Best Bars In America 2019 List Includes This NC Watering Hole

CHAPEL HILL, NC — As winter takes hold for real, there’s nothing like the warm cordiality of a favorite watering hole, which The Daily Meal called “the great socioeconomic equalizer” in its roundup of “The 150 Bars in America for 2019.” North Carolina had one bar on the list: He’s Not Here in Chapel Hill.

Members of The Daily Meal’s editorial staff have been compiling the list since 2011, explaining the process: “The Daily Meal walks into a bar and — we peruse the menu, the clientele, and the drinks list; we scrutinize the drink, the place, the vibe; we take mental notes. Then we decide to grab a wad of cocktail napkins and start scribbling notes for a list like this. …”

The list includes everything “from simple beach bars and swanky cocktail lounges to innovative houses of ‘molecular’ mixology to dusty dive bars and dens of iniquity,” The Daily Meal said.

Among “The 150 Best Bars in America for 2019” in North Carolina hat left a big impression on The Daily Meal staff is:

He’s Not Here, Chapel Hill, NC
Ranking on the list: No. 136
“He’s Not Here is a true old-school college dive bar: “the oldest on-campus 50-year-old.” If you ever went to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or are just a Tarheels fan, then you have probably had a 33-ounce Blue Cup — the classic $5 cup of beer — at He’s Not Here, which is located on the town’s main street. There are 38 beers on tap and 35 by the bottle on offer.”

Bars “are ubiquitous and unifying,” the site said, adding: “Nearly anyone of legal age can enter a bar, pull up a stool and buy him- or herself a refreshing glass of liquid luxury in its many forms: from a budget ice-cold brew to a fine wine to a potent shot to a classic cocktail to a spectacular modernist creation.”

Read more on The Daily Meal.

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