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Cheers To The World's Best Bars
From Greece to Hawaii, the Virgin Islands and Beyond, Here's PubClub's Picks for Top Party Bars & Places
The party
is perfect at the World's #1 Bar, Paradise Beach in Mykonos.
T here are pubs, there are clubs and
there are lounges. Gin joints, dives and discos. Taverns and tavernas,
cantinas and cocktail houses. But where in the world are the World's
Best Bars?
For my money, they are right here. I've not been all over the globe
– yet – but these are the top places I've been in the
places I've been.
This is not a Top 10 and I've not purposely set out on some kind of
mission. With the ease of popping a pop top on a cold one, I've been
fortunate enough to find these great spots. Perhaps, even, they've found
me.
These
are places I find to my liking for one reason or another. There's no
critera that a particular place has had to have met. These bars are
here because they have a great location, great crowd, great attitude
or a great concept that's been perfectly executed. One element they
have in common is that they are all are excellent places to meet other
people of like-minded craziness. And good music.
Most of the places are casual. I happen to like beach bars and kicked-back
hang-outs that roar to life like a lion.
This is a continual work in progress. Hopefully, with more travels
and experiences, new places I discover will be continually added to
these Best Bars:
Spring break for adults – the Tropicana Bar is indeed paradise..
• #1 – TROPICANA BEACH BAR, PARADISE BEACH,
MYKONOS GREECE. If there's a bigger party place on the planet, I
want to find it. Each afternoon, from June through September, the Tropicana
Bar on Paradise Beach is a party paradise. Young, carefree people from
all over the world leave their towels on the beach and gather around
the bar. Or, in many cases, ON the bar. And the platforms and tables,
as well. The music is loud, fun and the place just gets crazy. Someone
hands out small water guns and people start squirting each other from
across the bar. Everyone is laughing, shots start flowing like lava
and pretty soon it's like a college spring break. But with an air of
worldy sophistication. This is also the place to make a date for the
night, because later you will meet up with them at the NEXT BEST BAR....
Inside and outside the Skandinavian Bar, two reasons its #2.
• #2 – SKANDINAVIAN BAR, MYKONOS. After the
party at Paradise subsides, past the post-Paradise nap and then dinner,
all party roads in Mykonos lead to the Skandinavian Bar and Disco. People
start to arrive at 11 and by midnight it's the social mecca of the world.
Friendships forged earier in the day often turn romantic here by night.
If not, there are plenty of other opportunities, hanging like fruit
on a tree. There are two small bars downstairs and a sweaty disco upstairs.
A posterboard on the wall lists the vaious shots offered – the
Mind Eraser is appropriately named – scribbled with a magic marker.
Most people just hang out in the narrow streets outside of the bars.
The place is so great, I rarely make it to another cool place, The Caprice
Bar. (Perhaps if The Caprice Bar would lower it's prices a bit I would
be more tempted to venture there more often.)
•
Mynonos
Guide
•
Skandinavian
Bar Web Site
Margaritas and the
Santorini sunset make the Tropical Bar tops on this island.
• #3 – TROPICAL BAR, SANTORINI, GREECE.
By now you have properly guessed I love the Greek Islands. It's because
the environment and attitude is as ideal as the weather and it's as
easy to meet friendly people as it is to get a beer (and getting a beer
is remarkably simple). I wish I could go every summer. And while Mykonos
has the party, Santorini has the heart. It's absolutely beautiful and
going there changed my life. Sunsets are especially spiritual and while
some claim the best place to view them is at Oia, for me, it's the balcony
of The Tropical Bar. With the caldera below settling into darkness,
a gentle breeze blowing and the only true margarita to be found in the
Greek Islands in hand, it's perfect. Later at night, The Tropical Bar
is always the first stop on our nightcrawling tour. Classy music makes
this place sophisticated, the patrons and staff know you by name and
there's no better place to be with a recent acquaintance. Quite often,
we never even make it to other bars. And that's just fine with me.
•
Santorini
Guide
Duke's on Sunday is not only a song, but a "must do" on Waikiki Beach.
• #4 – DUKE'S, HONOLULU. Framed by palm trees with a beach and ocean for a front lawn – and a booze cruise boat poised nearby – Duke's in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, is an idyllic venue. But it's not the fact that every tourist makes a second home that is the allure, nor is it the totally Hawaiian open-air setting, but the fact that it's simply a "must do" when in Honolulu. Like any good hangout, you never know what might happen here. Yet it is also Hawaii's top bar on the final day of each week. "Duke's on Sunday" is as much a part of the Honolulu culture as hangin' loose and hangin' 10. Locals come out, local legend Henry Kompono plays on the lanai and none other than Jimmy Buffett has been known to make appearance. And oh, the sunsets! There's even a song about it: "Diamond Head and palm trees,surfriders on the sea. This is the place to be (oh, yeah), on the beach in Wakiki...That's where you'll find me."
•
Honolulu Bar Guide
The PubClub crew
and the mermaid, with Buffett in the background.
• #5 – JIMMY BUFFETT'S MARGARITAVILLE, LAS VEGAS.
I admit, I get a head start on this ranking because I like the island-style
tunes and going to Jimmy Buffett concerts. And I just love those Buffett
videos that play on the giant sails along with the songs. But it's the
atmosphere of the people that go to Margaritaville that make it a "must"
stop on my Vegas agenda. In fact, I often go here and "toss our
the anchor" until the evening band starts – then head to the
Irish bar. An outstanding late afternoon/transition time bar, it's almost
as intoxicating as those Perfect Margaritas. It's sit-down or hang at
the bar casual, groups of fun-seekers often stop in for a few and every
half-hour a mermaid slides down a volcano into a giant pitcher of margaritas.
•
Jimmy
Buffett Guide
• #6 – CAFE MONACO, AMSTERDAM. One of the little-known
facts about Amsterdam is that most of its nighlife activity is not centered
around the Red Light District. It's in the small bars and cafes that
surround the two main squares. In the Rembrantsplein, Cafe Monaco is
tops. It has the best crowd, the best music and is quickest to replace
those tiny beer glasses with full ones.
•
Amsterdam
Guide
Rock 'n Roll rules
the wild spirits at the Roxy.
• #7 – THE ROXY, VANCOUVER. The Roxy is best
described as a kick-ass rock 'n roll club. Live bands rock the rustic
place and people sing, dance, drink, hug, laugh, drink some more and,
well, rock. Getting in on weekends is a bear, but once that's accomplished
there seems to be some type of energy release that energizes the place.
It's a good time anytime in The Roxy.
•
Vancouver
Guide
The beautiful Soggy Dollar Bar gives way to wild times at Willie T's.
• #8 – SOGGY DOLLAR BAR/WILLIE T'S, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. What's a list of the World's Best Bars without a swim-up bar? But the Soggy Dollar Bar is not at the side of a pool, but on a gorgeous beach where one must jump off the starboard rail of a sailboat to reach. People wash ashore like message bottles, headed to the tiny oasis under a tin roof where they order Painkillers and pay for them with soggy dollars that are hung on a clothesline to dry. Located in White Bay on Yost Van Dyke it has the magical ability to be relaxing and energizing at the same time.
The perfect island experience is capped off by heading to another of the British Virgin Islands, or BVIs, to The William Thornton on Norman Island. An old pirate ship anchored off the shore, it's as wild as things get in the BVIs. People, already jacked up on Painkiller,s Bushwackers and other rum concoctions of the region, turn it all loose at the place known simply as Willie T's. They expose breasts and butts to get licked and massaged for temporary tattoos by the bartender. They pull off their swimsuits and jump off the back of the ship, then stay and party naked in the aqua-blue water. Be sure to ask to see the "family album." Perhaps your antics will cause this collection of photos to be expanded.
• Bars of the BVIs
Crowds join each
other to dance and drink to Irish music in Vegas.
• #9 – NINE FINE IRISHMEN, LAS VEGAS. An Irish
band that kicks ass (every night but Tuesdays). A crowd that attracts
locals, visitors, girls, guys, 20s to 40s. Dancing with groups in the
aisles and singing Irish songs to the encouragement of the band. And
rarely a cover! This is the Nine Fine Irishmen, a well-appointed Irish
pub in New York/New York that's the most fun bar in Vegas. And after
hoisting beers to Irish songs all night – those Irish beers are
flown in weekly from Ireland, one of only six bars in the USA to do
so – the band's final set is rock 'n roll awesome. The lone
issue here is the fact that while they bother to get their beer directly
from Ireland they serve it in plastic cups after 11 p.m. Doesn't bother
me that much but it absolutely irritates my Guinness-guzzling friend.
• Las
Vegas Bar Guide
• #10 – THE OCEAN DECK, DAYTONA BEACH, FL. By
day, it's a raw bar on the beach where we like to stop in to slurp a
dozen each, washing 'em down with cold draft beer. Wood beams with quirky
quotes are above small, round tables on a sand-spotted concrete floor.
At night, when Caribbean Posse takes the stage – as it's been doing
every weekend for the past 10 years – "the Deck"
as it's known to locals transforms into a Caribbean love shack. Young
and the forever young, dressed in shorts and slogan t-shirts, are downing
drinks, dancing wildly and exchanging "cheers" with strangers.
Struck by the mood, our group switches from beer to the potent Red Tide
rum drinks. Located right on the beach – a single step from the
sand – a huge cheer goes up when the band plays its signature song,
"Smoke Two Joints" (there's little doubt the bass player practices
what he sings, by the way). When I 'm in Daytona, I always stay at the
hotel right next door because it's only 17 paces to the Deck. I know.
I've counted.
• #11 – THE LODGE, CHICAGO. This is "America's
Best Bar After 2 A.M." When other places are closing or slowing
down, late-night drinkers who don't know the meaning of "last call"
pour into the friendly confines of The Lodge. A casual bar with a casual
crowd, this Rush & Division landmark offers cocktails and conversation
as its main attractions. It's open until something like 5 in the morning
and by 3, this place produces more swings than Wrigley Field.
•
Chicago
Rush & Division Guide
It's all about proper
table positioning on the deck at Sam's.
• # 12– SAM'S IN TIBURON, CA (SUNDAYS IN SAN FRANCISCO).
I love having drinks outdoors on a patio. On the water is even better.
Make it a big deck with a crazy crowd and I'll toss out my anchor and
stay a while every time. So, when I found Sam's across the bay from San Francisco in the tiny town
of Tiburon, I was hooked. The bartenders purposely make the drinks strong
because, as they will tell you, life is about having fun! With a couple
of their margaritas, I'm certainly well on my way. Boats pull up to
the dock and captains and crew throw out their lines (not fishing) trying
to lure the ladies from Sam's deck onto their deck. There are ample
mingling opportunities and the key to a delightful afternoon of exchanging
pleasantries with other singles is table luck – grab one and hope
the Love Gods bequeath upon you an adjacent table of like-minded members
of the opposite sex. If not, then keep throwing back the margis. Summer
Sundays are Sam's prime time.
•
San
Francisco Guide
The fun party crowd at Sharkeez bring it in at lucky #13.
• # 13– BAJA SHARKEEZ, MANHATTAN BEACH. The first time
I went to Sharkeez, it was with a group of neighbors who wanted to see
what the heck was inside this bright yellow building stumbling distance
from our houses. It felt like a bar on the beach in Mexico: Thatched
roof over the bar, a menu posted on a board made to look like a fish and drinks served in
big buckets. We opted for a red concoction called the "Shark Attack."
After a few sips I thought my alcohol resistance was slipping because
I caught a pretty quick buzz. About a minute later, someone else in
the group nearly fell off of his chair. Laughing, he said, "These
drinks are pretty strong!" And so it is with Sharkeez. Another
friend slipped a Twenty under the thatched roof because he said, "No
matter what happens the rest of my life, I know I'll always have $20
to spend at Sharkeez." Today, Sharkeez is still going strong and
has expanded to neighboring Hermosa Beach, Newport Beach and Santa Barbara.
My new favorite drink is the schooner-sized Cadillac margarita. The
$20 is no longer there, by the way.
• Manhattan
Beach Guide
The setup and the location of the Hula Hut make it an instant favorite.
• HONORABLE MENTION – THE HULA HUT, AUSTIN. The
reason the Hula Hut rates just an HM is because I've only been there
once and I can't call quite put a place in a World's Best list based
upon a single visit. But I can tell you this: It has the ideal setup
to make it an instant candidate. First, you can arrive by boat (as did
we). Second, it has several tables outside on a patio over the water,
ideal for creating conversation. Third, almost all those tables are
filled with beautiful and friendly Texas girls. Fourth, I can't wait
go to back again.
•
Austin's
Lake Travis Guide
FORMER
BEST BARS THAT SCREWED IT UP
• AL FRISCO'S PATIO, TORONTO. Initially #4 on the
list, this WAS the World's Best Patio. Downtown Toronto has the highest
concentration of beautiful women I've ever seen and every one of them,
it seems, was either walking by this place or going there themselves.
They are still walking by it but not going in because the management
"upgraded" the patio, changed the menu and chased patrons
away like a rainstorm. "You have to change with the times,"
an employee said, which I took to mean they were tired of making money.
Nobody goes to Frisco's now and even Upstairs Al's, the evening bar
that was an excellent transition place from the patio, is is quiet.
•
Toronto
Guide
•
The
"MCBs"
• BAREFOOT BAR, SAN DIEGO. Inside and out, this place
was great. A large outdoor patio overlooked Mission Bay and it was not
unusual to see one of those floating cars putt by on occasion. The crowd
was beach shorts and tank tops and was absolutely jammed on Sundays.
Inside was an igloo-looking room for dancing with sand as the floor.
Any shoes – even sandals – had to be placed in a slot by the
door. Thus the Barefoot Bar. If you stayed at the adjacent hotel –
a grand idea considering the daylong brought on by the super scene– they
had golf carts to take you back to your room! Now, it's a boring, family-style
restaurant and very, very, very sedate bar.
•
San
Diego Guide
Next Project: The Best – and Worst – Party Places.
The Bartender can be reached at bartender@pubclub.com
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