#2
Sweetwater
Sweetwater is a darker, deeper creature. If HMF is the glittering ballroom, Sweetwater is the secret cabinet where the forbidden bottles are kept. The report identifies it as a standout serious-spirit destination and notes that Palm Beach Illustrated called it one of South Florida’s best-stocked bars; Sweetwater itself is described as Florida’s first whiskey bar with one of the Southeast’s largest selections.
Palm Beach County | whiskey drinkers, cocktail purists, spirit collectors, serious date nights
#3
Connolly’s Sports Bar & Grill
Connolly’s enters this list not as a velvet cocktail temple, nor as a rooftop where the sea poses for photographs, but as something South Florida also needs: a game-day hearth and live music venue, oh BTW dont forget to try their wings!
Palm Beach County | game days, neighborhood regulars, casual groups, wings-and-beer nights, sports fans
#4
The Blind Monk
The Blind Monk is the Palm Beach County room that feels most like a thoughtful friend who owns better glassware than you do. The report calls it an elegant neighborhood answer for locals who actually return, praising its cocktail and wine balance, its grounded atmosphere, dinner service, bar bites, and confirmed parking arrangement through the AKA West Palm garage.
Palm Beach County | wine lovers, cocktail drinkers, civilized dates, downtown West Palm locals
#8
Mary Lou’s
Mary Lou’s is a seductive newcomer in the report: velvet-draped, vintage-glamorous, and built for people who want dinner and drinks to carry a little scandal in the perfume. The original report notes cocktails such as Mistress, Daddy’s Girl, and Back Zip, which tells you immediately what kind of room this wants to be.
Palm Beach County | supper-club glamour, flirtatious cocktails, dressed-up dinner-drinks nights
#12
Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show
Mai-Kai is less a bar than a tropical republic with its own weather system. Founded in 1956 and restored after a major renovation, it remains one of America’s great tiki cathedrals. The report highlights the Molokai and Bora Bora bars, flickering torches, theatrical garnish, the enduring Barrel O’ Rum, and the dinner-show engine that keeps the place from becoming merely a museum.
Broward County | tiki pilgrims, theatrical dates, group celebrations, bar-history lovers
