The article emphasizes that people's favorite bars are not just about the cocktails or the mixology but the community and personal connection they foster. In a shift from showcasing skilled bartending techniques, Esquire's approach in 2025 celebrates the emotional importance of these spaces. It highlights the Union Club in Missoula, Montana, depicting it as a quintessential dive bar that serves as a gathering place for the community, encapsulating the essence of what makes a bar a favorite: good company, a relaxed vibe, and a break from life's stresses.
We're not really going to bars for wizardry right now. We just want a damn drink and a jukebox, please, if that's not asking too much.
The Union Club is the center of Montana's labor movement for more than a century, also a temple for those whose labor is over for the day.
This is a honky-tonk's Platonic ideal: Behind an unassuming street entrance, a vast and virtually windowless cavern opens to reveal pool tables and ping-pong tables.
If we're really talking about your favorite bar, we're talking about gathering along a counter or around a table with people you'd die for.
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