Imbibe Magazine

JULY 2, 2025

Chances are their bottle selections have been thoroughly researched, tasted, and curated, with a staff ready to guide you to your next favorite bottle. Its wine club, Rox Box, offers 12 handpicked bottles via quarterly memberships. Here’s a cross-country tour of some of the best indie retailers in America.

Wine

VinePair

MAY 20, 2024

All cocktails are served in plastic cups, and while there are no beers on draft, most bottles retail for$2 a pop. Attack of the Corporate Bigwigs The first move on the bar came in 2013, when the former owner of the vacant lot surrounding the bar’s property erected a chain link fence around the Thirsty Beaver to keep it sectioned off.

Bar

VinePair

APRIL 2, 2024

Since the late ‘90s when he used to lobster claw bottles to speed-pour Long Island Iced Teas at TGI Fridays, he’s been hooked on the rush of delivering liquid happiness. Years of grabbing heavy bottles and shaking mixing tins had severely damaged the nerves in both hands, but like many bartenders, he soldiered through the pain.

Bartender

Drinkhacker

JANUARY 4, 2024

Situated in the Rosewood Hotel in the Covent Garden neighborhood, this is a dimly lit, sophisticated place with live music (think duos and trios) many nights of the week. The current push here is the 10 “Greatest Hits” menu, drawn from the most popular cocktails ordered here over the last decade since its 2013 opening.

Bar

VinePair

JUNE 23, 2024

These days, the hordes still come flocking to Russian River Brewing during a two-week window every Spring to pick up a few bottles of the famous, crisp, and clean Triple IPA. Every December, the brewery hosts SPON Day: a free, no-reservations event with live music, funky beer pours, and best of all: “holiday goat photos.”

Beer

VinePair

APRIL 9, 2025

Kanaal offers over a dozen rotating selections on draft and well over 300 bottled and canned options. Be sure to stop at Station 1280, a bottle shop and bar with eight taplines and a selection of bottles and cans from around the world. After all, the region is the birthplace of beloved styles like the dubbel and tripel.

Beer