Craftbeer.com best beer bar in America

This is an absolute joke. Did you read their taplist? Pedestrian at best. Another garbage list.

 

It went by number of votes. I've never visited the bar and can't speak to its worthiness, but that's how the contest worked and that's how they won.

 

After looking at the remaining two nominees for the northeast...I've determined that I want a refund on the time I spent reading that far into the article.

 

Virginia isn't even in the North East.

 

Awesome. All-star voting in sports is garbage too...so...there are plenty of flawed "votes" out there.

 

Most popular doesn't equal Best. Unfortunately those are the results you get when you use those standards

 

I would hardly consider a Vietnamese full service restaurant, that only serves bottles, a "beer bar." But, then again, I tend to be narrow-minded.

 

Favorite/most popular. Not best. So who cares

 

It's a total joke

 

I'm actually sitting here at work right now wearing my Hopcat shirt. I was there this past summer on vacation. Hands down the best bar I've ever been to. In fact, I went on a Friday night, then went back for Saturday lunch it was so awesome! Not too mention the food! I can't imagine Mekong could even compare.

Perhaps someone can chime in and make a case for Mekong?

 

Glancing at their website, they do have a surprisingly good beer list for a Vietnamese place, but... yeah. Seems odd. I'd totally go there if I were in the area, though.

 

I saw the owner of Mekong do a review on Hardywood's Bourbon Quad it was classic. Dude gets really excited about beer. I have heard that he is really cool and has some incredible beers that he brings out from time to time. Been there once and really enjoyed the beer and food. Best beer bar I don't know about that. But the owner is on top of his game and knows what up.

 

Mekong must have a lot of active supporters. Or that poll got trolled.

 

As a huge fan of this place I can and will make the case for Mekong. My brother gradated from school in Richmond last year and I used to visit Mekong practically every time I was in town. What seems to be overlooked here is it has a phenomenal tap list which is not properly advertised on its website or Facebook page. I have a picture of the tap list from one of the last times I was there, but since I can't seem to upload it I'll write down the offerings instead...

Allagash White, Delirium Tremens, Bells Oberon, St. Bernardus ABT 12, Triple Karmeliet, Chimay Tripel, Urthel Samaranth, Ommegang Gnomegang, Founders Centennial IPA, DF My Antonia, Unibrou Raftman, Gouden Carolus Easter, De Dolle Dulle Teve, Mikkeller Its Alive.

Not my favorite of their tap lists either. But this was well over a year ago and these days they seem to be more intent on serving Sours and Wild Ales in their lineup (I've seen 6-7 at a time), especially as their popularity has grown. As someone who lives between NY and Boston Mekong is very reasonably priced, and believe me Vietnamese food pairs damn well with their Belgian offerings. Also, An the head bartender is one of the coolest beer guys I've ever met, he really does make the place. If anyone here is fortunate enough to check the place out, I'll vouch you will have a great time and drink some AMAZING beers.

I have been to some of the best beer bars in the country, and in some cases the world and if I could pluck just ONE and put it in my town, I'd have a hard time not choosing Mekong. That sounds crazy, but for those who have not visited I dare you to not leave impressed.

 

And I would hardly consider an opinion of someone who hasn't been to a place to be valid. They have a large tap list, for starters. The last time I went there was during a sour fest and they had at least a dozen different sours on tap, including a couple of the Allagash Coolship series. Are they the best beer bar? I have no idea, since I've yet to go to every bar in the country. They are a great place for craft beer, however, and have great food as well, which is a rarity among places that have good craft selections. The owner is also almost always around the restaurant and willing to chat with you about beer.


Back to the original article, topics about these sorts of polls are even more ridiculous than the polls themselves.
"Hey, here's an inherently flawed but potentially interesting poll concerning craft beer."
"OMG HOW DID THAT BAR/CITY/BREWERY THAT I'VE NEVER BEEN TO BEAT MY FAVORITE BAR/CITY/BREWERY?! PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR THAT OPTION MUST BE BALLOT STUFFING/IGNORANT/DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CRAFT BEER!"

 

Good to hear, if I'm ever in the area I'll definitely check it out!

 

Sure there are some great bars on this list, but nothing from San Diego. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Hamilton's, Toronado SD & O'Brien's are incredible beer bars, with tap lists to rival the best in the country on any given day. Sugar Maple in Milwaukee is another incredible place, but more of a community meeting place that happens to have 61 taps than an actual beer bar.

 

As with most lists like this, it's best to just chalk it up to never ending subjectivity and flawed/bad polling. Vintage Estate isn't the best beer bar in Ohio... but nobody from that site asked my opinion.