Raise the bar

Each year when we put out this guide, we tend to stick to the bars in our neck of the woods—downtown Reno. This time, we made an effort to venture out, whether it’s to sagebrush-laden Lemmon Valley or housing tract-laden Damonte Ranch. But then we came back to the center, to new bars, new trends, new cocktails to share.

And just in time for St. Patty’s Day, Reno mayor Bob Cashell is calling bars a blight on Reno. The former owner of Boomtown—which boasts four bars, by the way—wants a moratorium placed on new bars, liquor stores and tattoo parlors for six months while the city discusses potential restrictions. Barring the bars … in an economic recession. If that had happened last year, the new bar/shop Craft likely wouldn’t be appearing in our pages today. Neither would the just opened Whisky on Arlington Avenue, one block over from the city’s pet project West Street Market, which has a couple of great bars remaining but for the most part, appears to be in trouble. We had this crazy idea that Republicans like Cashell tend to let the market sort these things out. Maybe we were drunk.

Enough about politics. Bars are where we go to meet and mix with our neighbors, to find our friends and lovers, to commiserate, celebrate and inebriate. Whatever your style, there are plenty of them to choose from in Reno. And as long as we and they are both here, we’ll continue to investigate them, one drink at a time, and report our findings.

Here’s to you.