DINING
Bars, Clubs & Nightlife
Best Bars in America: How USA TODAY picked the 2026 finalists
Liz JohnsonUSA TODAY
July 29, 2026, 5:06 a.m. ET
I’m the lead editor for our 2026 USA TODAY Bars of the Year, and I’ve watched every video we made for it.
All 38 of them. Many times.
One clip stands out. A pink lightbulb in a caged fixture illuminates a bar from above. Drinkers fill every seat. One woman — big smile, body turned slightly toward her friend — tells a story. Punchlines arrives. The friend laughs and dips her head toward her hand on the bar in delight.
It’s from Femme Bar in Worcester, Massachusetts — and you can tell everyone is having a great time.
That’s why Femme — and 37 other bars across the United States — made our list of 2026 USA TODAY Bars of the Year. Our USA TODAY Network food writers have shared these moments with friends and family. And we are sharing them with you.
With more than 200 sites in 42 states, the experts at our publications nominated the best bars where they live. We gathered their suggestions – speakeasies and listening lounges, cocktail meccas and neighborhood dives – to create the 2026 USA TODAY Bars of the Year, a companion to our Restaurants of the Year list published earlier this year.
We realize other “best bars” lists exist. What makes our list different? Our writers are not flying into a city for a weekend to check out what others have already reported or posted on Instagram. They work for our newspapers and websites across the country. They live in these communities. And the bars they recommend are spots where they have spent more than a few late nights.
We asked for their favorites, and then a team of experienced editors narrowed that list down to 38 spots, ranging from humble dives to high-end lounges. We looked for diversity in style of bar and in geography. And we looked for quality.
These are bars that excite our writers, bars they would recommend to friends and family, bars they’d return to again and again.
We present them to you here.
Buy the Book! ‘Shake & Sip: Recipes from America’s Best Bars’
Great bars – the best bars – can mean different things to different people. Delighting in an inventive new cocktail in a sleek setting might be the bee’s knees for some. Others might love to chill out with a glass of red wine and listen to some great music. This list has the best of all worlds.
Whether you want to sip whiskey in South Dakota, dance the night away in Nashville or soak up the sun in Florida, our writers can show you where to go.
Now, raise a glass and say cheers to our USA TODAY Bars of the Year 2026.
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
