Top 10 of the 2000s : Bars

I also like to drink. So today I enumerate my Top Ten favorite bars of the 2000s. As with restaurants, these will largely be bars I went to more than once.

10. The Libertine/Lakewood Landing/The Amsterdam Bar/The Cock & Bull/Gezzelig (Dallas) – It was tough to leave them off my list. So I made them all tied for 10. The Mediterranean Plate and Ardennes Salad at The Libertine are two of my favorite dishes at a bar. The Landing is a great neighborhood bar in a great neighborhood. The Amsterdam Bar is a little bit of Austin in the Fair Park area. The Cock & Bull has some of the best food of any bar in Dallas. And oh sweet Gezzelig—the first place I ever enjoyed a Maredsous 10.

9. Club Schmitz (Dallas) – I didn't list this with the cavalcade of Dallas bars since this isn't a hipster bar like the others. This is a genuine dive bar – right down to haggard waitress Flo. Although her name is not really Flo.

8. Coyotes (Calgary) – In the summer of 2002 Pokemon and I went to Calgary for Stampede. We never made it to the actual Stampede. But we did spend a lot of time here. Sadly it's closed now.

7. Opal Divine's Freehouse (Austin) – There was a time when I pretty much went there every time I went to Austin. Good food and their extensive patio is very dog friendly.

6. King's Hardware (Seattle) – Before there was The Barcadia there was King's Hardware. Of all the bars Meesh and I visited on my trip to Seattle, King's stood out. It's in Seattle, so you know they will have good beer. So the Langunitas IPA wasn't a huge surprise. But this was the first bar I ever went to that had Ski Ball. That alone would put King's on the list. But the clincher was, while sitting out on their patio, I heard this, thus making King's an all-time favorite.

5. The Barley House (Dallas) – The only bar I can say I hung out in in each year of the 2000s. It lost a little luster when they were kicked out of their Henderson digs and moved to the SMU area. It's still an almost weekly habit after Wednesday night ultimate.

4. U Fleků (Prague) -- What more do I need to say about this place other than I already wrote here. 500 years of awesomeness. You have to respect a place that two World Wars and Communist oppression couldn't shut down.

3. The Alchemist (Waterbury VT) – There's more to do in Waterbury VT than visit the Ben & Jerry's factory. As a Dallasite, when I hear brewpub I think Two Rows and Humperdinks – neither of which has a beer I would ever purchase outside their establishments. The Alchemist is not a Dallas brewpub. These beers are great all on their own. The food is pretty good here too. But don't even try to order your burger anything pinker than medium-well – the lone flaw in an otherwise perfect establishment.

2. The Old Monk (Dallas) – Except for the #1 entry, there is no bar I spent more time in the oughts. This is the first place I had a Maredsous, a Franziskaner and many other beers. Oh, and it has the best Fish & Chips anywhere. The Monk remains the lone hipster hangout remaining on the recently douchified Henderson Ave.

1. The Blarney Stone (Dallas) – As with the Green Room, the #1 entry on this list has not been around for several years. But for much of the early and mid 2000s, this was ground zero for any and all Ultimate related hijinks. The place was the bar of choice for post Wednesday Night Ultimate beers and for Thursday Night Liver Practice. And who can forget the great Anniversary Parties they would throw every November. OK, well I forget them. An open bar does not lead to vivid memories.