The best bars in America

Trick Dog is known for its affordable food, inventive cocktails, and speedy service. The bar is in a constant state of evolution, with complete menu makeovers every six months.

This East Village bar made the 2015 list of the World's 50 Best Bars the very year it was opened, thanks to experienced founders and a high-quality cocktail menu.

New York's PDT was awarded the top spot as the world's best bar in 2011. While it has slipped in the rankings, tourists and regulars continue to flock to the hidden location (behind a vintage phone booth) for cocktails, including endless custom drinks.

This bar is known for upscale takes on traditional pub food, like chicken pot pie with black truffles and foie gras, as well as whimsical cocktails.

San Francisco is home to perhaps the best Tiki bar in the country, inspired by beverages with roots in the Caribbean. If you want rum, you’ve come to the right place — Smuggler’s Cove has more than 550 options.  

Chicago’s lone bar on the list is sleek, inventive, and serves up drinks that the World's 50 Best Bars list calls "Cirque du Soleil in a glass."

Don't confuse this mahogany bar in the Nomad Hotel with the Nomad Bar, located just next door.

Maison Premiere takes its inspiration from New Orleans and Paris, and is famous for having a wide variety of absinthe on the menu.

This bar calls itself the "Western hemisphere’s largest spirit collection at 3,500 labels and counting." Drinks range from the high-brow $1,100 Brandy Crusta to a low-brow float with popcorn ice cream and a Red Vine licorice straw.

You won't find a better bar in Miami than The Broken Shaker, which was reportedly inspired by 60 Havana, Key West, and vintage Miami.

This Lower East Side cocktail bar has no menu. Instead, customers simply tell bartenders what they like, with bartenders mixing up a beverage they think will fit the bill.

Employees Only reportedly serves nearly 183,000 cocktails a year. One of its most popular beverages, the Amelía, is ordered every 15 minutes, meaning that 15,000 are sold a year.

The No. 2 bar in the world takes the best of the Irish pub and mixes it with the prime cocktail bar experience. The Dead Rabbit, which opened in 2012, represents Irish-born owners Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry dreams of founding a truly authentic Irish pub in the US.