Sugar House

Detroit, Michigan

Regional honoree for Best U.S. Bar Team at the 2022 Spirited Awards. James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Bar Program in 2020.

Sugar House opened in Corktown in 2011 because, in founder Dave Kwiatkowski's words, Detroit deserved a cocktail bar that took the work seriously. Fifteen years on, the team still pours the same way: every classic built bottle by bottle, every seasonal menu chasing a new idea, every guest welcomed the same. The backbone is a list the bar calls the 101 Classic Cocktails, spanning pre-Prohibition standards, mid-century sours and the modern cocktail renaissance, made by hand one at a time with no premix. Rotating seasonal originals run alongside it, plus bar bites, house-made bitters, barware and mixology classes. Walk-ins are welcome Sunday through Thursday, and Friday and Saturday reservations are booked through Tock.