Brilliant bartenders, stunning drinks and top-notch venues: Winning bars announced last night at the Time Out Austin Bar Awards.
Time Out, the leading global media and entertainment brand that inspires and enables people to make the most of the city, raised a glass (well, many) to Austin’s best bars and brilliant bartenders at its 2017 Bar Awards last night.
The awards shortlist, the ultimate guide for where bar-lovers should head out this weekend and beyond, showcased venues that represent bold innovation, extraordinary design and infinite creativity. It revealed a noticeable concentration of bars located downtown and in East Austin, and highlights Austin’s love of bars that incorporate live music into their venues.
And the winners are:
Bar of the Year: The Roosevelt Room
Best New Bar: Backbeat
Best Bar Family: Firehouse Lounge
Best Bar Design: Garage
Best Single-Focus Bar: Mezcalería Tobalá
Best Wine Bar: Vino Vino
Most Creative Drink List: drink.well.
Best Restaurant-Bar Program: VOX Table
Best Live Music Bar: Elephant Room
“Austin’s bar culture has gone from strength to strength. And its diversity and excellence is captured in our shortlist for the Bar Awards, which range from classic venues like Midnight Cowboy to cutting edge venues like Garage. We’re delighted to give the people of Austin their ultimate guide for where they should be drinking this year,” said Joel Meares, Editor-in-Chief of Time Out North America.
Austin panellists included Drambuie Ambassador Vance Henderson and food, drink and culture writer Anastacia Uriegas. Their winners of this year’s Austin awards were presented in association with William Grant & Sons, the independent family-owned distiller.
This year, the Time Out Bar Awards are taking place in the U.S. in NYC, Chicago, L.A., Miami and Austin and in Europe in Paris, Lisbon and London, bringing together the most gifted bar owners, mixologists, industry legends and innovators across the world. Something well worth celebrating, considering that Time Out’s bar-loving audience in the U.S. is made up of people who hit a bar on average 67 times per year.
