Nightlife
Best Bar
Owl Bar
J.M. Giordano
Best Bar: Owl Bar
Published: September 19, 2012
1 E. Chase Street, theowlbar.com, (410) 347-0888
If The Most Interesting Man in the World came to Baltimore, he would almost certainly drink at the Owl Bar. You can’t beat the atmosphere: lush and grand, with high-ceilings, chandeliers that seem to invite a swashbuckling sword fight, artifacts galore, and that mosaic of exposed brick. To be the best in a city like Baltimore, you’ve got to have a history—and the Owl Bar is covered with it. Besides the endless ephemera and the headshots of people like Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, and Barbara Stanwyck who have visited, there’s the ornate owl that sits behind the bar. Back when the joint was a speakeasy, its eyes would light up to warn patrons when the fuzz was coming in. Of course, none of that would matter if it didn’t serve up solid drinks; Owl Bar boasts more than 20 beers on tap, of which about half are usually local, including Owl Bar Pale Ale and Owl Bar Lager, both brewed by Heavy Seas, and there are also lots of signature cocktails. The food is secondary but delicious: We don’t always eat there, but when we do, we prefer the crab pizza.
Runners-Up!
Best Bar
2. Brewer’s Art
3. Club Charles
4. Max’s Taphouse
5. The Dizz
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