Best Beer Bars

The Quest for the Holy Grain - Best Beer Bars

Texas

The Esquire Tavern 155 East Commerce Street San Antonio, Tx 78205 Sure everybody remembers the Alamo, but who remember the Battle of Alazan Creek that preceded it? No one, that's who. This is San Antonio. You want a beer, a Texas beer. There is only one place to go...the Esquire. It looks like a gentlemen's club from the outside; a cheap neon sign discourages you. Walk through it. Don't believe the photos at their website - that is not the only entrance. Once inside you will find the longest continuous bar surface in the state of Texas. It covers two zipcodes. You can buy a beer in one zipcode, drink it in another and never leave the bar! It has more dead animals than flat screen TVs and a tacky gold and maroon textured bordello wall paper. There is a mile of intimate and dark booths, a tin ceiling and plenty of seating off the Commerce Street entrance (see website for this less tacky exit). The walls behind and across from the bar are mirrored so you can drink into eternity if you sit at the right place at this bar with a great brass rail. But enough trivialities. Let's talk beer, Texas beer. And pretty senoritas. There are about ten draft beers. Most of them Texas beers. I had a 512 Pecan Porter that was excellent. There was also a 512 IPA seasonal on tap. Live Oak offered its Big Bark Amber and a hefeweizen that may be the best American hefe I have ever had. My glass was thickly ringed with eight delightful draws of 2 ounces each that were as good as any German hefe I have had. Oh yeah, Paulaner Hefes are sold for $5 each...heaven. Ranger Creek has two beers including an Oatmeal Pale Ale. Their lager was pedestrian but with a malty sweetness that begged you to have another, a nice session beer. Real Ale Brewing (Blanco) had two entries, Fireman #4 Blondette and an IPA. There was not a bad beer among them. Pearl and Shiner were available too along with three dozen delightfully varied beers from Delaware Dogfish Head to Portland Rogue along with a few nice imports (See Paulaner). The bartenders were knowledgeable about mixed drinks but they could still jerk a beer. The senoritas were big on bare shoulders and so was I. The prices were $5 and $6 except for a $25 Rogue Imperial Red and a $12 Schneider Hopfenweisen, if you discount $3 Buds and such. After you pay your homage to Fess Parker, John Wayne and all the others who died at the Alamo, retire to the Esquire. Avoid the deviled eggs (they have a fish oil taste) and the pulled pork (subpar) have the fish and a Texas beer, then ask about the light bulbs.

Press Box Grill 1623 Main St Dallas, TX 75201 (214) 747-8226 The Press Box has a Main Street address, yet it is located at the intersection of Elm and Ervay. Huh? What? Once you find the place it has two distinct personalities. L-shaped, the short end of the L is where the bar is located with window tables. It is cozy, the music is good (definition of good means that I liked it), the service is friendly, and the beer is cold. There are about three dozen taps, a small subset for the beer and beerlight crowd, a nice selection of Texas beers, and a smattering of others. Some friends walked in and we moved around to the long side of the L. This was more bar restaurant than bar. Less atmosphere with attractive wooden tables, including a long table for parties or friendly strangers. Here, the music yields to TV sets, the service is okay until people begin to show up then you have to wait with an empty glass, a cardinal sin for any beer establishment! Its main advantage is it is one of the few walkable taverns in the hotel district. Deep Ellum beers tickled my fancy on my first visit, Deep Ellum being a Dallas neighborhood not too distant. Deep Ellum IPA and Mosaic IPA, another Dallas product, made a very below average meal thoroughly sub average. It was raining cats and dogs with a temperature in the 30s, so proximity was important and we visited a second time. This time I was impressed by the number of Dallas breweries represented among the taps. The Texas Ale Project won this particular evening and the food got worse. We sat at the head of a very long table expecting some friends. The waiter began to lay down place settings, about 15 in all, at the lower end of the table. Our friends must have made a reservation. In walked a dozen or so grade school aged girls in uniform, 80% braces on teeth, and their chaperones. Want a buzz kill? Want to feel your age? Go to a bar, have a few good beers, and share a table with a dozen 14-year old girls. The Press Box gets an A for convenient location, and a B+ for Texas beers. It earns a C+ for overall beer selection,but it gets a D for food; no F because no one got sick. Here is my take away - - when in the Press Box, stay in the short end of the L.

The Old Monk
2847 North Henderson Avenue
Dallas, TX 75206-6470
(214) 821-1880

Dallas. What does it bring to mind? Cowboys. JR. Parkland Hospital. Texas Schoolbook Depository. Sixth floor? If you have been to The Old Monk you'll think of lithe barmaids, darkness and Belgian beers. All in all, not a bad hat trick.
Downtown Dallas is desperate for some good beer bars. There are many places to have a Coors or a Coors Light, but good beer is hard to find downtown. I have never been to an authentic Belgian pub but this is what I imagine one should look like. The interior is old Europe. Very dark wood everywhere, well worn and smooth. Once the sun was down candles provided the only light in the pub. The bohemian waitresses were as attractive as the beer list and as varied. Some full-bodied some not so much.
CSNY's Ohio floats through the air. There are lots of windows. And French doors. Or are they Belgian? There are 28 glorious Belgians in bottles and 20 taps in total. Another hundred or so mostly Euro beers fill out the beer list. Beer- battered calamari confirm a coastline is not essential to good squid.
The establishment has two main rooms and outdoor seating. There is a fabulous mirrored bar and seating at eight tables and a bar in the main room. There is a ton of beeraphanelia that included old wood cuts, Belgian beer signs and less exotic Guinness promotions. The mix is fun.
A dart board in the corner beckons no one and our well- endowed waitress wears an off the shoulder bra-strapped ensemble that distracts you from the beer list. The bar food fare is better than average, the service is good, the men's room water is hot, and you can forget you are in Dallas.
I'll go back tomorrow night. You should too. Pickings elsewhere are slim.

O'Malley's Stage Door Pub
2022 Post Office Street
Galveston, Texas
Telephone: 409-763-1731

Open 11 am to 2 am Daily

Galveston is the end of the continent.
People running from their lives have two choices, the Gulf or O'Malley's.
Fortunately, many choose O'Malley's where Mitzi, and Jim The Axe Murderer hold down the bar in fine style.
Mitzi's there in late afternoon (don't mention tattoos) when regulars begin to show up and Jim into the night (don't ask him to take off his hat).

A modest sized selection of good bottled beers awaits the itinerant Questor and even if it doesn't, there is usually fun to be had and not infrequently an adventure. Talk to the locals. Be nice to Jeff.

And if you get hungry, have a Frito Pie--an American classic with chili & Fritos, topped with onions, cheese & jalapenos. Cooked in the bag, the way a Frito Pie is supposed to be cooked.

Molly's Pub
2013 Post Office St.
Galveston, TX 77550
Phone: (409)763-4466

The best draft selection at this end of the continent is at Molly's Irish Pub, where you'll find about 60 drafts from around the world. Molly's is located on Post Office Street, just yards away from O'Malley's and other tantalizing establishments.

Avoid hurricane season.