Detroit drinking starts with Grey Ghost Detroit, Best U.S. Restaurant Bar (Regional Honoree) at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards 2026, and the bench behind it runs deep: we list 16 active bars across the city. The 5 below are our pick of them. 5 of them hold verified international recognition, from the 50 Best lists to the Spirited Awards. Every listing below is verified by BarMagazine, with addresses, opening hours and the signature drinks worth ordering.
Bar Chenin is a small wine bar inside The Siren Hotel on Broadway in downtown Detroit, pouring biodynamic wines alongside cocktails, ice cream and light fare, with no reservations taken. The Spirited Awards named it a U.S. Central honoree for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar in 2026.
A Detroit bar serving cocktails, wine and snacks across an indoor room and an outdoor patio. It operates primarily on a walk-in basis, with limited reservations through Resy, and is open daily from the afternoon into the late evening. The bar holds No. 83 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026.
Grey Ghost takes its name from a Prohibition-era rum-runner and carries the story into a restaurant on Watson Street whose drinks list is organized as stirred, shaken, dessert and mocktails. The cocktails borrow from the kitchen, a Black Pearl of rye, cognac and aged rum with chai demerara, and an Ides of March that puts caesar, parmesan and sesame oil into a gin martini.
Standby is a cocktail bar and restaurant entered from The Belt alley in downtown Detroit, with bar seating first come and a kitchen open until eleven. Its menus run as themed editions, the current one an exploration of culinary icons with each drink credited to a chef, and its own site lists James Beard semifinalist honors for Outstanding Bar Program in 2017 and 2018 and Spirited Awards regional honors in 2020, 2023 and 2024.
The Best Kept Secret is a speakeasy hidden inside The Wine Garden liquor store on Harper Avenue in St. Clair Shores, where a clerk shows you the entrance and the cocktails are built from the bottles on the shelves next door, any of which you can take home. Reservations are recommended, tables run ninety minutes, there is no standing room, and a dress code applies.
These 5 are the starting point. The full BarMagazine directory covers every listed bar in Detroit, with a map, filters by bar type, and new openings as we verify them.
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