The top five: America’s best new cocktail bars
In 2023, the best cocktail bars in the country have an ability to be many things at once, said the editors of Punch. Our selected new standouts thrillingly blend past and future, minimalism and maximalism, full-proof and non-alcoholic. Bottoms up! Nine Bar Chicago Lily Wang and Joe Briglio have given her family’s half-century-old Chinatown restaurant, Moon Palace, a remix, transforming it into a takeoutonly spot in the front and a stunning Chinese-inspired bar in the back. Stop in for the house mai tai, which gets a fortune-cookie twist from almond-cookie orgeat.
Post Haste Philadelphia At this hyperlocal bar in Kensington, “ordering another round feels like a responsible decision.” And that’s because a low-waste ethos informs everything from the beet sugar in the simple syrup to the glassware, made from recycled bottles. Try the Hanky Panky, made with locally produced gin, fernet, and red vermouth.
Room for Improvement Portland, Maine This divey spot on a cobblestone alley “pairs serious cocktails with a resolutely unserious atmosphere.” Cocktail improvements include salted coconut foam atop an espresso martini and a “cranpari” cordial that adds zip to the house Cosmo.
Wild Child Shawnee, Kan. The hardest-working team member at this low- and no-alcohol bar is the Girovap, a distilling device used to remove the booze from Campari, chartreuse, and other classic cocktail components. Several drinks are served kakigori-style, with pillowy heaps of shaved ice.
Superbueno New York City “In an era where bars can skew sterile and serious,” Ignacio Jimenez’s East Village bar “feels like a party.” Ingredients are “grounded in Mexican-American tradition.” Don’t miss the Vodka y Soda, amped up with clarified “guava water” and a chile infusion.