The 25 Best Art Bars in America

As anyone who has ever attended an art opening can tell you, the best way to enjoy an evening of gazing at art is with a drink in your hand. Maybe that's why gallery openings are always flowing with liquor (and therefore filled with so many strange characters). That dual activity is also an everyday occurrence at the world’s best gallery/bar hybrids. From philanthropic watering holes that support local artists to establishments decked out in high art, these places marry two of our favorite activities. Next time you're out, open a tab at one of The 25 Best Art Bars in America.

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Location: Santa Cruz, Calif.

This California hybrid describes itself as a philanthro-pub and claims to be “Solving the Arts-Education funding crisis one pint at a time.” The idea is simple: create a welcoming environment for artists to hone their craft, share their work, and support their peers—and do it all with a beer in hand. The bar/restaurant/studio gives back by donating a portion of its proceeds to local middle and high school arts programs.

Location: Orlando, Fla.

Originally opened as a photography studio in 2005, NV Art Bar has since morphed into an intimate lounge where the cocktail program is as important as the curating. Because of its prime location in Orlando’s downtown arts district, NV makes the perfect place for planting yourself during the city’s monthly Third Thursday Gallery Hop.

Location: Miami

Though it only opened in January, R House is already becoming a go-to spot in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District. Evoca1, Janet M. Mueller, and Eduardo Kobra are among the artists who have contributed murals—both inside and out—to the space, with the interior pieces curated by Provincetown’s White Porch Gallery. In addition to a contemporary American restaurant and cocktail-focused bar, R House maintains a jam-packed schedule of live music and DJs.

Location: New York

As an extension of the Woodward Gallery's Project Space, Ghost on Manhattan’s Lower East Side is home to a frequently rotating series of street art exhibitions, which make vibrant use of the bar’s interior and exterior walls alike. The lounge has a well-curated drink menu with more than a half-dozen specialty cocktails (priced as 13 “bones” apiece), a decent wine selection, and a craft beer list of nearly 20 varieties.

Location: Seattle

Which came first, the gallery or the bar? In the case of Seattle’s Vermillion, it was the former. The space opened as a traditional gallery in 2007, and in an effort to further promote its mission of creating a comfortable space in which to view and talk about art, added the bar a year later. The division is still visible today with the entire space split into two distinct sections that are flexible enough to allow for easy mingling.

Location: Washington, DC

The art experience is entirely new every other month at VeraCruz, DC’s only art bar focused on interior murals. Every eight to 10 weeks, the interior space is completely reimagined with the help of an ongoing slate of local, regional, national, and international artists, who create a range of work both directly onto the walls and hung on them (the latter of which are all available for purchase). The gallery’s work is Latin America-influenced, and so is the bar menu, which features a range of beer, wine, and spirits from Mexico and South America.

Location: Houston

This spacious Houston pub takes the “Antique” in its name seriously. The space features one of the country’s largest collections of reproduction Tiffany lamps, which only add to the bar’s genteel, museum-like atmosphere. The space also hinges on an Art Nouveau design scheme.

Location: Portland

Don’t let the name fool you: there’s a whole lotta drinking going on at the bar-within-a-gallery in one of Portland’s most historic buildings, a Victorian Italianate cast iron structure. The space pays close attention to its local artisans, both through the contemporary and street art it exhibits and through the range of draft beers it puts on tap.

Location: Charlotte, N.C.

FABO lives up to its acronym, which stands for “Fabulous Art Buying Opportunity.” The space creates an unpretentious environment that can easily turn art lovers into art buyers. FABO features the work of more than 55 local artists in a variety of media, from painting and photography to jewelry and furniture, all of it meticulously arranged for easy viewing. But even those patrons who aren’t in the market for a new piece for their collection will appreciate the laidback and artist-friendly environs. The bar also boasts a small but thoughtful wine and beer list, plus a full coffee bar and bakery.

Location: Phoenix

Originally founded as an online dealer of antique prints in 2001, The Lost Leaf established a physical location in 2004 in order to better serve its mission of helping local artists find wider success. Today, artists still receive 100 percent of the profits from any art exhibited by The Lost Leaf, which maintains a permanent location in an historic home from the 1920s. But who needs an art commission when you’ve got a bar menu featuring more than 100 different kinds of beer, wine, and sake?

Location: Charleston, S.C.

Located in Charleston’s French Quarter, Bin 152 does quadruple duty as a wine bar, art gallery, cheese bar, and antiques market. It’s also been doing an enviable job of each endeavor since the space’s founding in 2009, particularly in terms of the food and beverage. The “152” of the name isn’t an exaggeration; the bar serves up 30 wines by the glass and more than 130 by the bottle, not to mention 40 different types of cheeses and charcuterie.

Location: Milwaukee

The atmosphere is laidback and friendly at Milwaukee’s Art Bar, where every day brings some sort of drink special (typically two-for-one happy hour pricing during the week, and $6.50 Bloody Mary deals on Sunday). The entertainment calendar is equally packed with regular nights of live music, open mic comedy, art exhibitions, and frequent “paint nites,” during which participants (of all skill levels) work to re-create an art masterpiece.

Location: Oakland

Dubbing itself “a study in the interplay of tradition and innovation,” this roomy Oakland lounge offers 5,000 square feet of elegant old-meets-new design in the Bay Area. A curated collection of contemporary art lines the walls of this multi-use space, which features an industrial feel downstairs (vaulted ceilings with a steel and concrete bar) and vintage decor upstairs (with antique leather furniture, 1920s reclaimed wood floors, and a hand-blown glass chandelier). The space can get a little bit louder than some of its art bar brethren, with a nightly calendar of live music and DJs, but the crowd doesn't seem to mind.

Location: Tucson

It’s all about creative community building at Mr. Head’s, which showcases the work of local artists dabbling in a variety of mediums. Anything goes, from paintings to jewelry to glass sculptures to marble, and the artists receive 100 percent of the profits from any and all art sales. The gallery-bar hybrid does its part to pack in a crowd, offering more than 80 beer selections (32 of them on tap), a charming outdoor patio space with bar, and a weekly lineup of live music, DJs, comedy, and a well-known “Cut-Throat Karaoke” event on Thursdays.

Location: Cambridge, Mass.

ArtBar, located within Cambridge’s Royal Sonesta Hotel, is more of a place for gazing than creating. At its heart, it’s a charming little eatery and bar on the bank of the Charles River, offering great service and a fantastic view of Beantown’s skyline. But it also shares the hotel’s impeccable taste in art and features works by some of today's most talented emerging and established conceptual, minimal, and pop artists.

Location: San Francisco

Madrone Art Bar seems a bit like an artist’s studio masquerading as a nightlife venue. In addition to painters, photographers, and sculptors, the venue includes performance artists, filmmakers, musicians, and fashion designers among the artists on its roster. In order to help better define its space, Madrone even created its own near-850-word manifesto, which begins by stating that “Madrone Art Bar is more than a bar: it is a constantly changing site-specific installation art environment where two and three-dimensional works, multi-media, and performance are combined to form an aesthetic constellation that affects attendees’ perceptions from the moment they enter the place.” Oh, and there's beer, wine, and specialty cocktails, too.

Location: Columbia, S.C.

Since 1992, Columbia’s art-minded crowd has been heading to Art Bar for a one-of-a-kind nightlife experience that includes an underground dance club, live music venue, and the Blue Lady Side Lounge, which hosts monthly art exhibitions.

Location: Honolulu

You’ll forget you’re in Honolulu once you step through the doors of this sleek café and art bar, where the greatest works of art may very well be the cocktails. Manifest’s crack team of bartenders mixes up modern twists on classic drinks (including an Old Fashioned of the Week, which is explained on an overhanging chalkboard). For those who like a crowd, Manifest is a prime stop on the city’s monthly First Friday Art Walk. Those seeking peace and quiet would do better to come early and have the place—including the impressive collection of for-sale work on the walls—to themselves.

Location: Kansas City, Mo.

The Uptown Arts Bar lives up to its descriptor, offering one of Kansas City’s most unusual nightlife experiences and welcoming artists of all varieties into the fold. It’s a space dedicated as much to the creation process as it is a place for culture-seekers to be entertained. Don’t be surprised to see a poet one night, a comedian the next, then a mime, magician, belly dancer, and burlesque performer. Yes, it’s that kind of place.

Location: Orlando, Fla.

Art is fun at BART, Orlando’s triple-threat bar, gallery, and arcade. Like a grown-up version of your ‘80s fantasy bar, BART features an impressive menu of nearly 100 brews, everything from PBR to local craft beers like Cigar City. Then there are the classic arcade games—think Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Centipede—which rotate throughout the year. Finally there’s the art, made by local artists and covering the walls, which has been known to give an occasional nod to the arcade part of the venture (BART once featured a collection of The Legend of Zelda-themed work).

Location: Las Vegas

In the heart of Sin City’s 18b Las Vegas Arts District, this innovative art bar offers a mouth-watering menu of Latin fusion food, with influences from far away as Morocco, Egypt, and Israel. Wash it all down with a well thought out wine list and a bevy of artistic eye candy, curated by nearby Trifecta Gallery and all of it for sale.

Location: San Francisco

Founded in 1993, 111 Minna Gallery hosts the equivalent of an art opening every night of the week. The 4,000-square-foot space may look like a traditional gallery from some angles, but add in the nightly lineup of live performances, DJs, and film screenings, and you’ve got a creative nightlife venue like no other.

Location: Delray Beach, Fla.

“It’s a full liquor bar, but it’s not just a bar,” explains Kevro’s Art Bar of its function. “It’s an art space, but it’s not just a gallery; it’s a studio, but it’s not just a place; it’s your place, an oasis in a world gone mad.” Founded by artists Kevin “Kevro” Rouse and Deb Sullivan, Kevro’s Art Bar is undoubtedly one of the funkiest places you’ll find in Delray Beach, a lively mix of people and activity, surrounded by an accessible collection of art.

Location: Chicago

Gallery Bar Chicago divides its calendar in two ways: libations and creations. Depending on who you ask, it could justifiably be called one of the Windy City’s best beer lounges, most delicious Asian fusion restaurants, or edgiest art galleries, with rotating exhibitions of street, graffiti, pop, and contemporary works from emerging artists. And each one of those descriptors would be right. The space also hosts regular educational events, schooling its patrons on both the art of mixology and helping them to re-create some of the great masterworks (after a few drinks, you won’t care that your Starry Night looks nothing like Van Gogh’s).

Location: New York

It takes a special kind of venue to stand out in New York City’s already overcrowded art bar market, but Culturefix on the Lower East Side has been changing the rules since it opened its downtown doors nearly four years ago. Like a modern day version of Andy Warhol’s Factory, Culturefix offers two spaces: a charming little wine bar in the front, which belies the progressive exhibitions that are happening when you pass through the back door into the “gallery” part. It’s the kind of place where drinking is encouraged and the creative ideas fly. In addition to a changing lineup of multimedia exhibitions, the space hosts a variety of events, everything from live tattoo parties to presentations by some of the city’s most forward-thinking startups.