Broadway is Nashville’s biggest, brightest, and busiest thoroughfare, where the neon lights of the honky tonks and the sounds of competing country bands draw thousands of tourists every year. But those in the know, including members of the local hospitality scene, can be found down a quiet alleyway that runs through Nashville’s oldest shopping corridor, The Arcade. There, at Bar Roza, restaurateur Julia Jaksic (who also runs Cafe Roze and Roze Pony) has turned a former storage room into a rose-tinted oasis of pink marble where partner and beverage director Owen Gibler’s cocktails take center stage.
Gibler, a veteran of iconic bars like Employees Only, The Violet Hour and Pouring Ribbons, has built much of his menu around a cocktail category of his own creation: the Astors, “dual modifier” cocktails that use the bitterness of a digestif to counter the body of an aperitif. No sweetener is added; carefully dialed-in, modified additions of salt, phosphates, bitters, and citrus pick up the slack without the dulling effects of sugar. The drinks match the ABV of a standard cocktail in a shorter pour, so you can try a few—and you’ll want to try them all. Each is finished with what Gibler calls an “aromatic garnish” instead of a twist or fruit: complex blends of distillates, oils, esters, aldehydes, and terpenes made in an upstairs lab and served from atomizers resembling fancy perfume bottles.
For all that’s happening behind the scenes, the bar itself is a laid-back listening room. As reel-to-reel tapes play three-hour mixes, a menu of snacks—like focaccia topped with stracciatella and mortadella, or vermouth-soaked olives—invites lingering into the wee hours.
Creamsicle Margarita
This mashup of the frozen treat and the Mexican classic pops thanks to tangerine cordial and bitter orange perfume.
MAKE IT
Venture into the Polythermal Arcade, a section of the menu where each drink is served two ways, cold and hot. Order the Jet Pilot, a riff on the tiki classic with rums swizzled with grapefruit, lime, and cinnamon over crushed ice, then have it again as the Radio Flyer, topped with steamed almond milk.
One of the Astors, the Hex (right) pairs lychee with a Malört-like liqueur.
DON'T MISS
— ELLEN FORT
Tucked behind Lonesome Rose, a casual Tex-Mex restaurant in Chicago, is a short stairway leading to an unassuming door. There’s no sign, but there is a logo—a snake entwined around a bottle—and the faint sounds of a salsa soundtrack playing Puerto Rican music. This is how you know you’re at Culebra.
With cocktails that tap Malta India (a nonalcoholic malt beverage), tamarind, and culantro, this bar is an homage to Puerto Rican flavors and the Latinx influences of the surrounding neighborhood, Logan Square. Owner Diego Garcia-Gonzalez was born and raised there, and worked his way up through Chicago’s bar industry, beginning in 2013 at age 15, then began visiting Puerto Rico in 2024 to do guest bartending shifts. At Culebra, he has staffed the bar with a top-tier team of all Latinx bartenders. Daniel Maysonet Rivera, the chef and co-owner of Jungle Bird, a beloved bar in San Juan, contributed a tight menu of Puerto Rican snacks, like a standout chicken thigh pinchito with fiery salsa criolla.
The menu leans toward rum and agave cocktails, and there are many ways in. Do you like savory? The Michedalla, a Michelada made with Medalla Light (Puerto Rico’s bestselling lager), tomatillo, and aji dulce peppers, is an industry favorite. Sweet? The Quesito Colada turns the Puerto Rican cream cheese pastry into a blended drink, with pastry-infused coconut cream and guava. Boozy? The Culebra Manhattan is an elegant Black Manhattan with a three-amaro blend, cacao, and rooibos tea. This is a serious cocktail bar, but it’s also a comfortable neighborhood hangout. Case in point: Order the “Boricua Handshake,” a can of Medalla Light and a shot of Palo Viejo, for two easygoing tastes of the island.
— Amy Cavanaugh
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NASHVILLE
TENNESSEE
Behind the bar, you’ll spy a menu of $12 daily Daiquiris, made with a different rum blend each day. Take Friday’s offering: It features Uruapan Charanda, Chairman’s 1931 and Cachaça Amburana, brought perfectly into balance for a richly layered drink.
Be sure not to overlook the agave and rum classics section on the menu. While the original cocktails may get the buzz, the Hotel Nacional is a pitch-perfect rendition. The Pinky Gonzalez, a Mai Tai-like drink made with tequila, is a deep-cut classic.
CHICAGO
ILLINOIS
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The Peach Crease Club’s cocktail menu reads like a list of favorite foods from around the world: Buko Salad from the Philippines, Borscht from Ukraine, Guayaba y Queso from Latin America.
But the dishes-turned-drinks are just one half of Peach Crease Club’s identity. The other is music, and the two complement each other like dinner and a show.
Alex Jump, co-owner of the bar (and one of Punch’s Best New Bartenders in 2019), cooked in Denver kitchens like ChoLon before moving behind the stick, and she’s been building culinary-focused cocktails since her Death & Co. Denver days. It’s not a trend she and her husband, co-owner and fellow industry vet Stuart Jensen, are chasing, Jump says; it's just how they like to drink. The seasonally rotating menu is a group effort from the two. The Fattoush Martini, a riff on the Gibson, exemplifies their style: Made with tomato water, red onion, za'atar, olive oil and labneh, it sounds like the drink might be overloaded or too culinary, but deft recipe-writing ensures that big flavors don't crowd each other out. What keeps the drinks from tipping into gimmick is the technique and restraint behind them: The Guayaba y Queso is clarified with cream cheese, and the Kik Alicha, named for Ethiopia’s turmeric split pea stew, sits under split-pea foam with a berbere garnish.
A rotating list of DJs comes through to play in the dedicated booth, and drink builds respect the acoustics. The Pavlova, a clairin-based, Ramos Gin Fizz-like drink, has the requisite rising foam—but a milkshake maker replaces 12 minutes of loud shaking for the proper froth. The main speakers mounted on the backbar came from the couple's own house, as did much of the Southwest-in-the-’70s style art. This, as Jump puts it, “makes the bar feel like you’re being hosted in our home.”
— Nickolaus Hines
DENVER
COLORADO
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Jump founded Focus on Health, an organization offering no- and low-proof cocktail consulting, which means zero-proof drinks are just as considered here. Cocktails like the Green Curry and Borscht can be made with N/A alternatives for the spirits. Built entirely spirit-free from the start, the Peanuts & Cola is a can’t-miss.
Peach Crease Club’s Fattoush Martini is a guest favorite. Made with pickled red onion brine, tomatoes and cucumbers and a cult-favorite liqueur, the drink is clarified with labneh for a funky, lush finish.
The off-menu Jell-O shots, which appear in rotating flavors, are an IYKYK hit. They come slightly under-set so you can slurp them straight out of their tiny stemmed crystal goblets without resorting to a spoon or a finger.
Vandell’s Green Pepper (right) builds on an unexpected flavor pairing: bell pepper juice and green Chartreuse.
Rarely does a new cocktail achieve citywide notoriety in a matter of months, but such is the case with the Smoked Tomato at Vandell, the Los Feliz bar that opened in early 2026. By its name alone, you might expect something red and pulpy, like a Bloody Mary. Instead, the love letter to umami reveals itself as a crystal-clear, glistening cocktail. Essentially a mezcal Margarita, it’s also so much more; the Smoked Tomato gets its acidity from fresh tomatoes, juiced and smoked for six hours. The mezcal spends a night infusing with lemongrass, ginger and galangal before meeting shio koji, basil, chiles and a rim of lime leaf salt. Co-creators Shawn Lickliter and Vay Su (who met behind the bar at République) call it “a ridiculous amount of prep,” but the drinker is none the wiser—all that labor presents itself as, simply, a damn good cocktail.
That sleight of hand defines Vandell’s bar program, which brings technical precision and a healthy sense of humor to both seasonal-produce-based drinks and classic cocktails. The Melon, a fluffy sour, channels Japanese candy; a Gimlet gets its Technicolor brightness of flavor from homemade sour lime cordial; and the Martinis, available standard-sized and miniature, range from a tarragon-vinegar-spiked classic to an ultra-dirty, anchovy-tinged number.
There’s also a better-than-it-needs-to-be burger; genuinely thoughtful nonalcoholic options; and Manhattans, Negronis and Sidecars made with vintage spirits from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. But Vandell’s greatest achievement might be making all this cleverness feel so unpretentious. Warm, convivial service; a well-designed and conversation-friendly space, wood-paneled like a ’70s rec room; and a neighborhood-restaurant feel have all helped make Vandell the bar where you want to be a regular (and try every drink on the menu). No wonder there’s always a line out the door.
— Hilary Pollack
LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA
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Though there are great restaurants near Service Bar on D.C.’s U Street, there is no reason to leave when hunger strikes. Service Bar is home to some of the city’s best fried chicken, served in two-, four-, or eight-piece plates with sides, or as a sandwich.
More than a decade ago, when co-owners Glendon Hartley and Chad Spangler invited industry friends over after hours, they didn’t know that their makeshift operation would grow to become the template for a new kind of cocktail bar in Washington, D.C. Hartley and Spangler wanted an “anti-speakeasy”—a bar that was fun, raucous, and served what Hartley calls “rock and roll cocktails,” playful drinks that blend bold flavors with modern technique, like a koji-fermented jackfruit Piña Colada and a tofu-clarified Cognac cocktail.
Over the years, Service Bar got a brick-and-mortar location, and it has grown up to be one of the most beloved spots for local and visiting bartenders. The secret to the bar’s success, Hartley says, is its staff. By providing above-industry wages and benefits like medical insurance (which isn’t common in the industry), Service Bar has sought, more than anything, to create an environment where bartenders can thrive. Spangler and Hartley started as the principal mixologists behind the bar but have long since handed that honor to their staff. That includes longtime bartender Christine Kim, who is now a partner.
Every Sunday at 10 p.m., the team hosts “Family Meal,” a nod to the pre-service ritual at restaurants, inviting members of the industry to enjoy a complimentary meal, as well as rotating spirits provided by sponsors, cocktail specials and guest bartenders. After all the accolades and recognition—Kim was a James Beard semifinalist, and the bar made the North America 50 Best list and recently won Best U.S. Bar Team at the Spirited Awards—the space has stuck to its roots as what Hartley describes as a “bar for bartenders, by bartenders.”
— Derek Brown
WASHINGTON
D.C.
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CREDITS
If you read Punch, you may recognize Echo Lake’s founders, Paul McGee and Chloe Frechette. McGee used to run The Milk Room, Three Dots and a Dash and Lost Lake, iconic bars that cemented him as one of Chicago’s most influential bartenders. A few years ago, he made the move to New York to go into business with Frechette (formerly this very publication’s executive editor) who has a literal master’s degree thesis on cocktail culture. Together, the pair offer a rare and delightful combination of carefully honed hospitality muscles and years of drink scholarship.
Echo Lake—its name a callback to Lost Lake—is different from any of McGee’s previous bars. Rather than the culturally flattening island fantasy of tiki, this bar is leaning into the history of rum and the places in which it’s made, showing that the spirit is more interesting than the fantasy. The selection of bottles on the backbar has been pared to a tight but rotating edit of spirits used across the menu; the Cherry Colored Funk contains charanda, a Michoacan-made sugarcane spirit, while in the Seaweed Daiquiri, there’s grassy and saline rhum agricole from Martinique. Frechette and McGee see their guests as “skimmers, dippers and deep divers,” based on the depth of their rum knowledge, and they have something for everyone. The deeper you dive, the more you’ll find yourself asking questions about what makes rum rum.
When you’re ready to plunge deeper, downstairs from Echo Lake you’ll find Undercurrent, a cocktail geek dream with one of the most exciting backbars in the city. There’s a strong emphasis on rare rums, but you’ll also find things like bottles of no longer produced amaro from the ’60s. Go to Undercurrent to riddle through your most challenging questions about cocktail lore—the owners are there, every day, happy to answer them—and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to try something as old as the history you’re asking about.
— Jenny Eagleton
BROOKLYN
NEW YORK
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Rhum Arrangé is a French Caribbean style of drink where fruits, herbs and spices are infused in rum. At Echo Lake, Rhum Arrangés come in flavors like banana and cacao or passionfruit and cardamom.
Echo Lake has a fun, seafood-heavy, herb-inflected food menu. Have a full meal, just snacks, or some soft serve with a side of french fries to round out your night in the neighborhood.
One way to learn more about rum? Get the daily Daiquiri or beer-shot combo (called Tiny and a Tot). Both are always $12, and the rum changes daily, so you’ll learn about a new bottle every time.
NEW
This year, Punch’s Best New Bars is a part of the Eater Awards, presented by Capital One.
THE BARS SHAPING WHAT’S NEXT
BEST
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Service Bar’s take on the Espresso Martini (right) is one of its best-selling drinks.
— Mary anne porto
In 2026, it’s hard to feel like anything in the bar world is really new. These days, cocktail trends rinse and repeat, and nostalgia bait seems to be the new clickbait.
But, in putting together this year’s Best New Bars list—a monthslong feat that sent our staff and contributors to top bars across the country—we learned that mining the past for inspiration can still produce some gems. The people behind our favorite newcomers turn to the pages of decades-old bartending books. They celebrate their heritage through drinks. In an industry that’s become infatuated with lab technology, they, yes, sometimes use rotovaps and carbonation stations, but they employ them in concert with time-tested, old-school techniques, too. They take inspiration from culinary tradition. They cite their sources.
For the Best New Bars of 2026, referencing is an art form, and a starting point for real innovation and really great hospitality. Read on to learn more about the five bars we’re most excited about this year, plus an industry icon that, for a decade, has been a beacon for bartenders all over the world.
Editorial Lead
Mary Anne Porto
Project Managers
Brenna Houck, Sarah Medina
Editors
Missy Frederick, Hilary Pollack, Lesley Suter
Creative Leads
Nat Belkov, Brittany Falussy
Designer
Masood Shah
Copy Editor
Nadia Q. Ahmad
Audience Editors
Terri Ciccone, Isaiah Reynolds, Emily Venezky
Photo Editor
Kristen McNicholas
Video Producers and Editors
Carla Francescutti, Paul Hadish, Gabby Lozano, Jordan Shalhoub
Contributors
Derek Brown, Amy Cavanaugh, Jenny Eagleton, Ellen Forte, Nickolaus Hines
Photographers
Stephanie Kelly, Rey Lopez, Shelby Moore, Cole Saladino, Garrett Sweet, Victoria Quirk
Special Thanks
Kaitlin Bray, Caitlin Burla, Jill Dehnert, Patty Diez, Anique Halliday, Allison Hamlin, Ellie Krupnick, Nick Mancall-Bitell, Torrey Nichols, Stefania Orrù, Stephen Pelletteri, Rachel Peterson, Stephanie Wu and the entire Eater network