Cocktails have really drawn attention and have been much more of a draw, both at bars and restaurants, since the cocktail revolution had its first significant sparks in the mid-aughts in Manhattan and San Francisco and then began spreading. That modern era in Houston really began with the opening of Anvil by Bobby Heugel and team on lower Westheimer in 2009, the first bar dedicated to serious mixology. It proved to be a fairly momentous event here that spawned other excellent cocktail-centric bars as its owners opened other concepts as did former employees.
The emphasis in this list is on the quality of those cocktails. The scene is secondary, if that. For those cocktails, it’s been my experience – too many cocktails to count, as my liver gets plenty of exercise – that the classics with superb ingredients, and updated, slightly revised versions of those are the best. Many of the classics have around 150 years on them; there’s a reason why they are still on menus. I’ve almost never been wowed with an extremely creative cocktails. Disappointed, yes, and far too often.
Listed alphabetically.
The Best
Anvil – Bar – Still Houston’s premier destination for serious mixing and one of the best cocktail bars in the country, the highly trained, very proficient and usually engaging staff paired with the excellent materials going into in an innumerable array of cocktails help make for a terrific time. The loud space adds to the energy as do the soon-to-be-dulled senses caused by the easy drinking drinks. Montrose
BCN – Restaurant – Primarily a fine-dining restaurant, the gin and tonics here are revelatory, some of the best cocktails in town, in fact. As many as twenty different versions of the Spanish-influenced gin and tonics might be on the menu at any time, often with unusual ingredients in seemingly odd combinations that all manage to work, usually grandly. It’s fun just to try to score one of the nine seats at the bar for the wonderful gin-tonics a small plate or two, even if a full dinner experience is not in the cards. Montrose
Better Luck Tomorrow – Bar-Restaurant – A bar with good, fun food, this is a partnership with Bobby Huegel of Anvil fame and top toque Justin Yu. That attention to quality is evident in the creative and expertly crafted cocktails, especially so. Easy prices before 5:00 and a fair amount of patio space make this a popular choice for early imbibers of some discernment. Heights
Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirits Lodge – Bar – An industry favorite for a few years now on the Main Street bar row, it’s place to unwind with boozy delights after climbing stairs a bit from the nightly hubbub below. Downtown
Double Trouble – Bar – Subtitled, “Caffeine and Cocktails,” this nicely-worn dual-duty spot is set long the strip of walkable neighbors near the light-rail including Winnie’s. It touts a “small but special selection of quality spirits” used in its cocktails that include fun frozen creations and coffee-based ones, as might be expected. Among the enticing specialty concoctions is Captain's Orders, with rye, a French vermouth, allspice dram, orange bitters and absinthe. Midtown
Grand Prize – Bar – The old house at the northern edge of the Museum District has been a bar for decades, and this one since 2010 drawing attention to its cocktails. And it’s nicely got fully stocked mixing and serving stations on two floors that serve an ever-changing list of libations. Museum District
Lei Low – Tiki Bar – The city’s premier tiki destination, this does a terrific job with those fun drinks of yesteryear properly updated when necessary, but served in those great cheeky old school-style vessels. Parking can be very tough here so it might be best to use a ride-sharing service. Plus, it’s really easy to get plastered during a visit. North Side
March Lounge – Bar – The gorgeous spot upstairs from Rosie Cannonball is your first stop for the set-course meal at March with a necessarily exquisite and exquisitely priced cocktail, but you can probably sneak up before or after a meal downstairs, too. Montrose
Miss Carousel – Bar – Tucked behind two other welcome sister property’s, Vinny’s and Indianola, on St. Emmanuel, this subdued space mixes slight twists on the classics and also some fun originals among its regular selections between $13 and $18. EaDo
Johnny’s Gold Brick – Bar – The cinder block building off Shepherd just south of 610 is fitting place to enjoy more than one of the dozen classic cocktails like an Old Fashioned, Manhattan, etc. for just $8 all the time and open until 2:00 AM each day. There’s more to imbibe here, too. Heights
Julep – Bar – On a more sedate, but busy enough stretch of Washington Avenue is one of the city’s most serious cocktail destinations and another Anvil offspring. Owner Alba Huerta and the bar have won some national attention and the very well-composed cocktails include a wide range of classic and more contemporary ones that’s not as Southern-themed as in the past, but there’s still a selection of juleps, of course. Washington Corridor
Nancy’s Hustle – Restaurant – This eclectic modern American bistro seems to do about everything well and that includes and excellent, interesting cocktail program to get a visit started. One of the current creative offerings is the Black Manhattan made with rye, strawberry amaro, aperitif, amaretto, and Angostura bitters. East End
Refuge – Bar – Anvil’s slightly smarter sibling and next-door neighbor, it’s also an event space and you can make reservations. The small list of riffs on classics and originals – and the handful of “Excessives” like the El Presidente for $34 mixed with Samaroli 2002 Barbados rum, Dolin Blanc, Grand Marnier Cuvee Louis Alexandre – are all Anvil-quality. Montrose
Riel – Restaurant – This wonderful neighborhood boîte has a bar that’s almost as serious as the kitchen and a small bar area where terrific mixtures and service are nearly guaranteed. Montrose
Squable – Restaurant – Exceptional cocktails are part of the package at this Heights star. The nearly ten house specialties feature some twists on the classics like a clay-aged Negroni over a rock that are among the best of breed in the city. You can enjoy them half off each weekday from 4:00 to 6:00, an incentive to stop working early. Heights
Tiny Champions – Restaurant – You are coming here from the food, the top-notch pizza, the pasta, the ice cream, but the small bar area is a nice place to repair to, provided you can find a seat, for an excellent cocktail from the folks who did the same at Public Services previously. A half-dozen well-informed and fun cocktails are on its menu – like the Nordic Thunder with aquavit, vodka, guava and Cocchi Rosa vermouth and lemon – but it can do a bang-up rendition of a classic, too. You can enjoy these at the table, too, of course, and one is recommended to start. East End
Toasted Coconut – Tiki Bar – The palapa near Richmond marks an appropriate setting for this tiki-inspired place with good grub from the folks at nearby Nobie’s. One of the dozen fun featured cocktails is the Captain’s Grog with several overproof rums, passionfruit, allspice, lime, and honey. Montrose
Under the Volcano – Bar – Classics and much more are crafted quite well at this longstanding place with a comfortable vibe north on Morningside from the Village proper that’s far more than the frozen screwdrivers of yore. Rice Village
Winnie’s – Bar / Restaurant – This enjoyable spot along the light-rail does a few things well anchored by its well-made cocktails, many just $7 before 5:00 during the week, which help make this one of the best options for day drinking. Divided among Frozens, Shaken or Stirred, Staff Cocktails, Treasure Chest, a cooler with ice. For $25 that will make either a couple pours of a Fancy Cognac Old Fashioned or a French 75 or a quartet of frozen cocktails or some beer. Cocktails here are just $11 during the more traditional drinking hours. Midtown
Wooster's Garden – Bar – A handsome indoor-outdoor setup and nearly fifty house cocktails helpfully explained by brief descriptions of the components that are competently and attractively mixed and sporting an Anvil heritage makes this a user-friendly spot to enjoy a tasty drink or more. Midtown
The emphasis in this list is on the quality of those cocktails. The scene is secondary, if that. For those cocktails, it’s been my experience – too many cocktails to count, as my liver gets plenty of exercise – that the classics with superb ingredients, and updated, slightly revised versions of those are the best. Many of the classics have around 150 years on them; there’s a reason why they are still on menus. I’ve almost never been wowed with an extremely creative cocktails. Disappointed, yes, and far too often.
Listed alphabetically.
The Best
Anvil – Bar – Still Houston’s premier destination for serious mixing and one of the best cocktail bars in the country, the highly trained, very proficient and usually engaging staff paired with the excellent materials going into in an innumerable array of cocktails help make for a terrific time. The loud space adds to the energy as do the soon-to-be-dulled senses caused by the easy drinking drinks. Montrose
BCN – Restaurant – Primarily a fine-dining restaurant, the gin and tonics here are revelatory, some of the best cocktails in town, in fact. As many as twenty different versions of the Spanish-influenced gin and tonics might be on the menu at any time, often with unusual ingredients in seemingly odd combinations that all manage to work, usually grandly. It’s fun just to try to score one of the nine seats at the bar for the wonderful gin-tonics a small plate or two, even if a full dinner experience is not in the cards. Montrose
Better Luck Tomorrow – Bar-Restaurant – A bar with good, fun food, this is a partnership with Bobby Huegel of Anvil fame and top toque Justin Yu. That attention to quality is evident in the creative and expertly crafted cocktails, especially so. Easy prices before 5:00 and a fair amount of patio space make this a popular choice for early imbibers of some discernment. Heights
Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirits Lodge – Bar – An industry favorite for a few years now on the Main Street bar row, it’s place to unwind with boozy delights after climbing stairs a bit from the nightly hubbub below. Downtown
Double Trouble – Bar – Subtitled, “Caffeine and Cocktails,” this nicely-worn dual-duty spot is set long the strip of walkable neighbors near the light-rail including Winnie’s. It touts a “small but special selection of quality spirits” used in its cocktails that include fun frozen creations and coffee-based ones, as might be expected. Among the enticing specialty concoctions is Captain's Orders, with rye, a French vermouth, allspice dram, orange bitters and absinthe. Midtown
Grand Prize – Bar – The old house at the northern edge of the Museum District has been a bar for decades, and this one since 2010 drawing attention to its cocktails. And it’s nicely got fully stocked mixing and serving stations on two floors that serve an ever-changing list of libations. Museum District
Lei Low – Tiki Bar – The city’s premier tiki destination, this does a terrific job with those fun drinks of yesteryear properly updated when necessary, but served in those great cheeky old school-style vessels. Parking can be very tough here so it might be best to use a ride-sharing service. Plus, it’s really easy to get plastered during a visit. North Side
March Lounge – Bar – The gorgeous spot upstairs from Rosie Cannonball is your first stop for the set-course meal at March with a necessarily exquisite and exquisitely priced cocktail, but you can probably sneak up before or after a meal downstairs, too. Montrose
Miss Carousel – Bar – Tucked behind two other welcome sister property’s, Vinny’s and Indianola, on St. Emmanuel, this subdued space mixes slight twists on the classics and also some fun originals among its regular selections between $13 and $18. EaDo
Johnny’s Gold Brick – Bar – The cinder block building off Shepherd just south of 610 is fitting place to enjoy more than one of the dozen classic cocktails like an Old Fashioned, Manhattan, etc. for just $8 all the time and open until 2:00 AM each day. There’s more to imbibe here, too. Heights
Julep – Bar – On a more sedate, but busy enough stretch of Washington Avenue is one of the city’s most serious cocktail destinations and another Anvil offspring. Owner Alba Huerta and the bar have won some national attention and the very well-composed cocktails include a wide range of classic and more contemporary ones that’s not as Southern-themed as in the past, but there’s still a selection of juleps, of course. Washington Corridor
Nancy’s Hustle – Restaurant – This eclectic modern American bistro seems to do about everything well and that includes and excellent, interesting cocktail program to get a visit started. One of the current creative offerings is the Black Manhattan made with rye, strawberry amaro, aperitif, amaretto, and Angostura bitters. East End
Refuge – Bar – Anvil’s slightly smarter sibling and next-door neighbor, it’s also an event space and you can make reservations. The small list of riffs on classics and originals – and the handful of “Excessives” like the El Presidente for $34 mixed with Samaroli 2002 Barbados rum, Dolin Blanc, Grand Marnier Cuvee Louis Alexandre – are all Anvil-quality. Montrose
Riel – Restaurant – This wonderful neighborhood boîte has a bar that’s almost as serious as the kitchen and a small bar area where terrific mixtures and service are nearly guaranteed. Montrose
Squable – Restaurant – Exceptional cocktails are part of the package at this Heights star. The nearly ten house specialties feature some twists on the classics like a clay-aged Negroni over a rock that are among the best of breed in the city. You can enjoy them half off each weekday from 4:00 to 6:00, an incentive to stop working early. Heights
Tiny Champions – Restaurant – You are coming here from the food, the top-notch pizza, the pasta, the ice cream, but the small bar area is a nice place to repair to, provided you can find a seat, for an excellent cocktail from the folks who did the same at Public Services previously. A half-dozen well-informed and fun cocktails are on its menu – like the Nordic Thunder with aquavit, vodka, guava and Cocchi Rosa vermouth and lemon – but it can do a bang-up rendition of a classic, too. You can enjoy these at the table, too, of course, and one is recommended to start. East End
Toasted Coconut – Tiki Bar – The palapa near Richmond marks an appropriate setting for this tiki-inspired place with good grub from the folks at nearby Nobie’s. One of the dozen fun featured cocktails is the Captain’s Grog with several overproof rums, passionfruit, allspice, lime, and honey. Montrose
Under the Volcano – Bar – Classics and much more are crafted quite well at this longstanding place with a comfortable vibe north on Morningside from the Village proper that’s far more than the frozen screwdrivers of yore. Rice Village
Winnie’s – Bar / Restaurant – This enjoyable spot along the light-rail does a few things well anchored by its well-made cocktails, many just $7 before 5:00 during the week, which help make this one of the best options for day drinking. Divided among Frozens, Shaken or Stirred, Staff Cocktails, Treasure Chest, a cooler with ice. For $25 that will make either a couple pours of a Fancy Cognac Old Fashioned or a French 75 or a quartet of frozen cocktails or some beer. Cocktails here are just $11 during the more traditional drinking hours. Midtown
Wooster's Garden – Bar – A handsome indoor-outdoor setup and nearly fifty house cocktails helpfully explained by brief descriptions of the components that are competently and attractively mixed and sporting an Anvil heritage makes this a user-friendly spot to enjoy a tasty drink or more. Midtown
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