GQ Names 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America

Photo copyright: Eastern Standard in Boston

A cocktail craze has been going on around the country and I don’t think it’s by complete coincidence that there’s another tiki revival going on too.

GQ magazine just published a list of the 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America, and while the majority of them seem to be of the nouveau speakeasy type where you might find bartenders in jaunty vests, they also included the Tiki-Ti in Los Angeles at #11. (Only three selections were from Southern California—the others were Cole’s/Varnish and The Edison—so that’s significant in itself.)

Kevin Sintumuang writes: “The menu lists fifty-two rum drinks, most of them potent and delicious. The best include mysterious homemade syrups far better than the high-fructose nonsense that gave tiki drinks a bad name. There are also two beers available. Literally two cans—one cold, one warm. They cost $20 each.”

Kudos to the Tiki-Ti, a much more fitting honor than last year’s spot on Details magazine’s Best Dive Bars in America round-up.

Another shout-out goes to Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, which topped their auxiliary list of the Best Spirit-Specific Cocktail Bars for having “the country’s best rum selection.”

Advertisement