34 BEST OF MONTEREY COUNTY® 2025 montereycountynow.com/bestof ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT is as serious about singing as she is about the wine and beer selection that Sovino offers, since it happens three nights a week. For her, the range is ABBA, and for others it spans from Tanya Tucker to Slayer and everything in between. But singing isn’t a competition here—save that for the board games. BEST PLACE TO GO DANCING Compact Disco 420 Tyler St., Monterey (831) 920-2518, compactdisco.org Dance fever was spurred in 1998 with the release of the video game Dance Dance Revolution in Japan and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world. It became popular in the early 2000s across the United States. There is a downside, though: Only two players can have fun. While Compact Disco lives up to its name as a microclub in downtown Monterey, dancing fills the room (something you can’t say about many places on the Peninsula). Even better, Compact Disco attracts renowned DJs to set the vibe with an array of music, including disco and house. BEST SELECTION OF CRAFT BEER Post No Bills 600 Ortiz Ave., Sand City, (831) 324-4667, postnobills.net 3744 The Barnyard, Carmel, (831) 5748423 postnobillscarmel.com Post No Bills offers the chance to travel to far-flung locales while sitting on a bar stool. With dozens of options of imported beers, sample Belgium’s best Trappist ales and then hop over to Germany for an Oktoberfest hefeweizen before dipping south of the border for a Mexican lager. If your desire for beer tourism is more domestic, a robust menu of microbreweries from around the U.S. has something for everyone. And if you need a distraction from all that beer, check out the pile of board games—they pair well with whatever you’re drinking. BEST SELECTION OF WINES BY THE GLASS A Taste of Monterey 700 Cannery Row, Monterey (831) 646-5446, atasteofmonterey.com Picking from a wine list is difficult, comparable only to building your team for trivia night. Each person has different strengths and weaknesses, so do you go for the one who has read every book on the Civil War or the one who knows Taylor Swift songs by heart? At A Taste of Monterey, however, the problem is, well, no problem. Want something deep and brooding? Light and fresh? Something in between? With a list of bottles—all from Monterey County wineries—it’s easy to pick the right one. And if you aren’t sure, they have the expertise to help. That’s like bringing a know-it-all ringer to trivia night. BEST SPECIALTY COCKTAILS Hula’s Island Grill 622 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey (831) 655-4852, hulastiki.com Take away the lion attacks, the volcano eruptions, and the tsetse fly infestation from the fantastical jungle adventure board game Jumanji, and what you really get is a story of people just looking for a good time. Silly players, don’t they know tiki bars exist? The bartenders at Hula’s get it. They take all the flavors, aromas and colors of farflung tropical locales and distill them into a cup. Deadly encounters with wild animals and spelunking in jungles are overrated anyway. Hula’s knows the best adventures are drinkable and look like scorpion bowls, mai thais and a generous splash of blue Curaçao. BEST BLOODY MARY Sandbar & Grill Wharf 2, Monterey (831) 373-2818, sandbarandgrillmonterey.com In the childhood game Bloody Mary, kids dare themselves to confront a ghost in the bathroom mirror. As far as we know, this has never actually worked—but it has definitely led to screaming children bolting out of the bathroom. Fortunately for adults, there is a far more relaxed way to relate to Bloody Mary: Order one at the Sandbar & Grill. The bar itself is inviting, an unpretentious setting for locals to enjoy a waterfront setting on Wharf 2. The Bloody Mary mix is made in-house (like the kids’ version of the game, the bartenders refuse to disclose all their secrets). The vibe, the view, the drink—it all combines to be a perennial Weekly readers’ favorite. BEST MARGARITA Baja Cantina Grill & Filling Station 7166 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel (831) 625-2252, carmelcantina.com The odds are stacked against anyone trying to challenge Baja Cantina’s margaritas. There’s a reason they perpetBest Happy Hour, Best Sports Bar | Peter B’s
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