Editorial
The conversation about American bars circles the same five cities perpetually: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Nashville. All excellent, all worth the trip, all thoroughly documented. The cities worth tracking are the ones building serious bar scenes without the accompanying attention. We have identified 9 US cities that consistently outperform expectations.
All 9 cities are either college towns or cities with strong university influence. All have food cultures that drive bar quality higher than bar culture alone would produce. All operate below the international tourism threshold that inflates prices and reduces the percentage of local regulars. None of them is trying to replicate New York, which is the most reliable indicator that they are building something worth visiting on its own terms. For a global perspective on the same phenomenon, see our guide to the most underrated bar cities worldwide.
Skip the downtown tourist corridor for the first 24 hours. The neighbourhood immediately adjacent to the city's best restaurant concentration is where the bar industry drinks. Ask your hotel who the best bartender in the city is — not the best bar, the best bartender. That question produces more specific and accurate answers. And check the craft beer and cocktail bar categories on barsforkings for any of these cities before you arrive.
The American bar cities worth adding to your list are the ones where the community is still building something, where the prices reflect a local economy rather than an international one, and where the bartenders have nowhere more competitive to go — so they stay, get better, and produce programmes that would be famous if they were in a city people had heard of.
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Covers New York, Chicago, and the wider American bar scene for barsforkings.com. He has been drinking seriously for 15 years and unprofessionally for longer.