One Bar Per Town

The Catskills bar scene, organized by town. One recommendation per place: the bar locals name when asked. Every room here is 21+ for the bar side, and every one is worth knowing as a place, for the building, the room and the people in it.

Woodstock

Colony — Rock City Road. The 1929 Catskills-style boarding-house-turned-live-music-room has the lobby bar Woodstock regulars point to. Walkable from the Tinker Street restaurant row; programming runs most nights; a good glass list and serious cocktail standards. See Woodstock anchor guide.

Phoenicia

Sportsman's Alamo Cantina — Main Street. The unpretentious local bar that anchors Phoenicia's late-evening social. The jukebox is 1970s; the beer is cold; the clientele is 50/50 weekenders and locals. This is not the elevated-craft-cocktail bar; it's the bar you want at 9:30 PM on a Saturday.

Tannersville

Last Chair Bar & Grill — Main Street. The ski-weekend anchor that holds up year-round as the Painted Village's reliable bar. Serious draft list, après-ski history, good kitchen. See Tannersville anchor.

Margaretville

Binnekill Tavern — Main Street. Long-running western-Catskills bar with a full menu, draft beer, and a dining room that bleeds into the bar side. Slower rhythm than the eastern Catskills bars; the Margaretville version of the weekend bar. See Margaretville anchor.

Catskill (town)

Avalon Lounge — Main Street. The small-room live-music bar that functions as Catskill's Saturday-night anchor. Programming drives the week; off-nights are still worth a stop for the cocktail program and the room itself. See Catskill anchor.

Livingston Manor

The Arnold House Bar — a few minutes out of the village proper on Shandelee Road. Technically attached to the Arnold House Inn's restaurant, the bar side stands on its own for a Sullivan County evening. Regional spirits, considered cocktail menu, the kind of bar you settle into for two hours. See Livingston Manor anchor.

Roscoe

Raimondo's Roscoe Beer Co. — Old Route 17. The working brewery-bar in Trout Town. Draft line is house beer; the food side is elevated bar food; clientele leans fishing-week during the season, Main Street regulars off-season. See Roscoe anchor.

Callicoon

The Western Hotel — Main Street. A 19th-century building running as one of Callicoon's bar anchors. Quieter than the Sullivan-County fishing-town bars; slower; the Delaware-River-town evening. See Callicoon guide.

Narrowsburg

One Grand Bar — attached to the Arnold House's sister property One Grand in Narrowsburg, if the current operation is running; check hours in shoulder seasons. Alternative: the Laundrette on Main Street, which operates a bar side that holds up for a Friday evening. See Narrowsburg guide.

Saugerties

The Dutch — Partition Street. A small, carefully-programmed bar with a tight menu and a short cocktail list. The Saugerties Partition Street evening anchor. See Saugerties guide.

Andes

The Andes Hotel Bar — Main Street. Covered separately in the destination-dining article — the restaurant and bar are one space, and the bar stands on its own for an Andes-weekend evening.

West Kill

Spruceton Inn Bar — the end of Spruceton Road. Also covered in the destination-dining piece. The bar at the end of the valley.

Hunter

Hunter village proper runs light on standalone bars outside ski season. The on-mountain bars at Hunter Mountain open with the lifts; off-season, Tannersville's Last Chair (five minutes down Rt 23A) is the serviceable option.

How to Use This Guide

Most Catskills weekenders anchor in one town and pick one night to venture out to another. A few possible routes:

• Woodstock base, Saturday evening drive to Catskill (town) for Avalon Lounge and whatever is on the calendar that night.
• Phoenicia base, Saturday evening drive to Tannersville for Last Chair. Good Catskills-weekend social arc.
• Roscoe / Livingston Manor base, Saturday evening drive 15 minutes to the Arnold House bar for a slower Sullivan County evening.

Getting There and Back

Catskills towns sit 20 to 45 minutes apart on two-lane mountain roads, and rideshare coverage thins out fast after dark. Pick a designated driver before the evening starts, or choose the bar walkable from where you're sleeping. The Andes Hotel and Spruceton Inn both have rooms upstairs or next door, which settles the question.

Where to Go Next

• The Phoenicia Diner and the post-trail breakfast circuit
• Peekamoose, Andes Hotel, Spruceton Inn — mountain destination dining
• Catskills music venues worth the drive

This is editorial, not legal advice.