St. Louis Bar Ranked One Of The Best In America

ST. LOUIS, MO — As winter takes hold for real, there's nothing like the warm cordiality of a favorite watering hole, which The Daily Meal called "the great socioeconomic equalizer" in its roundup of "The 150 Bars in America for 2019." Missouri had just one on the list, but luckily it's right here in St. Louis.

That bar was Taste by Niche. Here's what The Daily Meal said:

Missouri’s Taste by Niche is all about providing a mix of creative and classic cocktails with seasonal new American small plates. The cocktail menu includes 35 classics and 15 originals served in the intimate, steampunk-style St. Louis speakeasy. Original cocktails include the Bitter Old Broad (Bols geniver, Bruto Americano, Amaro Erborista, oregat, Byrrh, lemon, black pepper, and sage) and Thots and Prayers (Old Forester 100, Rittenhouse rye, Domain Canton, chai-infused sorghum, Suze bitters, and Angostura bitters). Bar food includes brown butter bourbon biscuits with banana jam, smoked chile honey, and sage; mulligatawny mussels with curry, shiitake mushroom, apple, and cilantro served with a baguette; and apple sorbet.

Members of The Daily Meal's editorial staff have been compiling the list since 2011, explaining the process: "The Daily Meal walks into a bar and — we peruse the menu, the clientele, and the drinks list; we scrutinize the drink, the place, the vibe; we take mental notes. Then we decide to grab a wad of cocktail napkins and start scribbling notes for a list like this. …"

The list includes everything "from simple beach bars and swanky cocktail lounges to innovative houses of 'molecular' mixology to dusty dive bars and dens of iniquity," The Daily Meal said.

Bars "are ubiquitous and unifying," the site said, adding: "Nearly anyone of legal age can enter a bar, pull up a stool and buy him- or herself a refreshing glass of liquid luxury in its many forms: from a budget ice-cold brew to a fine wine to a potent shot to a classic cocktail to a spectacular modernist creation."

Read more on The Daily Meal.

Image via Shutterstock