We\u2019re asking because three Sacramento bars were named semifinalists among the best of the western United States in Tales of the Cocktail\u2019s 2026 Spirited Awards<\/a> on Wednesday. <\/p>\n The Snug<\/a>, Irish Hospitality Group\u2019s bar in Downtown Sacramento, was named among the 10 best cocktail bars in the West. That includes California as well as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Hawaii. <\/p>\n A second Irish Hospitality Group bar, The Butterscotch Den<\/a> in North Oak Park, earned the same nod under the category of \u201crestaurant bar,\u201d though customers mostly cook their own dishes over a communal grill.<\/p>\n Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine<\/a>, Sacramento\u2019s most popular sushi restaurant, was a semifinalist in the same category for its deep, inventive bar menu.<\/p>\n \t\tSign Up for the City of Treats Newsletter<\/p>\n Get the latest Sacramento food news from Benjy Egel in City of Treats \u2014 delivered every Tuesday.<\/p>\n While Sacramento-area chefs have earned more nationwide recognition in recent years, garnering James Beard Award semifinalist nominations every year since 2022, the region\u2019s bar programs haven\u2019t seen the seen level of acclaim. None had received Spirited Awards recognition since 2023, when The Butterscotch Den was named one of the nation\u2019s Top 10 new cocktail bars.<\/p>\n The Butterscotch Den\u2019s signature drink is its freezer martini, often paired with a bump of Wilton-based Tsar Nicoulai Caviar.<\/a> At The Snug, it\u2019s arguably the mechanical bull (bourbon, Fernet Branca, lemon and ginger) \u2014 except during December, when each bar gets taken over by \u201cMiracle on Broadway\u201d and \u201cMiracle on R Street\u201d Christmas-themed pop-ups.<\/p>\n Kru\u2019s cocktail list includes many Japanese whiskeys and sakes and a rotating list of themed drinks inspired by classic video games, cars and more. The open sesame, a gimlet with sesame-infused gin and a cucumber-yuzu shrub, is a constant favorite, as are a series of highballs. All three bars also offer nonalcoholic options.<\/p>\n The Spirited Awards winners will be announced July 23 at a ceremony in New Orleans sponsored by Food & Wine.<\/a><\/p>\n Benjy Egel\u00a0is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged\u2019s weekly\u00a0food and drink newsletter,\u00a0City of Treats.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Tell us which bar in the Sacramento region is the absolute best. While we\u2019re at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[7999,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-260198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-highlight","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Festive](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Holiday-Drinks.png.webp.webp\")
A festive holiday drink from The Snug. (Joe Matty)<\/p>\n