Houston’s Best New Cocktail Bars, March 2025

Check out a new cocktail lounge with bites from a Michelin-recognized chef, a bar with one of the largest Japanese whisky selections in Texas, and a neon-lit restaurant with a stellar ube espresso martini

As a cosmopolitan city in a Southern state, Houstonians know how to drink. While established drinking institutions like Anvil Bar & Refuge and Lei Low are considered essential for their top-notch cocktails, newer bars, restaurants with great drinks, and watering holes with exciting, boozy, and buzzed-about offerings are popping up all over the city. So, here’s Eater Houston’s newly updated cocktail heatmap — a place where curious drinkers will find Jim Beam highballs, intergalactic-themed cocktails, and so much more. Cheers.

This list has been updated to include Hai Keii, Bar Doko, Starduster Lounge, Santé Lounge, Melrose, Pondicheri, and Maven Coffee + Cocktail Lounge at Sawyer Yards. Nickel City, High Five Mini Bar, Sol 7, Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge, Woodlands Social, and the now-closed Quiote have been removed.

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