Top Nightlife Venues

Nightclub and Bar Magazine, and industry magazine for owners of such venues, has listed their Top 100 Nightclubs and Bars for 2006.

Nightclubs and bars from all over the United States were chosen based on a number of criteria, including annual revenues, marketing and advertising effectiveness, promotional expertise, uniqueness to market, food and beverage programs and much more.

 1.   115 Bourbon Street Pub (Chicago)
 2.   32 Degrees (Philadelphia)
 3.   AJ's (Destin, Fla.)
 4.   Ampersand (New Orleans)
 5.   Ava Lounge (New York)
 6.   Aria (Boston)
 7.   Avalon and Spider Club (L.A.)
 8.   Beach Bar at the W Hotel (San Diego)
 9.   B.E.D. (Miami)
 10.  Billy Bob's Texas (Fort Worth, Texas)
 11.  Blue Martini (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
 12.  Cabo Wabo Cantina (Lake Tahoe, Nev.)
 13.  Caramel Bar and Lounge (Las Vegas)
 14.  Carlos & Charlie's (Lake Travis, Texas)
 15.  Carousel Bar (New Orleans)
 16.  Casbah (Atlantic City, N.J.)
 17.  Chilkoot Charlies's (Anchorage, Alaska)
 18.  Club Chameleon (Las Vegas)
 19.  Club Deep (Miami)
 20.  Coyote Ugly (New York)
 21.  Crobar (New York)
 22.  Dave & Buster's (Dallas)
 23.  Denim (Philadelphia)
 24.  Dream (Washington, D.C.)
 25.  e4 (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
 26.  Eight 75 (Biloxi, Miss.)
 27.  Elements, the Lounge (Sea Bright, N.J.)
 28.  Eleven50 (Atlanta)
 29.  ESPN Zone (Baltimore)
 30.  Elysium (Detroit)
 31.  Excalibur (Chicago)
 32.  Fado Irish Pub (Atlanta)
 33.  First Avenue (Minneapolis)
 34.  Flatiron Lounge (New York)
 35.  Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce (Hollywood, Calif. and Las Vegas)
 36.  Fox Sports Grill (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
 37.  Vicci (Austin, Texas)
 38.  Galapagos (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
 39.  ghostbar (Las Vegas)
 40.  Green Parrot (Key West, Fla.)
 41.  Good Hurt (Los Angeles)
 42.  Ground Zero Blues Club (Clarksdale, Miss.)
 43.  House of Blues (New Orleans)
 44.  ICE (Las Vegas)
 45.  Jillian's (Dallas)
 46.  Jimmy'z At The Forge (Miami)
 47.  Kahunaville (Wilmington, Del.)
 48.  Key Club (Hollywood, Calif.)
 49.  Le Passage (Chicago)
 50.  Light (Las Vegas)
 51.  Long Street (Columbus, Ohio)
 52.  Lotus (New York)
 53.  Mango's Tropical Cafe (Miami)
 54.  Marquee (New York)
 55.  Medusa (Seattle)
 56.  Mercy Wine Bar (Addison, Texas)
 57.  Midnight Rodeo (San Antonio)/Wild West (Houston)
 58.  Mickey's Hangover (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
 59.  Mynt (Miami)
 60.  Mie N Yu (Washington, D.C.)
 61.  Nikki Beach (Miami)
 62.  Ocean Club (Honolulu, Hawaii.)
 63.  Pangea/The Gryphon (Hollywood, Fla.)
 64.  Pat O'Brien's (New Orleans)
 65.  Prey (Los Angeles)
 66.  Pure (Las Vegas)
 67.  Pin-Up Bowl (St. Louis, Mo.)
 68.  Purple Moon (Flint, Mich.)
 69.  Rain in the Desert (Las Vegas)
 70.  Remote Lounge (New York)
 71.  Rise (Denver, Colo.)
 72.  RockStar (soon to be renamed) (Destin, Fla.)
 73.  rumjungle (Las Vegas)
 74.  Senses (Memphis, Tenn.)
 75.  Sharkeez (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
 76.  Shelter (Los Angeles)
 77.  Sherlock's Baker Street Pub (Houston)
 78.  Six (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
 79.  Sloppy Joe's (Key West, Fla.)
 80.  Studio 54 (Las Vegas)
 81.  Tabu Ultra Lounge (Las Vegas)
 82.  The Abbey (West Hollywood, Calif.)
 83.  the bosco (Ferndale, Mich.)
 84.  The Crocodile Cafe (Seattle)
 85.  The Dresden Room (Los Angeles)
 86.  The Funky Buddha Lounge (Chicago)
 87.  The Greene Turtle (Ocean City, Md.)
 88.  The Library Bar & Grill (Tempe, Ariz.)
 89.  The New Crown & Anchor (Provincetown, Mass.)
 90.  The Ranch (Midland, Texas)
 91.  The Viper Room (Los Angeles)
 92.  Tipitina's (New Orleans)
 93.  Tobacco Road (Miami)
 94.  Tongue & Groove (Atlanta)
 95.  Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (Nashville, Tenn.)
 96.  Top of the Mark (San Francisco)
 97.  Vine Street Lounge (Los Angeles)
 98.  Whiskey Blue (Los Angeles)
 99.  World Bar (New York)
 100. XYZ (Los Angeles)

No doubt you've looked to see how many venues in your city are listed. My city, San Francisco, got SHAFTED. One venue, and number 96, and it's Top of the Mark?

Oh no, people. I'm not saying nightlife in San Francisco is all that fantastic, but we have quite a few venues better than others on this list, and a hell of a lot of them better than Top of the Mark. That place is for business travelers and Eurotrash. This list has wine bars, sports bars, live music venues, and beach bars on it. They list both a Carlos &Charlies and a Dave & Busters, okay?

From all the small town venues that made the list (not that they can't be better than big city venues), it looks to me like they valued geographical diversity above all the other criteria. So if your city was also left off the list, don't pay it too much mind. The list is way off the mark.