48 Hours of Drinking in Houston

13 Celsius Wine Bar draws a steady local crowd in Midtown. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

Aris H Rooftop draws a steady local crowd in Heights. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

Buster's Tavern draws a steady local crowd in Memorial. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

Anvil Bar & Refuge draws a steady local crowd in Montrose. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

There are bars that are popular, bars that are well-reviewed, and then there are bars that change entire cities. Anvil Bar and Refuge — opened in 2009 by Bobby Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Axelrad Beer Garden draws a steady local crowd in Midtown. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

Better Luck Tomorrow is the Heights neighbourhood bistro-and-bar from Bobby Heugel — a Western-leaning kitchen with a serious cocktail programme and one of Hous Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Bovine and Barley draws a steady local crowd in Downtown. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.