Get Thirsty for Our Annual Top 100 Bars List

It's become an annual tradition to release our updated Top 100 Bars each year just before Thanksgiving — after all, the night before the feast is one of the biggest nights of the year for many watering holes. This year's list will be online and in stands all over the city on Thursday, November 21.

Creating the list is an ongoing process, though. Even as last year's edition was being finalized, I'd already started taking notes for this year's update.

Throughout the year, I scour reader comments for suggestions, ask strangers at bars I already like which other bars they love, and occasionally poll my Instagram followers for their own top picks — all of which are great ways to find places that haven't been on my radar.

I work off an evolving list, choosing different spots for happy hours with friends or off-site meetings based on new or new-to-me places I want to see firsthand. But still, visiting hundreds of bars — plus restaurants (the new edition of that list is coming in December) — while doing my day-to-day job just isn't realistic for one person. That's why I also put out a call for suggestions to the Westword contributors who help cover the food scene throughout the year.

This is my fourth time creating the Top 100 Bars list, and there are some spots that have been on all four rosters — my tried-and-true favorites. But it's also important to shake things up.
The newest list will include 43 bars that were not in last year's lineup. While 100 seems like a big number, it gets small in a hurry; cutting places I genuinely like and narrowing down the field is always hard. But the goal remains the same: to create a list that reflects the wide range of drinking establishments we have across the metro area, in hopes that each pick is a place that could become someone's new favorite.

In order to highlight the wide variety of options included, this year's list has been divided into categories for the first time. Best new bars will be devoted to spots that opened between Labor Day 2023 and Labor Day 2024; classic spots will focus on those open for fifteen years or longer; standout cocktail bars will leave you shaken if not stirred; craft beer fans will get their own group; and then there are the neighborhood go-to's — places where you'll want to become a regular, if you're not already. We've streamlined the online setup of the list as well, to make it even easier to browse and navigate.
I'm a big fan of this year's cover art, created by painter Anthony Hecker. He works with 5280 Art Concepts, a one-woman operation that displays art for sale in a few places around town, including one of my favorite restaurants, Sam's No. 3. That's where I was dining when I spotted a large martini painting that I immediately decided I needed to own. After taking it home, I connected with Hecker, who created a new boozy painting for this issue.

The result of all this work is my favorite edition of the Top 100 Bars so far, and I'm excited for the city to drink it up!