"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com – brought to you by Hornitos, OR-G, Party Armor, Red Stag, Absolut, Fireball and Malibu – is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
The votes are in and the winners have been selected for OnMilwaukee's Best: Bars & Clubs, 2012. Find readers' results in 50 categories, including an editors' pick, in this series of articles that run daily in the Bars and Clubs section of OnMilwaukee.com.
We find more than a little irony in the fact that Bryant's Cocktail Lounge, 1579 S. 9th St., took the readers' choice for most eclectic drink menu. It's not that we, too, don't love Bryant's – in fact, it's one of our favorite bars in Milwaukee. But technically speaking, Bryant's doesn't even have a menu. Instead, you pick your drink based on flavor or color.
What that means is the Bryant's "menu" is gigantic, only limited by what's in the creative minds of its old-school bartenders (technically, its website lists that number at 450).
Of course, even without a physical menu, there are some Bryant's classic cocktails that must be tried, drinks like the über-potent Brainbuster, the flaming Black Magic or the aphrodisiacal DeFrongue. We, for what it matters, have never tasted a drink at Bryant's that we didn't love.
Bryant's history dates back to 1938, and it's been a venerable one at that. It's survived a fire, the death of Bryant Sharp and even a recent closure, thanks to the lounge's new owners who restored Bryant's back to its original splendor. It's an awesome drinking monument to Milwaukee, and our readers certainly picked a worthy winner.
OnMilwaukee.com editors' pick: Distil
Runners-up:
2. At Random
3. Distil
tie. Foundation
5. Von Trier
6. Lulu
7. Roots Cellar
8. Elsa's
9. Whiskey Bar
10. Screamin' Tuna
11. Hinterland
12. Firefly
13. Cuvee
14. Ginger
15. Bar 360
