While breweries and beer bars are often travel destinations in their own right, it’s also handy to know which restaurants and bars have the best beer selection in any given city or neighborhood. Or, perhaps you’re visiting an art museum or historical monument with the family and want to know where to find a hearty meal and a few craft beers. Here are five great beer bars, restaurants, or breweries and the five popular tourist spots they are conveniently near.
Panama 66 + Balboa Park, San Diego
San Diego offers no shortage of spots to grab a beer, but the new Panama 66 (pictured at top), opened by the people behind esteemed beer bars Tiger! Tiger! and Blind Lady Ale House, is among the most scenic. Located in Balboa Park at the San Diego Museum of Art, Panama 66 lets visitors enjoy a pint from some of San Diego’s best, such as Alpine, Societe, and Lost Abbey, and a sandwich or a salad in the laidback courtyard bar adjacent to the museum. The menu includes beer and cocktails paired with, or inspired by, pieces of art, and you can finish the meal with a walk around one of Balboa Park’s many beautiful gardens.
Saus + Faneuil Hall, Boston
Faneuil Hall has served as a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. Just a stone’s throw from Faneuil Hall’s street performers and tour guides decked out in Revolutionary–War-inspired garb, Saus serves frites with a spread of sauces, poutine, Belgian waffles, and creative sandwiches. Their draft selection is small, but mighty: four rotating taps often feature local favorites such as Jack’s Abby and Night Shift Brewing. Their bottle and can selection includes Belgian classics such as Saison Dupont and Duvel that pair perfectly with a cone of piping-hot frites.
4 Hands Brewing Co. + Gateway Arch, St. Louis
Greet the West with a ride up the Gateway Arch or along the Mississippi in a riverboat and then go for a round at 4 Hands, located about a mile from the Arch. The luscious Chocolate Milk Stout is a favorite, but go for the flight so you can get the full range of styles, from a hoppy red to an oatmeal brown ale. It’s also less than a mile to Busch Stadium, home to the Cardinals, so pre-game beers can easily be arranged.
Pizzeria Paradiso + White House, Washington, D.C.
D.C.’s Dupont Circle, a mile from the White House, has a wealth of beer bars, from old-school favorite The Big Hunt to neighborhood restaurant Scion. Just off the circle is Pizzeria Paradiso, a cozy pizza and pasta restaurant with a stellar beer selection. Try local offerings from DC Brau and 3 Stars or pick from their impressive bottle selection, featuring breweries such as Maine’s Oxbow Beer or Foggy Ridge Cider from Virginia.
Eulogy Belgian Tavern + Independence Hall, Philadelphia
Eulogy Belgian Tavern touts its moules frites and the three-block walk from Independence Hall, birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and a good place to work up a thirst for beer and frites. Philly is a Belgian beer town, so the menu here is stocked with classics such as Chimay White and St. Bernardus Abt 12, but there are also plenty of American craft brews and IPAs on tap too, plus 400 beers in the bottle to choose from.