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Yet another bogus 100 best list (Bars)

Mark from Plano

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I just think it's way too broad. The effort of coming up with the "Best Bars in the US" is not realistic. No one has that much breadth of knowledge and so it's no surprise that it's coast-centric.

Flyovers get shafted once more. Thank God for the Electoral College or we'd have nothing going for us.
fight[1].gif
 

Manton

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What the hell makes for a great bar anyway? Superior mixology? Atmosphere? There's not a lot to go on.
 

Brian278

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Originally Posted by Manton
What the hell makes for a great bar anyway? Superior mixology? Atmosphere? There's not a lot to go on.
It seems fairly obvious. Why do people go to bars? The drinks, the people, the surroundings. Music or food or pool tables are sub-factors that fall into that third category.
 

Piobaire

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Originally Posted by Manton
What the hell makes for a great bar anyway? Superior mixology? Atmosphere? There's not a lot to go on.
It's really a tough call IMO. I think you'd almost have to segment somehow, to make things in the least meaningful. I mean, how do you compare a bar that sits 20 people vs. one that sits 500? One where the draw is the $1.50 home made hamburgers that the owner's wife cooks up for lunch daily vs. one where the draw is the high priced single malt and rare wines is the draw? I've been in all four types of bars and enjoyed myself, but there's no way I could rate them against each other.
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by Brian278
The drinks
Much harder to differentiate than food.

the people
Infinitely subjective; we all have different kinds of friends.

the surroundings
Fair enough, but then this is really more of a decor ranking.
 

acidboy

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What happens to last year's top 100? They're not good anymore?
 

Mark from Plano

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I think that if you got some good classifications down (High end, dive, hotel, live music, etc.), got 50 knowledgeable people together and did a poll, MAYBE you could come up with a ranking of the best bars in, say, NYC.

But to try to do a nationwide, single category poll is just setting yourself up to fail.


Besides Zagats ranks bars now...it's pretty sparse yet, but if I'm headed into a new city and want to find a good bar I'm probably more likely to look at something like that that's based on lots of customers' rankings than something like this where I know the author knows phoque-all about the Dallas (or where ever) bar scene.
 

itsstillmatt

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Originally Posted by Manton
What the hell makes for a great bar anyway? Superior mixology? Atmosphere? There's not a lot to go on.
Go to the bar at the Big Four, or imagine the old Redwood Room. Now you know.
smile.gif
 

Brian278

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Originally Posted by Manton
Much harder to differentiate than food.


Infinitely subjective; we all have different kinds of friends.


Fair enough, but then this is really more of a decor ranking.


Well yes, it is very difficult to rank these sort of things, but isn't that what a bullshit magazine ranking list is for?
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by iammatt
Go to the bar at the Big Four, or imagine the old Redwood Room. Now you know.
smile.gif


I like expensive hotel bars a lot. But that's really all about the room. It would be like rating restaurants primarily based on the view. If so, the Cliff House or the Carnelian Room would be "best." And we know that ain't so.
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by Brian278
Well yes, it is very difficult to rank these sort of things, but isn't that what a bullshit magazine ranking list is for?

I dunno, I like rankings, and I like debating their accuracy, but this one seems like a fool's errand. Not nearly enough to go on.
 

bkk

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*scratches head* I never knew there were two bars worth going to in South East DC, let alone two that were two worthy of the Top 100.
 

Huntsman

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Rankings like this remind me of this article... http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/420953 The only real use they might be is giving some places more exposure, which I'm sure the regulars don't want. I'm pretty glad my favorite isn't in that list.
Originally Posted by Piobaire
It's really a tough call IMO. I think you'd almost have to segment somehow, to make things in the least meaningful. I mean, how do you compare a bar that sits 20 people vs. one that sits 500? One where the draw is the $1.50 home made hamburgers that the owner's wife cooks up for lunch daily vs. one where the draw is the high priced single malt and rare wines is the draw? I've been in all four types of bars and enjoyed myself, but there's no way I could rate them against each other.
+1 (except for the seats 500 part)
 

Andrew V.

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List-making is the laziest form of journalism*. Besides being easy, its appeal to journalists is that it's sure to generate light-hearted pseudo-controversy and disccussion.

*In second place is "bogus trend-spotting" (I must give slate.com credit for the term).
 

Douglas

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Originally Posted by iammatt
Ha! How can Vesuvio, the third best bar on the block where it stands, be the highest rated bar in California?

It's been a long while since I've lived in San Francisco, but I assume you're talking Specs, and.....????? What else is on that precise block?
 

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