Nightlife: Straight, No Chaser >>

• Best New Bar
  The Cashew
  Over months of missed opening dates, the Cashew was the bar equivalent of the cock tease, tormenting us with its cool-looking storefront at 20th Street and Grand. When it finally opened in May, the wait turned out to have been worthwhile. We love its huge, garage-style windows; its old-style... More >>
• Best 3 a.m. Bar
  The News room
  The 3 a.m. closing time is one of the best things about our city. So after the first wave of bars issues last call at 1:30 a.m., finding the perfect place to spend the next hour is a must for any self-respecting Kansas City drinker. That's why we head to the News Room to continue the lushery.... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Midtown
  Twin City Tavern
  Though its name professes to encompass the entire metro, Twin City Tavern is the epitome of a neighborhood joint. Located at the junction of State Line and Westport roads, this great tavern, which has been around since the 1930s, draws an eclectic crowd. Because of its cheap drink specials ($10... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Northland
  Dirk's
  Ladean Moss' place, named after her son, is settling into that comforting groove a neighborhood place hits when it's been open for 17 years. The regulars are well-established, but the newcomer never feels shunned. The pool tables and dartboards get heavy use, but the bar's still the focus.... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Eastern Suburbs
  The Trouser Mouse
  The Trouser Mouse, a spacious beer-and-pool-tables joint with live blues four nights a week, is run by Angel and Brad Mallen, a sweet couple who jumped from the sinking ship of Club XO in Westport to open their own place two years ago. Besides having a great name, the Mouse boasts great blues --... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Johnson County
  The Red Balloon
  The Red Balloon is a no-frills neighborhood bar. Located in a tiny strip mall off the 75th Street Interstate 35 exit, the Red Balloon houses a hodgepodge of humanity. And with karaoke seven nights a week (starting at 8 p.m.), it's always amateur hour. Rednecks sing along to Clarence Carter's... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Wyandotte County
  Dotlander's Bar
  Dotlander's Bar, the self-proclaimed "Home of the Dots," is a small, wood-paneled corner venue. Its matchbooks feature an M&M-like character smiling and hoisting a foamy beer mug -- adorable. This is the kind of establishment that you just know loves throwing a Christmas party for loyal patrons... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar, Lawrence
  Free State Brewery
  Thanks to its delicious food and tasty beer, Free State Brewery is a perennial draw. However, on Monday nights, when a rotating list of beers goes on special for $1.75, a more eclectic crowd gathers. Town and gown are represented by dreadlocked hippies (living up to their stereotype by wearing... More >>
• Best Patio
  Harry's Bar and Tables
  The women sip wine and smoke cigars and cigarettes. They chat loudly, so anyone within earshot can hear their story: They used to be a couple. Now they're just friends. In fact, one wears a wristwatch the other gave her as an apology gift. They're chilling on the patio at Harry's Bar and Tables.... More >>
• Best Dive (1 Comment)
  Dave's Stagecoach Inn
  Dave's Stagecoach Inn has all the hallmarks of a classic dive bar. It is, after all, "Your first stop after parole," according to its souvenir T-shirts. Cheap, potent drinks? Check. The best jukebox in town? Definitely. Mellow atmosphere, dim lighting and air that absolutely reeks of smoke? Of... More >>
• Best Strip Club
  The Outhouse
  Mama told us never to put dollar bills in our mouths; we never knew where they'd been. But she probably wouldn't worry much about depositing dirty dollar bills between our lips if she knew how we were using them at Lawrence's all-nude strip club, The Outhouse: baiting strippers to rub their... More >>
• Best Cage Dancing
  Whiskey Tango
  We don't know what we have to do to get kicked out of the Whiskey Tango. We tried pretty hard. We abused the mechanical bull, we bent a few cowboy hats, and we even tackled our friends like linebackers on the football-field-sized dance floor. Maybe the place is so big that the bouncers didn't... More >>
• Best Biker Bar
  Frankie D's
  Every Wednesday during the summer, Frankie D's becomes Kansas City's hump-day motorcycle party. Under a large outdoor tent, bikers of all styles and ages hang out on couches and watch TV or sit around drinking at tables or jam to live blues and rock bands and brag about their nearby rides. (The... More >>
• Best Pub
  O'Dowd's Little Dublin
  For an Irish pub, it's hard to get any more blessed than having a wood floor imported from a church in Ireland. O'Dowd's is full of pub staples: stained-glass windows, murals and handcrafted woodwork. We know the place gets a little meat-markety, located as it is in the heart of the Country Club... More >>
• Best Latin Club
  La Fiesta
  The directions we got to this Spanish speaker's paradise said something about it being "behind the 7-Eleven," which made us a little apprehensive. But this happy party spot has one of the best dance floors ever, ringed by restaurant tables so that couples can find a little privacy when their... More >>
• Best Crunk Night
  Tuesday at Kabal with DJ Just and DJ Mike Scott
  Until recently, the Hurricane devoted Saturday nights to the greasy Southern rap known as crunk. When that party ended, hip-hop heads were lucky that the owners of Kabal had long coveted the Hurricane's crunk night and were ready to snatch up DJ Mike Scott and DJ Just. "We've wanted them from... More >>
• Best Place to Find Intelligent Men
  Trivia Riot
  Intelligent conversation can be damned hard to come by in a bar. No one should have to suffer through tedious conversation with an alcohol-ravaged lunkhead -- not when there are better options. Fortunately, when it comes to searching for that dapper dreamboat, our fair town offers more than just... More >>
• Best Place to Find Intelligent Women
  ACLU 2uesdays
  Simply put, intelligent women care about their civil liberties. With President Batshit in the position of nominating not one but two Supreme Court justices, it should come as little surprise that one of the best places to meet women who are smart and informed is the monthly social gathering of... More >>
• Best Place to Find a Party After Hours
  Buzzard Beach
  We've all been there. It's 3 a.m. and the bars are closing, but the night is just getting started. The logical solution to this quandary is, of course, an afterparty. Sure, you live in a studio apartment, own no furniture and can't remember your address, but that's not going to stop you from... More >>
• Best Place to Smoke
  The Phoenix Piano Bar & Grill
  Though more and more cities are passing laws forcing smokers outside, Kansas City still has plenty of rooms that benefit from a little indoor smog. Our favorite is the Phoenix Piano Bar & Grill, with its nightly music and its photographs of jazz legends along the walls. There, even nonsmokers... More >>
• Best Wine Bar
  Boozefish
  We like this Westport Road hangout, despite the fact that when it's crowded, it sounds like a high school basketball court at halftime. Boozefish has some acoustic problems, but perhaps it's all the yelling that people must do to hear one another at a Boozefish happy hour that helps it avoid... More >>
• Best Martini
  La Bodega Rum-tinis
  James Bond and other martini purists might cry foul, but according to our trusty bartender guide, a martini isn't limited to gin or vodka; it can be made with any white liquor. That's why we're crowning La Bodega's Rum-tinis the winner in this category. They're available in seven delicious... More >>
• Best Margarita
  Ponak's
  Forget the king of beers. The margarita rules in Mexican-restaurant-heavy Kansas City, and its king resides at Ponak's on the Boulevard. Made from just Jose Cuervo Gold, lime juice and Sprite, this golden beauty puts all the neon-green, mix-based pretenders to shame. After this liquid crack is... More >>
• Best Drink in Town
  Moscow Mule at City Tavern
  The Moscow Mule, whose 4-2-1 mixture of ginger beer, vodka and lime juice arrives in a cold copper mug, lends a different type of glamour to its partakers than to those who choose from the martini list. It's more rustic -- and less expensive -- than other specialty cocktails, but drinking it in... More >>
• Best Reminder of Old Kansas City
  Bobby's Hangout
  There was a time, we imagine, when dark, smoky little jazz clubs dotted the Kansas City landscape. You couldn't walk three feet without tripping over someone playing sax on the street. Now all we're tripping over are metal plates in the road. But there's one little spot that recalls our city's... More >>