Esquire is out with their list of the “Best Bars in America” which features 27 watering holes they say “do the best job of deepening a sense of community and making everyone feel at home…while also pouring exactly what you need.” The list includes bars from New York City to Honolulu – and even an old-school Palm Springs joint.
The Casablanca Lounge at Melvyn’s is the only Coachella Valley location to appear on the list, with editors recommending you order a dirty martini rather than a fancy drink “to avoid confusion.”
They also say of the bar just west of downtown Palm Springs:
The last time I was here, a drunk lady was heckling the piano player. I was in heaven. The joint has since been “restored,” but don’t let that scare you off. Housed in the Ingleside Inn, at what used to be the Variety-by-the-pool winter getaway for everyone from Howard Hughes to Salvador Dalí, the low-desert piano bar still comes across as a sort of classy-sleazy Botoxed cabaret where you might guzzle ice-cold Stoli and listen to Burt Bacharach chestnuts hours before an asteroid obliterates the planet. —J. G.
The Ingleside Inn was originally built by the Humphrey Birge Family, the family behind the Pierce Arrow Motor Company (once considered the American Rolls Royce), in 1925. It has since been owned by Ruth Hardy and Mel Haber. After Haber passed away in 2016, the Inn was sold to current owner, Plumpjack Group out of San Fransisco. It has been managed by Proper Hospitality in partnership with Meriwether Companies since February, 2019.
You can learn more about Casablanca Lounge at Melvyn’s here.
And while The Casablanca Lounge was the only spot in the desert to make the list, there were plenty of other spots in Southern California that also appear, just in case you are planning a road trip soon. They are:
- Here and Now, Los Angeles
- The Steamliner, Los Angeles
- Walt’s Bar, Los Angeles
- Raised by Wolves, San Diego
Enjoy your drinks.
