cocktails

One of the few grown-up watering holes in Broad Ripple, this mod bar has the polish and straight lines that make for a sophisticated place to drink.

The 75-year-old former movie theater has anchored Broad Ripple since your grandparents were going there to see talkies.

This English pub caters to scarfed soccer fans, and apparently there are a lot of them. It’s perfectly acceptable to show up alone here and belly up to the bar for the house-specialty fish and chips and an Old Speckled Hen.

Its iconic neon sign remains a beacon for the downtown legal set, returning Noblesville expats, and, on Saturday nights, a raucous karaoke crowd.

Among sports bars in Indy—and there are a lot of them—this SoBro veteran remains the champion.

Well-dressed out-of-towners make fast friends around the white marble bar and the comfy couches of the lounge. Unlike most hotel watering holes, traffic flows in and out all day, making for five-star people-watching.

It’s a gay bar if you need to categorize, but patrons don’t care whose tree you’re barking up if you came to sing.

Opened in 1908, this Cottage Home bar caters to a loyal following of urban hipsters and neighborhood transplants who flock to it for cheap PBR and the divey digs.

An amber-hued jewelbox of a nightclub in Fountain Square, it’s more deliciously racy than raunchy, celebrating the time-honored tradition of burlesque.

Its lineup of punk, metal, and indie music draws rock fans, sure, but also neighborhood-bar types who come for the thoroughly lived-in vibe.

Don’t be surprised to hear a ribald pickup line like “Muddle my blueberries,” but don’t expect the bartender to blush, either.

Champions were chosen based on the following criteria, with each bar rated on a scale from 1 to 10: visual appeal, creativity/originality, inventiveness of ingredients, and the balance of flavors and taste.

Three simple ingredients—vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice—go into the Moscow Mule, yet every bar makes this trendy cocktail its own. Our stubborn Mule aficionados found the best.

Inspired by the success of upscale watering holes like Ball & Biscuit, Libertine, and Bluebeard, Valerie Vanderpool, chef and co-founder of Zest! Exciting Food Creations (1134 E. 54th St., 317-466-1853) is getting in on the cocktail craze. In April, Vanderpool plans to open Twist Lounge in the former N. Rue spot next door to her SoBro restaurant. The lounge will have a “sparkly, Paris boudoir look,” according to Vanderpool, who plans to apply Zest’s philosophy about food (“make it fresh, use quality ingredients, add a little whimsy”) to drinks such as the Cuzmopolitan and the SoBro Long Island Tea. “It’s going to be a total extension of what we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years,” Vanderpool says.

If the idea of tropical drinks brings to mind kitschy brightly colored liquors poured from spinning slushie machines, take note: Hyper-serious drink fanatics Zach Wilks and Greg Wilson of Wilks & Wilson (212 W. 10th St., 317-294-2890, wilksandwilson.com) have launched a line of syrups that pay these beachfront classics their due. Their six organic infused elixirs can make any home mixologist feel confident enough to jump behind the bar and shake it like Tom Cruise in Cocktail.