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Every casual barfly can tell you—there's nothing better than a great bar. And we're not talking about the chic cocktail lounges or fabulous hotel bars, necessarily. We mean the kind of place where, if everyone doesn't know your name, they at least know enough to say hello and remember your drink order.
Those drink dens are one of the great joys of life, and finding them is a boozy pleasure. Not every bar will be the right fit for every person; not every person will be the right fit for every bar. If you're down to try a lot of new places on a regular basis, you're bound to find one that you vibe with. But if you want to cut right to the good stuff (a stiff pour and some friendly chatter with a bartender), USA Today just released its list of the 29 best bars in America—and upstate New York is home to two of them!
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Making the list are Marge's Lakeside Inn in Rochester and Horsefeathers in Tarrytown (a quick hop away on the Harlem Metro-North line). What makes either of these bars worth a trek?
Horsefeathers has the kind of history embedded within its walls and menus that makes a casual beer feel historically weighty; how could it not when Tarrytown played such a pivotal role in the early history of New York? Family-owned and open since 1981, the menu includes details about local attractions, and the venue boasts a large mural of famous authors, including Washington Irving and Groucho Marx, whose Marx Brothers 1932 movie Horse Feathers gave the bar its name. Even better: Every cocktail comes with a sidecar of "extra" so you can tell yourself it's a two-for-one situation. And considering its proximity to Sleepy Hollow, expect a lot of Headless Horseman decor come Halloween.
A bit further away from New York City, Marge's Lakeside Inn offers a very different vibe from Horsefeathers' dark and cozy one. Located on the beach (yes, Rochester has beaches) and open since 1960, Marge's has a tiki bar, a vintage jukebox and live music. Marge's venue itself originated as a Prohibition-era bar, which means that the cocktails being surreptitiously poured there came straight from the rum runners' boats, just a few yards from the bar. Talk about fresh!
The rest of USA Today's bar round-up is an eclectic mix that skips the usual suspects (Manhattan and Los Angeles don't make the cut) to encourage exploration. Did your favorite local watering hole make the list?