Smiley Pete's Best of Lex: Music & Nightlife

For the inaugural Smiley Pete's Best of Lex issue (April 2024), we compiled more than 260,000 votes from our readers in 8 different category groups, to highlight the best local businesses, organizations, artists and more. Click here for links to all categories!

Whether you’re looking for a quiet and romantic spot to go on your next date night or a karaoke joint to belt out your favorite tunes with your rowdiest friends, Lexington’s nightlife options have you covered!

In this section of Smiley Pete's inaugural Best of Lex issue, we highlight the bars, music venues, breweries and other favorite nightlife and fun spots that our readers voted to be the best in Lex.

Best Bartender

1. Mike Sullivan (The Green Lantern)

2. Erin Reynolds (The Green Lantern)

3. Martha Love (Chevy Chase Inn)

Honorable mentions:

• Whitney Adams (Twisted Cork)

• Akeem Turnage  (OBC Kitchen)

• Norm (CCI)a

• Greg Adams (Manchester Music Hall)

Best Beer Selection (Bar)

1. Marikka’s Bier Stubbe

2. The Beer Trappe

3. Mr. Brews Taphouse

Best Bourbon Selection (Bar)

1. OBC Kitchen

2. Bourbon on Rye

3. Jake’s Cigar Bar

Honorable mentions:

• Bluegrass Tavern

• Goodfellas

• Whiskey Bear

Best Cocktail Bar

1. Bar Ona

2. OBC Kitchen

3. Harvey’s

4. Bourbon on Rye

Best Dive Bar

1. Chevy Chase Inn

2. The Green Lantern

3. Al’s Bar

Honorable mentions:

• Patchen Pub

• Rose & Jim’s Bar & Grill

• Sidebar

Best Happy Hour

1. Epping’s on Eastside

2. Ramsey’s Diner

3. The Cellar Bar & Grille

Best Hotel Bar

1. Lost Palm at the Manchester

2. Lockbox at 21c

3. Infinity Sky Bar at Marriott

Downtown

Honorable mentions:

• Fiddletree at Elwood

• The Rackhouse at the Campbell House

Best Irish Bar

1. McCarthy’s Irish Bar

2. Shamrock’s Bar & Grill

3. Molly Brooke’s Irish Bar

Best Place for Karaoke

1. Chinoe Pub

2. Night Kitty

3. Green Lantern

Best LGBTQIA Bar

1. The Bar Complex

2. Crossings Lexington

3. Ole Hookers Bait and Tackle

Honorable mentions:

• Lussi Brown

• Molly Brooks

Best Live Music Venue

1. The Burl

2. Manchester Music Hall

3. Tee Dee’s Lounge

4. The Twisted Cork

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Ode to Robby Cosenza

Editor's Note: Lexington musician Robby Cosenza was not only an integral part of the local music scene for the past several decades, but he also toured extensively, sharing a bit of Lexington’s musical heart with the rest of the world. As a drummer, vocalist and songwriter, he performed with bands that included Scourge of the Sea, Pontius Copilot, Vandaveer, Fanged Robot and others, contributing ideas, drums and other instrumentation to more than 100 albums.

Robby, who was also known for his humor, wit and heart, passed away in February, after a battle with a rare form of sarcoma. Here, fellow Lexington musician Jimmy Earley shares a tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator.

Everyone Is In Love with Robby Cosenza

By Jimmy Earley

In no particular order, this is why:

For having the wit, timing and humor to keep everyone in a tour van with no air conditioning not only from killing each other or sinking into utter despair, but to keep us laughing uncontrollably or singing in unison, sometimes simultaneously. For loving the sheer idiotic frivolity of rock and roll (I’m talking Ram Jam’s “Black Betty”) as much as the more austere and considered beauty of Bob Dylan and latter day Nick Cave. For being maybe the best kind of mentor (the kind who doesn’t know they’re a mentor). For all of the times that you introduced two people and said, “you two should know each other” (you were never wrong). For always listening deeply. For always making Lexington music — and music in general — better. For your indefatigable curiosity, dedication to your craft and for never giving up on a project, mix, song or idea when you believed in it. For building a beautiful community even as you were leaving it, bringing people who had known each other forever closer together, and making great friends of some who didn’t know each other at all. For trusting when it truly mattered. For preparing meticulously for everything, and injecting electricity and drums into everything you did here on earth. For not being a person who no one could ever feel ambivalent toward.

We miss the hell out of you, Robby. We’re all still in love with you.

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Best Overall Bar

1. Chevy Chase Inn

2. Bar Ona

3. The Cellar Bar & Grille

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Ode to The Chevy Chase Inn

~Smiley Pete staff salute

It doesn’t take much hunting to find the latest bar du jour, with overpriced cocktails, and snooty bartenders who not-so-silently judge your unrefined order of bourbon and coke. It’s much harder to find a neighborhood dive bar that’s been in business for nearly a century. Opened in 1932, Chevy Chase Inn, the oldest bar in all of Lexington, pours judgment-free cocktails on the daily. 

Nestled in the heart of Lexington’s charming and historic Chevy Chase business district (which takes its name from the favorite Maryland golf course of neighborhood founder Henry Clay Simpson, not from the 1980’s comedy icon), Chevy Chase Inn is the quintessential neighborhood dive bar — a mix of Paddy’s from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and Cheers from, well, “Cheers.” It’s a favorite for neighbors, townies and college students alike, all of whom fit in among the wood grain decor, low lighting and sports-laden televisions. The bar boasts a loyal staff and a constant stream of regulars who keep the vibe easy-going and jovial. You throw in great Happy Hour specials, tented outdoor seating and regular live music and you have the perfect recipe for a night out with the crew. 

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Best Romantic Date Spot

1. Kentucky Native Cafè

2. Le Deauville

3. Giuseppe’s

4. The Kentucky Castle

Best Sports Bar

1. Shamrocks Bar & Grill

2. KSBar

3. Banners

Honorable mentions:

• Drake's

• Lex Live

Best Trivia Night

1. Mirror Twin Brewing

2. Shamrock’s Bar & Grill

3. Winchell’s

Honorable mentions:

• KS Bar and Grill

• Campus Pub

Best Wine Bar

1. Darling Wine Bar

2. Kenwick Table Wine & Coffee Bar

3. CRU Food & Wine Bar

Click here to view the next group of categories (Community & Media)