. Houston has 16 craft cocktail bars with unique themes and local influences. Originally reported by Houstonchronicle.
Houston's cocktail scene
Houston’s cocktail scene keeps finding ways to surprise and delight, with bartenders pushing the boundaries of creativity.
New bars challenge pioneers
A handful of ambitious new bars have opened in the past year, challenging the trailblazers that sparked the city’s cocktail renaissance more than 15 years ago.
Diverse drink options
The result is a wealth of options: bars where you can savor a perfectly executed martini or discover original drinks that showcase each bar’s personality through quirky infusions, rare spirits and unexpected flavor combinations.
Outdoor spaces
And it’s not all moody, dimly lit lounges. Neighborhood patios and laid-back hangouts are shaking up exciting drinks, too.
Mindful drinking
As mindful drinking gains momentum, these bars are also offering thoughtful, nuanced mocktails, proving that complexity and inventiveness aren’t limited to spirits.
Anvil
Bobby Heugel ushered Houston into a new era of cocktail appreciation when he opened the game-changing Anvil in 2009.
Anvil's legacy
It is still the standard bearer for the craft and an incubator for bartending talent.
Aye Candy
In an unassuming strip mall in Spring Branch, an old-school candy store sits, hiding a moody bar in plain sight.
Bandista
In speakeasy fashion, this high-end bar is hidden behind a bookcase only a host in the Four Seasons Hotel lobby can show you.
Bar Angie
Customers of the highly popular Angie’s Pizza may be tempted to treat the upstairs bar as a waiting area before their reservation, but Bar Angie is a main attraction in itself.
Bar Buena
Tucked behind the Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina in River Oaks, Bar Buena is a cave-like hideaway inspired by the ancient art of mezcal making.
Bar Doko
Duckstache Hospitality (Kokoro, Handies Douzo, Aiko, Himari, Doko) leans into its Japanese identity with its intimate, Tokyo-style bar in Autry Park.
Bar Madonna
A far cry from a chain hotel bar, this Montrose mansion-turned-nine-room inn offers seating at an intimate four-seat bar or in a sun-dappled side room styled like a Parisian salon.
Berwick's Bird of Paradise
This Heights bar brings its tropical theme alive with retro seashell hanging baskets, cascading monsteras and a bamboo-lined bar.
The Blind Finch
On the same block as Belly of the Beast, Spring's best restaurant, is this 1920s-inspired cocktail haven.
By the Wayside
In the East End, this newer hip cocktail bar celebrates creatives with consistent live music and an ever-changing array of outdoor murals.
Capt. Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge
Amid the chaos of Houston’s Main Street nightlife sits a true cocktail gem.
Donna's
Cocktail expert Bobby Heugel has partnered with veteran bartender Jacki Schromm, who named this Heights bar after her grandmother.
Endless Bummer
You’ve never seen a tiki bar like this. From the owner of spunky pizza bar Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, Endless Bummer was conceptualized and designed as 'somewhere between death and vacation.'
Jethro's
In that crevice between Montrose and Midtown, this casual cocktail lounge s stirs up a mean drink with fun spirit infusions like tepeche (fermented pineapple, sugar and cinnamon).
In short
Houston has 16 craft cocktail bars with unique themes and local influences.
