Best Downtown Bar

Shay McElroy's Irish PubConsumption of spirits in a relaxing downtown locale always comes easy, thanks to the McElroy clan. They started with the comfortable beachhead pub in Shepherd Plaza, stepped up to the stylish setting of the State Bar & Lounge at the Rice Lofts, and have balanced that beautifully with the quietly cordial Shay McElroy's on the Main Street side of the Rice Hotel. Let the newly arrived drinking establishments downtown jack up the decibels and try to outdazzle and disco one another to death. As with the venerable La Carafe and Warren's, Shay is content to do what counts most: offer up quality drinks at reasonable prices, in the clean, cozy confines of a small neighborhood bar. In the bedlam of a downtown scene that's just beginning to find its true self, Shay McElroy's is as authentic as they come. The McElroys have managed to make their newest place look and feel as if it has been there since the beginning. May it last forever.