Japp’s recognized by Esquire as one of the “best bars in America”

Molly Wellmann and her Japp’s establishment on Main Street get high praise from Esquire Magazine‘s David Wondrich, who includes the Over-the-Rhine gem on his list of the 18 best bars in America.

Wondrich writes about the revolution he’s witnessed over 11 years as Esquire‘s Drinks Correspondent, where most U.S. cities are now supporting craft cocktail bars that are full.

“People are paying double to drink in them, and they’re not outraged,” he writes. “They’re coming back, over and over. They’re putting their phones away (well, mostly), forgetting about the game, doing their best to act sober. (In my years of visiting these joints, I’ve rarely seen anybody visibly intoxicated — tipsy, sure; drunk, uncool.) The bartenders, their mustachioed, inked hipsterdom aside, are generally studious and hardworking (if perhaps too devoted to making things by hand that really don’t need to be). All of this while the media and the political class are hyperventilating about the irreparable decline of America.”

Wondrich suggests getting a Cool Jules at Japp’s, “a gin-and-port stunner.” Unless it’s Tiki night, “in which case, pick something rummy from the chalkboard.”

Read the full Esquire Magazine list here.