Buffalo, the animals, or American bison as they are more properly called, are a little like Buffalonians, the people, in at least two ways: They conquer harsh winter storms by facing them head-on, and they like to gather in groups around cool watering holes.

Thankfully Buffalo, the city, is filled with cool places where its people can go to join the rest of the herd for a drink. Varied and plentiful, there’s a bar to suit every drinker’s taste in this town. From unassuming beer-and-a-shot corner joints where the proprietor still lives upstairs, to upscale, urbane nightclubs whose martini list alone makes Baskin-Robbins’ selection seem skimpy—it’s all right here.

This year, a couple of the top five new establishments—Blu Mirage and Chocolate Bar—were also among the top five upscale bars, according to our readers. The popular Mulligan’s Brick Bar and Essex Street Pub both placed in the top five neighborhood pubs as well as top five dive bars—but this anomaly is less a reflection on the neighborhoods in which they’re located as it is a testament to the quality of our dives. Meanwhile, seeming opposites Merlin’s (best dive candidate) and Mother’s (best upscale bar candidate) both placed in the top five old man bars—proving what? That money can’t buy you youth?

Club Marcella, Roxy’s and Buddies II placed in the top five for both gay- and lesbian-friendly bars. Q and the Cathode Ray got a special nod from the guys while Miss Kitty’s and Adonia’s also won the favor of the ladies.

Depending on your drinking preferences, you may want to note that there were no duplicates in three Best of Buffalo categories: best beer selection, best wine list, and best martini. Buffalo Brew Pub, Alternative Brews and Colter Bay, our readers say, are great places for suds; while Bacchus, as the name implies, is a primo place for vino, as is Shango—and also Toro. And when many of our readers think of a martini, their thoughts turn to the Shadow Lounge, Club Diablo or Cecilia’s.

Part chemist, part psychologist, part priest or priestess, the Best of Buffalo bartender category is filled with some of the most highly skilled practitioners of this sacred art in all the world. They are the ones who make a trip to the bar an occasion, and their attentive skill is what can focus and refine a kaleidoscopic wall of booze into the most perfectly refined martini, the most exotic mojito, the most obnoxious Harvey Wallbanger, or the most flirtatious Sex on the Beach. We raise a glass to them all!

If you like to mix live music with your drink, you’re also lucky to be in Buffalo. Here you can often catch a national act early, by Buffalo standards, at the Town Ballroom or Sportsmen’s Tavern, then pop in to catch some indie rock at Mohawk Place, before winding things up on Allen Street, bouncing back and forth between Nietzsche’s and Allen Street Hardware. That’s probably why all these places landed in our top five.

Movers and groovers are getting down everywhere from Level to La Luna, while popular dance halls like Club Marcella and Roxy’s still can’t stop the music. Other boogiemen and women preferred edgy Club Diablo.

As you see from the nominees, there’s also no shortage of places to practice the great drinking sports of bowling, shooting pool, singing karaoke and pumping money into the jukebox. And if you’re young, you probably aren’t really a hipster until you’ve operated the “antique” jukebox in the Old Pink Flamingo. It ain’t an iPod, but hey, babe—take a walk on the wild side.

—buck quigley

Sample

best neighborhood pub

Cole’s

Essex Street Pub

Founding Fathers

Allen Street Hardware

Mulligan’s Brick Bar

best upscale bar

Blu Mirage

Toro

Nektar

Mother’s

Chocolate Bar

best dive bar

Essex Street Pub

The Old Pink

Merlin’s

Broadway Joe’s

Mulligan’s Brick Bar

best new bar

Staples

Sample

Stillwater

Blu Mirage

Chocolate Bar

best lesbian-friendly bar

Adonia’s

Miss Kitty’s

Roxy’s

Club Marcella

Buddies II

best gay-friendly bar

Q

Cathode Ray

Club Marcella

Roxy’s

Buddies II

best male bartender

Rich at JP Bullfeather’s, Frizzy’s

Pat at Laughlin’s

Jimmy at Cathode Ray

Don at Club Marcella

Jimmy at Underground

best female bartender

Jen at Club Diablo

Nancy at Nietzsche’s

Jamie Cudney at Roxy’s

Jen-9 at Roxy’s

Jennifer at Underground

best beer selection

Colter Bay

Pearl Street Brewery

Cole’s

Buffalo Brew Pub

Alternative Brews

best wine list

Shango

Bacchus

Allen Street Hardware

Mother’s

Toro

Stillwater

best martini

Shadow Lounge

Cecelia’s

Blu Mirage

Club Marcella

Club Diablo

best happy hour

Goodbar

Nietzsche’s

Pearl Street Brewery

Pizza Plant

Sportsmen’s Tavern

Ulrich’s

Buddies II

Mulligan’s Brick Bar

Buffalo BBQ and Brew

best place to watch a game

Faherty’s

Pearl Street Brewery

Mulligan’s Brick Bar

Buddies II

Ying Wings n Things

best dance club

La Luna

Level

Club Marcella

Roxy’s

Club Diablo

best live music

Town Ballroom

Allen Street Hardware

Mohawk Place

Nietzsche’s

Sportsmen’s Tavern

best karaoke

Roxy’s

Tudor Lounge

Frizzy’s

Q

Garden Park Cafe

best pool table

Classic Cue

Hippodrome

Frizzy’s

Pearl Street Brewery

Club Diablo

best bowling alley

Recckio’s

Voelker’s

Thruway Lanes

Transit Lanes

Kenmore Lanes

best jukebox

Essex Street Pub

Frizzy’s

The Old Pink

Mulligan’s Brick Bar

Club Diablo

best place to watch young hipsters

Spot Coffee on Elmwood

The Old Pink

Allen Street Hardware

La Luna on a Wednesday night

Soho

best old man bar

Buddies II

Founding Fathers

Merlin’s

Mother’s

Eddie Brady’s