City Weekly Best of Utah 2017

Best of Utah 2017: Libations & Bars

31 reader-voted winners in libations & bars, from the City Weekly Best of Utah 2017 poll.

Ask Ave: What won Best of Utah 2017 for Libations & Bars

• Best (and only) bards in the West DesertGrantsville Performing Arts Council

  Utah's West Desert is the exclusive home to aliens (probably), three-eyed jack-rabbits and a fabulous group of thespians operating under the moniker Grantsville Performing Arts Council. The…

• Best Bar MenuWhiskey Street
• Best Bar StaffLake Effect

  Some of my most memorable nights are the ones that weren't planned, the ones that started kind of shitty but turned out great, thanks to the people I wound up with. That was the case on a…

• Best BarberNico "Swish" Johnson at Savant Studio
• Best barstool to backseat coach the Utah JazzTwilite Lounge

  Cheap beer. TVs on either end of the bar. Friendly regulars. Friendlier bartenders. And cheap beer (because you're going to order a second—who're we kidding). The dimly lit cash-only dive…

• Best Beer SelectionThe Bayou
• Best Brew PubSquatters
• Best BreweryEpic Brewing Co.
• Best Cocktail Bar in a (ground-floor) BasementThe Ruin

  In the newly renovated (or gentrified) part of Sugar House, several eateries, specialty shops and watering holes have sprouted up like sweet fruit from barren earth, but none more worthy of…

• Best Craft CocktailsBar-X
• Best crowd-funded public service announcementCosmopolitan magazine is Porn billboard on I-15

  Thanks to the Utah state government, all those who were not already clued-in know that porn is a goddamned health crisis. Certainly, this creates a sort of chicken-and-egg conundrum—I mean…

• Best DistilleryHigh West Distillery & Saloon
• Best Dive BarCheers to You
• Best Fruity CocktailLife's a Peach at Copper Common

  I'll try pretty much anything, but when it comes to cocktails I often stay in my comfort zone. I hate to admit it because I'm usually adventurous, but I am a total wimp with liquor. When I…

• Best Hard CiderMountain West Hard Cider

  There's gold in them thar hills. Specifically, golden apple cider sourced from the Mountain West region and made with expert craftsmanship. Light, crisp and naturally gluten-free, even beer…

• Best I-wanna-black-out-for-cheap drinkCheer to You's Mind Eraser

  Sometimes the only solution to a hard week's worth of work is to get blacked out, but not every nightlife-er has the cash to do it at a tap house or pay whatever the hell they charge at…

• Best New BarLake Effect
• Best Northern Root BeerThe Beehive Grill

  As much as beer-brewing has proliferated in Utah, it's still sometimes hard to wrap your head around Utah as a place for such activity. Root beer brewing? Now that sounds about right…

• Best Ogden BarAlleged
• Best Park City barDownstairs
• Best Piece of Public ArtSpiral Jetty
• Best Pool BarBig Willies
• Best premise licensed as a homebrew store not a barThe Beer Nut

  Homebrewing has been legal in Utah for less than a decade, but that doesn't mean the hobby isn't popular. Quite the contrary, actually. And The Beer Nut has been Salt Lake City's home base…

• Best Public Golf CourseMountain Dell
• Best reason to drink at homeThe Utah Legislature

  Isn't it fitting that Utah became the first state to pass a law lowering its DUI limit from .08 BAC to .05 right after it reported a record profit from its state-run liquor stores? Hmm. The…

• Best Refreshing BeerUinta Brewing's Lime Pilsner

  I admit, I was skeptical when someone first recommended it. "Hmm, sounds kind of like a Bud Light Lime and I hate Bud Light Lime," I recall saying. But then I took a sip and was pleasantly…

• Best Republican storming of the Democrat heartlandSpeaker of the House Greg Hughes

  When you have a power-block of Democrats occupying key positions in both Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, all should be well in our liberal domain. Two mayors, the sheriff and D.A. all…

• Best shake you can drink through a strawThe Pumpkin Biscoff shake at Chom Burger

  I feel like I'm in the minority when I say that I prefer a milkshake that I can drink through a straw. There's nothing wrong with a nice, thick, spoon-required milkshake, but Utah has shake…

• Best SpiritsOgden's Own
• Best Sports BarLumpys
• Best Sushi, Sunset, Cocktail comboCliff Dining Lodge

  People of the south valley rejoice! One of the sexiest city-view patios in our briny borough has the definitive bonus of Chef Rene Negron bringing a top-notch sushi program to the Cliff's…