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Tell us about your favorite bar

post #1 of 67
11/15/10 at 8:34pm
Thread Starter 
We all have a favorite bar. I've been to a lot of them all around the world, but my favorite -- at least near me -- is the Churchill Bar in Denver.

It's located in the Brown Palace Hotel. It's the sort of mahogany lined place where the governor and state senators hash out deals. It's where ranchers in bespoke tuxedos and cowboy hats celebrate their kids' marriages. It's also where the homeless guy comes in once a month and pays for his meal in change. (That's true, btw. It was a tradition there for many, many years before one day, the homeless stopped coming. Turned out he had passed away.)

I don't have political power and I don't own a 3000 acre cattle ranch. But after a while, the politicos and ranchers know you by name and come up to shake your hand, regardless of your station in life.

The staff treats everyone the same -- rudely at first, then with give-up-their-kidney-for-you kindness on your third or fourth visit.

Highly recommend the joint for anyone visiting Colorado.
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post #2 of 67
11/15/10 at 9:02pm
my favorite is in Little Tokyo, has swinging saloon doors and a Westerns obsessed Japanese cowboy proprietor. Our conversations go something like this: me: "I like your John Wayne cookie jar" him: "Yes! John Wayne" me: "The Searchers?" him: "Searchers! ...Japanese movie?" me: "Tampopo?" him: "Tampopo!!" at this point he pours me a shot of something and gives me an ashtray. one of the only los angeles bars you can still smoke in, although when he gets fined, he stops it for up to a year because the fines accrue cumulatively within a certain time limit. aside from the above, it's also kind of a seedy bar where there will often be a number of well dressed businessmen with foreign women who seem to speak no english and are about 1/3 their age. usually present is one drunk japanese man dominating the karaoke in the back. aside from this crowd it's pretty empty, even on weekends. there's also a bar in chinatown that is great for similar reasons. i'm sure this all sounds disgusting to some but for me the ability to hear my company and David Lynch quality are major selling points for a bar. I also enjoy Le Club in San Francisco, because it seems to be unintentionally (maybe I'm naive) Clue themed.
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post #3 of 67
11/16/10 at 12:06am
I have so many favorite bars... 1> The Lodge - Chicago. Mostly just because of the people that work there. Lots of friends on the staff, and also friends in Chicago I've met through the bar. It's close to my house, so it's usually the last place I go before getting home. They always know when to pour me Guinness and when to pour me water. 2> The Nancy Whiskey - TriBeCa , NYC - always a good time. Great jukebox, friendly staff, good crowd. They have a bumper shuffleboard table, which is loads of fun. 3> The round bar @ the HRH Las Vegas - fantastic people-watching. Blackjack. What else do I need? 4> The Varsity Club - Columbus, OH.- Most of my college haunts are long gone, but the VC marches on. 5> The Rickhouse, San Francisco, CA - so much whiskey they need a ladder to get to some of it. Recognize. 6> The Mons Venus - Tampa, FL - Sure they don't serve booze, but who needs it when you've got bewbs?
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post #4 of 67
11/16/10 at 12:58am
my favorite bar looks like this: Limited seating, two Japanese bartenders plus a few local barbacks, menu has 10 pages of single malts with tons of rare old bottles available shot by shot, a few more pages for bourbon and brandies, 10 pages of cocktails, a page of cuban cigars, if there were a drink able to be made in this country, this is where it would happen. Baccarat tumblers, Riedel digestif flutes, Hermes plates for the snacks, Baccarat ashtrays, all unheard of in this country otherwise. They also have a cellar of great wines. They have a good outfit running, needlesss to say.
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post #5 of 67
11/16/10 at 2:20am
^Got a high res version?
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post #6 of 67
11/16/10 at 3:47am
unfortunately not, but here you can see the 2nd case with all the Japanese whiskeys in there, they've got tons of Yamazakis, Hibikis, Yoichis, Taketsuru; we were drinking that Bowmore 18 on the counter, and they have all the scotch near the casks (they have 4 or 5 casks, one is a Caol Ila)
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post #7 of 67
11/16/10 at 4:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post
my favorite bar looks like this:
I didn't know Huntsman was serving drinks out of his garage to the general public now.
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post #8 of 67
11/16/10 at 5:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
I didn't know Huntsman was serving drinks out of his garage to the general public now.

nice. is it poetic that Huntsman is the easiest target?
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post #9 of 67
11/16/10 at 5:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post
unfortunately not, but here you can see the 2nd case with all the Japanese whiskeys in there, they've got tons of Yamazakis, Hibikis, Yoichis, Taketsuru; we were drinking that Bowmore 18 on the counter, and they have all the scotch near the casks (they have 4 or 5 casks, one is a Caol Ila)

Scotch? I'm more interested in that giant bottle of Sapphire. Where to kop?
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post #10 of 67
11/16/10 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mharwitt View Post
nice. is it poetic that Huntsman is the easiest target?
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post #11 of 67
11/16/10 at 12:20pm
I have several...

First is Mr. C's. Definitely my favorite bar in the world. Just a complete dive. You can still smoke there which is a rarity in Atlanta. Anyway, I've spent a couple Christmases there, some New Years, the bartenders know me, classic fucking stories, just fun all around. However, a while back they started to make it more of a college-y frat-y bar, for lack of a better description and the crowd changed a lot. Fewer of the old drunks, flat screens all around. Not as nice but I still love the place. Don't know why really.

Manuel's Tavern. A haunt of politicos, journalists and their affiliated low-life degenerates. I'm there for meetings at least once a week. Really is a great place.

Young Augustine's -- a new place near where I live. Very relaxed and laid back with great food and cocktails. Just fucking awesome how close it is to me and I can go whenever and just hangout.

The Brickstore -- Third best beer bar in the world.
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post #12 of 67
11/16/10 at 1:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post

this from the guy who started that insufferable deficit thread?
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post #13 of 67
11/16/10 at 11:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mharwitt View Post
this from the guy who started that insufferable deficit thread?
Ugh. Ok, let me spell this out for you: it was a joke. Huntsman is known to have a gigantic bar, the envy of just about ever booze hound on this forum, and has converted his garage into a palace of spirits (the drinking kind). if you had been around longer, or paid more attention, you'd know that. He's also one of the nicest posters on the forum so, if someone were ever to open a bar in their garage and give away drinks, it'd be Hunts. How any of this makes him an "easy target" is beyond me. So is your inability to take a fucking joke.
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post #14 of 67
11/16/10 at 11:35pm
It was DC9 but then the owner had to go and beat a guy to death...
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post #15 of 67
11/16/10 at 11:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cptjeff View Post
Scotch? I'm more interested in that giant bottle of Sapphire. Where to kop?

pm: ridiculously oversized bottle shoppe

they got the airline mini of Sapphire in front of it, I think. Obviously not visible.

I am not big on Macallan but they have some old bottles up there on the top shelf that are from the '70s that are very interesting, and they have those Replica series bottles, which I tried the Season 1841 of recently. Stuff like that, these guys buy in Japan and hand carry back with them and sneak through customs, and aren't actually supposed to sell through the store for tax reasons. Reasons like that, though, are why I have mad respect for this bar. They're dedicated to good drinking, in a country that never does this.

Otherwise, that bar is just awesome because they run it like your typical Japanese bar - hot hand towels when you come in, a new one every time you come back from the washroom, skilled cocktail making (stuff like the mixing of cold/shelf temp bottles of the same bottle to control the viscosity of the drink) good chit chat that is always proper and professional on their part (and they're tri or quad-lingual) the great glassware, like I said, and they're great if you want to go omakase and just tell them what flavors you're looking for.
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