When the idea to write about St. Louis’ 100 best bars first came up, it triggered some nerves — and a lot of questions.
First, we wondered about logistics. Could our small but mighty crew visit enough bars to figure out which should make the cut? How would those decisions be made anyhow? Could we then actually do the work of writing about all of these places and photographing them? How many writers could we pull in? How would our art director even fit all of these bars into the book?
Then there was the wisdom of it all. After we settled on our picks, would our list completely piss people off? Would we miss stars and include some dumpster fires? Frankly, the thought of it was a lot.
But we wouldn’t be the Riverfront Times if we didn’t throw caution to the wind and just do the damn thing. So that’s what we did.
Here are the fruits of those labors: our take on the 100 best places to tip one back in the St. Louis area, in no particular order.
To make the task doable, we gave ourselves some restrictions. So, for example, you won’t find any breweries in here that only sell their own wares (there are just too many excellent ones to get into it, and we did a beer guide last year that you should absolutely check out). We also tried to avoid places that are primarily restaurants, even if they have great bars, though drawing the line on that was a lot more difficult. (And, this being St. Louis, it should go without saying that “best” does not equal “fanciest.”)
Developing the list took some thought, and we’ll admit that our proprietary method of doing so may include an element of subjectivity. Some hard decisions were made, and some tears were shed. But we did our darndest, and now you’ll find an authoritative roster that includes everything from the city’s most intriguing experimental cocktail lounges to its nastiest dives to dance clubs to …
Well, instead of us telling you about it, just scroll down and find out for yourself. There are some great ones in here.