{"id":42554,"date":"2022-06-08T21:59:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/oaklands-friends-and-family-among-north-americas-best-bars\/"},"modified":"2022-06-08T21:59:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:59:03","slug":"oaklands-friends-and-family-among-north-americas-best-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/oaklands-friends-and-family-among-north-americas-best-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland’s Friends and Family among North America’s best bars"},"content":{"rendered":"
Friends and Family, a cocktail bar 468 25th St. in Oakland, was named the one of the 50 best bars in North America on Tuesday night at the 50 Best Bars North America ceremony hosted in New York City. <\/p>\n
Owner Blake Sondel Cole posted a picture on Instagram clutching hands with her mom (who bakes their famous carrot cake) and the caption \u201c# 33 baby,\u201d a reference to their No. 33 ranking on the 50 Best Bars North America list. <\/p>\n
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The replies were filled with other Bay Area restaurants and bars such as Daytrip, Lovely’s, Boichik Bagels, Viridian, NOPA and Yo Tambien Cantina congratulating them, a testament to how tight-knit the restaurant and bar community is in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n
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The bar opened in April 2020 and is proudly a queer and woman-owned business. It perhaps first gained popularity for the abundance of bathroom selfies that patrons would take under the dim glow of purple light, wearing fire outfits either solo or living up to the bar’s name – with friends and family. The trend quickly took off with bargoers snapping selfies in bathroom mirrors, and in late 2021, Eater San Francisco even created the \u201cBay Area Toilet Awards,\u201d a listicle of the most decorative, fun bathrooms at local hospitality venues.<\/p>\n
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But Friends and Family is, crucially, a top-notch cocktail bar, too.<\/p>\n
The drinks menu includes creative cocktails such as the Between the Lines, which fuses the Swedish aquavit Ahus Akvavit with Bimini gin and pineapple-sage syrup, lemon and absinthe, and the For Rei, a coconut-heavy whiskey cocktail with a coconut water “popsicle . “<\/p>\n