Julie Soefer

The Pastry War/ Tongue Cut Sparrow

Pastry War is Alba Huerta and Bobby Huegel’s fun, somewhat obsessive mescaleria; Tongue Cut Sparrow is an immaculately executed mid-century modern cocktail lounge located inside it, through a discreetly marked door and up a flight of stairs. Both are anchors for a two-block drinking ecosystem near the intersection of Main Street and Congress Street, one of the few areas downtown that bustles with life after dark.

Jenn Duncan

Public Services

Stationed in the same downtown mini-neighborhood, Public Services is located in what was once the Houston Cotton Exchange, it has the feel of an early 20th century railroad lounge: overstuffed couches, wood paneling, gilt plasterwork decorating the ceilings and a black marble bar at which you can order a menu of Spanish conservas, canned fish and shellfish, in addition to a deep and interesting selection of wines and whiskeys. It may be the best looking bar in America.

Courtesy of Lil' Danny Speedo's Go Fly a Kite Lounge

Lil Danny Speedo’s Go-Fly-A-Kite Lounge

It’s a lot of name, true, but Danny’s is actually a hip, easygoing dive in East End with what has to be one of the better jukeboxes in Texas and a fine porch to drink beer on while listening to it.

Carla Gomez

Eight Row Flint

Morgan Weber was an original partner in Anvil Bar and Refuge and an early member of the Houston culinary scene through his Revival Market and Coltivare restaurant. Eight Row Flint is Weber’s tribute to and reinvention of a classic Houston ice house—a big, fun barn of a bar with garage-style doors thrown open in good weather, plenty of icy beer, and cocktails flowing from taps.

Andrew Nguyen

Poison Girl

Dark, sexy, filled with pinball machines and an absurdly good whiskey selection at absurdly good prices, this is the dive you dream of discovering and never telling anybody else about. (Sorry.)

Jenn Duncan Jenn Duncan

Better Luck Tomorrow

Bobby Huegel and Justin Yu, of Theodore Rex, opened this neon-lit box of a refuge in the Heights last year, with a menu of creative cocktails and ever-so-slightly elevated stoner food, notably the so-called “Party Melt,” a take on the patty melt that might require a few drinks to fully appreciate.