Bandista on the Four Seasons pulls out all of the stops.
Houston could also be finest identified for its meals scene, however the bars listed here are equally deserving of reward. Whether you’re within the temper for essentially the most refined of sazeracs from a craft cocktail bar or just thirsting for a Lone Star and a shot of whiskey at a neighborhood dive, there are many watering holes in Houston the place you possibly can stomach up, moist your whistle, and luxuriate in a drink or two. Behold: our 50 favourite bars within the metropolis.
13 Celsius
When so many new thrilling ideas open in Houston on a regular basis, it’s straightforward to neglect the OG: 13 Celsius. And it’s pleasant to find that it hasn’t misplaced any of its sparkle over time. Houston’s wine scene was a really totally different place when 13 Celsius opened in 2006. It’s saved up with the occasions with an inventory that gives approachable in addition to of-the-moment picks (howdy, “super-natty red wines”), whereas nonetheless catering to those that may recognize—and have the pockets for—a premier cru Burgundy or classic Champagne. The bar additionally makes a imply cheese and charcuterie plate.
Angel Share
Need a spot to pregame earlier than an Astros sport? Stop by Angel Share for a drink (or two, since Daikin Park is costly) and a few bites, then hop on a free shuttle to the stadium. But that’s not all—this bar is about giving again. Some of the earnings are donated to native organizations, so you possibly can take pleasure in some unique cocktails, nonalcoholic creations, and extra whereas doing all your half in supporting the bar’s bigger mission.
Anvil
Opened by cocktail professional Bobby Heugel in 2009, Anvil started “The 100 List” as a coaching software for all of the traditional cocktails each bartender ought to know methods to make, but it surely’s now a public-facing menu any Anvil visitor can order. The bar additionally has a two-page record of home cocktails, every attributed to the bartender who created it. Anvil can get raucous, particularly at glad hour—when you’re in search of a extra intimate and upscale expertise, head to Refuge, the speakeasy upstairs.
Hotel Saint Augustine’s bar acts as Houston’s swanky new lounge.
Augustine Lounge
When Bunkhouse opened the Hotel Saint Augustine throughout from the Menil campus in late 2024, it was clear they needed to draw locals in addition to guests. The lounge throughout from the foyer efficiently accomplishes being Houstonians’ fancy lounge away from residence, full with listening experiences curated by Cactus Music. The bar counter is small, however you’ll discover ample tables and haute-design chairs and couches all through the three-room house. Order a easy Point of Origin (blanco tequila, smoked sage agave, and lime with a “stardust” rim) and a few bites courtesy of the Bludorn staff.
Axelrad Beer Garden
Beer? Check. Live music? Check. Hammocks? Double verify. Is there anyplace higher to relax and keep some time than Axelrad, Midtown’s reigning beer backyard? We don’t suppose so. The bar, housed in a 100-year-old constructing, is residence to an expansive beer menu and one of many largest patios in Houston, making it one in every of our absolute favourite spots within the neighborhood.
Bandista is a speakeasy behind a bookcase on the Four Seasons in downtown Houston.
Bandista
Relive the times of Prohibition (with out all the pesky temperance pushers) at Bandista, a Twenties-inspired speakeasy inside Four Seasons Hotel Houston. With its entrance hidden behind a bookcase and dim lighting all through, Bandista is a protected spot to lie low whereas having fun with the excessive life. The reservation-only bar is residence to a few of the most revolutionary cocktails within the metropolis, typically served to you in very dramatic shows. Be able to drop some severe money.
Bar No. 3
The historic mansion that homes the lodge La Colombe d’Or was utterly refurbished a couple of years in the past, and the tip result’s a bar so refined in its aesthetic that it might grace the covers of any design journal. While the emerald-hued room makes fairly a press release, so do the bar’s cocktails—particularly when paired with small plates from the kitchen.
Bayou Heights Bier Garten has the most effective patios on the town.
Bayou Heights Bier Garten
This relative newcomer to Washington Avenue feels extra like a posh than a bar. From the staff behind Heights Bier Garten, the Bayou Heights location has a number of areas inside it, with a separate bar serving beer and wine on faucet and one other one serving cocktails. There’s additionally a espresso store that gives espresso and baked items all day. Just like the unique outpost, Bayou Heights Bier Garten has an in depth patio.
Better Luck Tomorrow
Better Luck Tomorrow’s wraparound patio and comfy inside house have been a hip refuge for hip Heights individuals since 2017. In the mildew of Anvil, which is owned by the identical people, BLT’s cocktail menu credit every unique drink to the bartender who created it. We love Adam Wiley’s Eternal Sunshine, made with gins infused with prickly pear, orange blossom, and lemon, plus yuzu curaçao and clementine. The meals is hit and miss, however sister idea Squable close by makes for a superb meal when you’re hungry after a cocktail or two.
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Big Star Bar
Big Star Bar could also be arduous to seek out between the just lately developed occasion bars surrounding the house, however when you can spot the twinkling lights and tiny blue construction, you’re in the proper place. This low-key watering gap is filled with tales, options eclectic dive bar decor, and has loads of out of doors house.
Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar and Spirit Lodge
This bar is the place to be for all followers of speakeasies who wish to overlook the craziness of Main Street from a protected distance. Find the door that seems to result in a regulation workplace and head upstairs to the moody, dimly lit Bad News Bar. The bartenders know their stuff, providing by far the perfect cocktails in downtown Houston. Slide right into a sales space or sit out on the small mezzanine patio exterior.
Catbirds
Bobby Heugel purchased dive bar Catbirds in the summertime of 2023, and fortunately, didn’t actually change a lot save for a contemporary lick of paint and a brand new pool desk. The glad hour is among the least expensive and finest within the metropolis: $3.50 wells and $3.50-or-less beers weekdays till 6:30pm. Even after glad hour, the restricted choice of traditional cocktails value solely $10.
Cidercade
This bar is residence to greater than 275 arcade video games in addition to 48 faucets of varied arduous ciders, arduous kombuchas, arduous seltzers, and extra. Admission is $10 for a day go or $15 for a recurring month-to-month membership. Since the arcade bar doesn’t have a kitchen, Cidercade permits avid gamers to usher in their very own meals from native eating places within the space. Food vehicles additionally arrange store proper exterior the power.
Dean’s
If lounges are your scene, the previous Dean’s Credit Clothing—now simply Dean’s—serves nice cocktails (attempt The Wall and The House Shot) and hosts film nights, open mic comedy, karaoke, and different occasions. And even when there’s nothing else occurring, you possibly can snuggle down within the plush couches and chairs whereas having fun with time with associates.
Double Trouble Caffeine and Cocktails
This informal, tropical-themed spot is a espresso store by day and a cocktail bar by evening. It’s additionally residence to one of many largest espresso cocktail menus in the complete metropolis, which suggests it’s an effective way to begin an evening out in town. Make positive you attempt the bar’s frozen Suffering Bastard cocktail, however watch out: because the identify suggests, it packs fairly a punch.
East End Hardware
Sipping on a drink whereas searching at a horse’s pasture and new townhomes within the background is a novel Houston expertise. East End Hardware’s out of doors house can be nice when you’re in search of picnic tables and garden video games like cornhole. The bar’s cocktails lean on classics like Aperol spritzes and Pimm’s cups, but it surely’s additionally well-known for its boozy snowballs in flavors like piña colada and strawberry pisco.
Eight Row Flint (Heights)
This cute neighborhood hangout brings all the nice vibes with its out of doors patio, pool desk, and spectacular choice of cocktails. If you want just a little enhance, order a espresso daiquiri bitter or an espresso martini, or combine it up and check out a batanga, a drink that consists of blanco tequila, lime juice, Mexican Coke, and salt—simply belief us on that one. Then seize a chunk on the taco truck; our private favourite is the meat barbacoa taco. Eight Row Flint now has a second location in Second Ward.
EZ’s Liquor Lounge
Looking for a brand new dive bar to take a look at? Make your method to EZ’s Liquor Lounge on White Oak Drive, the newest idea by the staff behind Eight Row Flint and Coltivare. Grab a chilly one or order one of many bar’s very moderately priced cocktails and frozen drinks. If you’re the kind of one that will get the drunk munchies, EZ’s might be able to curb your starvation with one in every of its many meals gadgets. Pick from a Texas Chili Co. brisket scorching canine, a chili pie, crunchy tacos, and extra.
George Country Sports Bar
Montrose’s pleasant neighborhood homosexual bar, George, presents true Southern hospitality with out the “bless your heart” passive-aggression. If you’re a fan of sports activities and nation music—neither of which have the perfect historical past of welcoming the queer group—that is the place to go to take pleasure in your favourite groups and tunes, possibly even shoot some pool or throw darts.
Grand Prize Bar
Given its location proper on the border between neighborhoods, Grand Prize Bar blends Montrose’s laid-back cool with the Museum District’s glorious style. The kitchen rotates meals distributors usually and the bar has the most effective (learn: least expensive) glad hours on the town. On a pleasant evening, sit out on the again patio or the second-floor mini rooftop.
Heights & Co.
Heights & Co. has a dog-friendly patio and loads of massive umbrellas for shade—even within the milder seasons, Texas is gonna Texas. Cocktails are the best way to go right here, together with the Salted Watermelon with rum, watermelon, coconut, and salt, or the bar’s signature H&C Spritz, mixing Aperol and glowing rosé with a pineapple-guava syrup and Topo Chico. Fancy bar bites embody a spinach and artichoke dip with truffle oil, herb toast with peach butter and prosciutto, and cheese and charcuterie boards.
Johnny’s Goldbrick
Open since 2015, Johnny’s Goldbrick is virtually a Heights traditional at this level. Come right here to rub elbows (actually) with a bustling crowd of locals and luxuriate in easy, traditional cocktails for under $9.99—suppose Tom Collins and Cuba libre.
JR’s Bar and Grill
Often touted as Houston’s biggest homosexual bar, JR’s presents you an opportunity to impress a brand new potential associate or spend some high quality time together with your lengthy hauler. Enjoy a cocktail on the sultry New Orleans–impressed patio, absorb a drag present, or attempt to one-up one another at karaoke evening. Check the calendar earlier than you go.
Julep
The identify could conjure photos of fancy derby hats and Benoit Blanc drawls, however Julep celebrates greater than only a Deep South palate. This 2022 James Beard Award winner and Washington Avenue mainstay is the place proprietor Alba Huerta and her staff pump out a few of Houston’s most interesting cocktails, usually revamping the menu and developing with enjoyable seasonals. Julep can be the most effective locations on the town for nonalcoholic cocktails.
Kanpai Club
With seating for under about 10 individuals and a slender alley-like house, Kanpai Club is an intimate speakeasy you possibly can entry through hand roll restaurant Hando. Come right here to seize an revolutionary cocktail in wacky glassware—the blowfish and carp mugs are notably Instagrammable—and a small chunk. Our favorites are the Wagyu gyoza and Brussels sprouts paired with a Tokyo Layover, a mixture of Bruxo mezcal, Aperol, Vecchio, lemon, and yuzu kosho.
La Carafe
If you’re a fan of historical past and haunts, that is the spot for you. Now a two-story bar, La Carafe was initially inbuilt 1847 and is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. It started as a bakery and have become a bar within the Nineteen Fifties. With its dimly lit ambiance, cash-only register, and jukebox, you’ll really feel as when you’ve walked straight right into a time machine. Some even say it’s haunted.
Lee’s, previously Lees Den, has turn out to be Houston’s hottest new bar after a revamp.
Lee’s
Lees Den is now Lee’s (and in case you missed this too: Eau Tour is now Milton’s). Local Foods proprietor Benjy Levit has been busy these previous couple years, hiring famed native chef Seth Siegel-Gardner to go up all his ideas. Located above the Local Foods in Rice Village, Lee’s remains to be a speakeasy with a colourful retro vibe, however the food and drinks menus have been revamped. Try the refreshingly bitter King in Yellow made with Suze, quinquina, and bubbly. Feeling daring? The Black Hat blends rye and amaro vermouth with kombu, nori, and cuttlefish ink. There’s even a separate menu of tiny cocktails when you simply need a couple of sips. The bites are additionally stellar—we beloved the cheese-stuffed banana pepper wrapped in speck.
Lei Low
At first look, Lei Low seems to be like some random place in a parking zone, however when you step inside, you’ll really feel such as you’ve entered a brand new world with its tiki vibes and tropical decor. Take the sting off of the workweek with the Painkiller cocktail and neglect you’re within the metropolis for a few hours.
The Library
The Library is undoubtedly the perfect new wine bar you’ve by no means heard of—until you reside in Spring Branch, during which case, simply know that we envy you. Fittingly, there are books in every single place: on bookshelves on each wall and even displayed within the bar’s glass countertop. Look just a little nearer and also you’ll notice each single guide is wine-related. The employees is attentive and educated concerning the well-curated choice that features every part from esoteric Savoie and Jura wines to cult-favorite Italian and Spanish producers. There’s a “Head Librarian’s Preferred Drinking List” part for individuals who wish to order a bottle however need assistance selecting. Oh, and the meals right here is stellar, too. Opt for a smoked salmon flatbread and finish with an affogato.
Light Years
If you don’t worry the funk, this spot is for you. Light Years rode the pure wine wave shortly after it arrived (fashionably late) in Houston, turning into the primary bar within the metropolis devoted to the stuff when it opened in 2018. Come right here for all kinds of natural, biodynamic, low-intervention, insert-buzzword-here juice, none of that are written down on an inventory, encouraging a dialog together with your bartender. There’s loads of room to take a seat inside the lovable transformed bungalow, both on the bar or a desk, or sit exterior on the patio.
Lil Danny Speedo’s Go Fly a Kite Lounge
This dive bar staple has a pool desk, arcade video games, nightly meals pop-ups, and a few of the friendliest bartenders in Houston. We love coming right here when “Pupusa Mami” is slinging her Salvadoran treats.
Little Woodrow’s (Rice Village)
With areas throughout Houston and an enormous number of particular and seasonal occasions (together with film trivia in addition to wiener canine and turtle races—though fortunately, not on the similar time), there’s at all times one thing occurring at Little Woodrow’s. Catch each University of Houston faculty soccer sport of the season there whilst you (and your pup) hang around on the patio with a ranch water and a slice of pizza. You can get your identify on the wall on the Rice Village location for becoming a member of the Big 50 Club by consuming each beer on the bar’s record, or attempt your hand at some duckpin bowling on the Shepherd location.
Leave it as much as the late-night joint Cantina Barba to create a aspect quest, Mijo’s Mezcal Bar.
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Mijo’s Mezcal Bar
Leave it as much as the late-night joint Cantina Barba to create a enjoyable aspect quest in your already debaucherous night. After devouring some tacos and a spicy margarita or michelada, stroll out to the again patio and also you’ll discover Mijo’s Mezcal Bar in a transformed transport container. Inside this dimly lit eight-seater, partitions are coated in black skulls, inexperienced LEDs brighten the again of the bar, and mezcal choices appear countless.
Monkey’s Tail sports activities the laid-back vibe of your favourite neighborhood cantina and slings strong frozens.
Monkey’s Tail
This colourful bar sports activities the laid-back vibe of your favourite neighborhood cantina whereas additionally boasting a craft cocktail program you’d anticipate finding at a fancier spot. The drink menu right here is tequila- and mezcal-heavy, which is simply how we like them. There’s additionally a killer lineup of frozen cocktails, together with a riff on a piña colada that goals are made from. Equally compelling is the bar’s meals menu, which incorporates every part from build-your-own pizzas to fajita tacos, wings, burgers, and aguachiles—sufficient selection to fulfill even essentially the most eclectic of tastes.
Moon Tower Inn
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This vibrant all-outdoor watering gap options an countless choice of beers on faucet in addition to a few of the finest burgers and scorching canines in Houston. Moon Tower is especially identified for its uncommon meats, reminiscent of deer, elk, pheasant, rabbit, and wild boar. The graffiti wall right here can be fairly cool.
Nickel City
It’s doable we groaned just a little after listening to information of one other Austin import coming to city. But Nickel City is legit, and the staff’s first Houston location within the East End is properly price a go to. The bar strikes a pleasant steadiness between super-chill group hangout and the form of bar program that features glorious cocktails and a deep whiskey record. We’re not mad on the $12–$13 cocktail value level, both. Hungry? Sandwiches, scorching canines, tots, mozzarella sticks, and extra drunk meals will soak all of it up.
The award for weirdest bar in Houston (complimentary) goes to…Notsuoh!
Notsuoh
If you want proof that Houston is weirder than Austin, head straight to Notsuoh, a Main Street staple since 1996. This dive is extra like a dwelling museum of oddities than a conventional bar, and also you form of need to go there to see what we imply. The three-story constructing exhibits Notsuoh’s dedication to all issues experimental and eccentric with its unusual artwork, graffitied partitions, taxidermy, mannequins, cabinets of outdated books and sneakers, chess board…there’s even a trippy dome in the midst of the second ground with bean bag chairs. Notsuoh is every part aficionados of all issues curious recognize in a watering gap. Keep Houston bizarre, associates.
Poison Girl
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This beloved Westheimer dive rightfully prides itself on its beneficiant choice of whiskeys and Texas beers. Share a spherical or two with the large Kool-Aid Man statue within the again patio or put in a few rounds of pinball—if the machines are even working that evening. If they have been, then it wouldn’t be a correct dive, now wouldn’t it?
Pur Noire Urban Wineries
Pur Noire homeowners Carissa and Kenneth Stephens observed that there have been not many wineries owned by individuals of colour, so that they began their very own, whose identify interprets to “pure black” as a nod to Carissa’s Creole roots and their id as BIPOC enterprise homeowners within the wine business. Gather your folks and colleagues for a wine tasting and sport evening, hosted each Wednesday from 5 to 9pm, no reservations required.
Rabbit’s Got the Gun
You’d be forgiven for lacking the doorway to this relaxed, Chicano-owned craft cocktail bar since its graffiti-painted doorways have been made to seem like an extension of the tire store subsequent door. Once inside, nonetheless, you’re in for a deal with as its low-key, dive bar exterior provides method to a vivid and colourful house good for having fun with the bar’s inventive cocktails—all that includes housemade syrups, premium spirits, and freshly squeezed juices.
Refuge
Located above Anvil, the darkly lit Refuge gives a extra intimate and quiet house to take pleasure in a drink away from Montrose’s vivacious nightlife. There are greater than 200 spirits to pattern and the identical dedication to glorious cocktails as at Anvil, with just a little extra sophistication. Order a traditional (that sazerac!) or one thing extra experimental. Show up early, although—seating may be very restricted.
Rudyard’s
Known affectionately as Rudz, this dive-meets-pub has a strong record of rotating native beers and respectable drunk meals. Head to the again and play some darts, come for Wednesday trivia, or go upstairs for normal comedy nights. The comedians are usually embarrassingly dangerous on free open mic nights, however when you’re keen to pay a small cowl, some fairly nice acts come via right here too.
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Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Texas’s oldest craft brewery, Saint Arnold, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in June 2024. Its digs in Northside aren’t that dangerous both. The facility features a 25,000-square-foot beer backyard and restaurant in addition to an indoor beer corridor and tasting room—making it the proper house to stretch out whereas sipping signature brews just like the Art Car IPA, Lawnmower, or H-Town Pils, with legit pizza to pair.
Sunny’s Bar
This beachy dive appears plucked straight from the center of Midtown or Washington Avenue and proper into the center of downtown’s skyscrapers. If you’re thirsty after an evening of theater, dance, or reside music and need one thing exuberant and unfussy to cap off your time downtown, head to Sunny’s for a couple of rounds of pool, darts, and foosball. You could even luck into some take a look at tube or Jell-O shot specials.
Toasted Coconut
From the oldsters behind Nobie’s, this tropical-inspired bar is at all times time, and one of many few watering holes the place the meals is simply pretty much as good because the drinks. We like to put up up right here for the namesake Toasted Coconut (over-proof rum, toasted coconut, lime), then a Vamos a la Playa (mezcal, Mexican rum, pineapple shrub, lime), and maybe a Rings of Saturn (gin, cachaca, mango, chile salt). You will certainly want the lamb flatbread or the popcorn rooster or the Unsolicited Noodz with ginger, scallions, and butter sauce—or all the above.
Trash Panda Drinking Club
As Houston’s solely raccoon-themed cocktail bar (there can solely be one), Trash Panda Drinking Club holds a particular place in our hearts. The eclectic bar is embellished with work and murals that pay homage to its nocturnal namesake, together with a large light-up signal proclaiming “Death is coming. Eat trash, be free.” The bar’s stellar cocktail program contains drinks like a pho-inspired martini with rye, Thai chile, and star anise. Trash Panda additionally has a full meals menu out there till 2am that includes every part from pizzas and burgers to churros and birria ramen, that means there’s no have to go dumpster diving when you begin feeling a bit peckish.
Two Headed Dog
Since it’s named after a music by psychedelic rock pioneer Roky Erickson, it goes with out saying that this Midtown bar has a little bit of a free-spirited vibe. Owned by former Grand Prize bartenders Lindsay Rae and Billy Boyd, this little tucked-away bar is as divey as they arrive, with a usually up to date cocktail menu, together with a slew of inventive frozen drinks. Divey design touches like decoupaged classic Playboy magazines on the toilet partitions and a colourful, eclectically embellished out of doors patio add to the place’s distinctive persona.
Voodoo Queen Daiquiri Dive
You’d by no means guess it from the intimidating and eerie mural on its exterior, however there’s an extremely hospitable Second Ward bar on the opposite aspect of the wall. These days it’s run by the identical staff that introduced Moon Tower Inn to the East End. This hip dive has every part: frozen daiquiri machines, tiki boat drinks, pool and air hockey, vibey neon lights, and a few of the most eclectic crowds on the town. Don’t neglect an order of jalapeño hush puppies or a po’ boy to sop up the sturdy cocktails.
West Alabama Ice House will ceaselessly be Houston’s favourite hangout.
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West Alabama Ice House
There is arguably no place extra cherished by Houstonians than the Ice House (sure, we stated “the”—the remainder are posers). West Alabama has been round since 1928, when it was an precise enterprise that bought ice earlier than the times of refrigeration. Today, the shack-like construction and its many purple picnic tables are an everyday gathering house for locals. Grab a Lone Star and order from the Tacos Tierra Caliente truck throughout the road, or look forward to the tamale man to return via and order a dozen—the venison doesn’t disappoint.
Winnie’s
Winnie’s, housed within the Mid Main portion of Midtown, options fancy sandwiches, cocktails, and a few of the finest vibes within the neighborhood. Stop by for a po’boy, burger, or a bowl of gumbo, and sip on one of many restaurant’s stellar frozen cocktails. Or even higher, deliver a gaggle of associates on choose Sundays to benefit from the restaurant’s drag brunches.