This pre-series episode spaked what became Best Bars in America. Friends and comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton explore bars featured in Esquire magazine’s annual rundown of the best in the country with stops in Milwaukee, Chicago and San Francisco.
Jay and Sean visit Portland, Oregon, a town known for its alternative ethos and hipster spirit. From a microbrewery and a small batch whiskey bar to a rum club and a spot for an authentic Spanish coffee, the guys take in the city’s artisanal culture, jump on an old-timey bar bus tour, and check out the town’s oldest strip club. Special guest: The Decemberists’ Chris Funk.
Jay and Sean visit Austin, Texas, a town that embraces the craft cocktail movement while giving it a unique local twist and a dash of downhome Texas charm.
Jay and Sean visit the concrete jungle that is NYC where they meet with the creator of Esquire magazine’s ‘Best Bars’ annual list, Dave Wondrich. Following Dave's advice, the duo head out across Lower Manhattan, stopping at some of the best drinking spots the city has to offer. From historical watering holes to modernist cocktail lounges, and even a few off-the-list bars in between, Jay and Sean drink in the sights and the spirits of The Big Apple.
Jay and Sean visit Jay’s hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Blending together bars from Wondrich’s list and old haunts from Jay’s past, they create a whirlwind tour of Beantown that reveals this city’s revolutionary spirit is still alive.
Mixology meets gastronomy as Jay and Sean scour the nation looking for the bars with the best food.
Jay and Sean are back in New York, but this time they’re taking their drinking tour to their old stomping ground: Brooklyn.
Jay and Sean travel the country looking for that which is often overlooked, the best hotel bars in the country. Special guests include comedians Nick Thune and Jen Kirkman.
More than just sleazy neighborhood dumps, Jay and Sean hunt for the best dive bars America has to offer.
Jay and Sean visit New Orleans, Louisiana, the birthplace of both jazz and Sean Patton.
Jay and Sean end their cross-country journey back home in Los Angeles; guests include comic Rory Scovel, chef Roy Choi and musician Matt Sorum.
To kick off season 2 of their nationwide bar tour, comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton get punch drunk with Academy Award winner Nat Faxon in San Francisco.
Jay and Sean visit Washington, D.C., and drink from the country's largest whiskey collection, check out a new brewery in the old Navy yard and make booze the colonial way in the home of America's first president.
Jay and Sean visit Louisville and learn there is a lot more than whiskey in bourbon country. They sip a cocktail with a haunted history, go nose-to-tail with char-grilled squirrel, and learn a palate-busting beer lesson from the Brew Dogs.
Comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton take in the booze-cruising, polka-filled world of Minneapolis, where they snack on pig's head, enter meat raffles, and compete in a homebrew-themed curling tournament.
Jay and Sean walk through the modern-and well-hidden-speakeasy.
Comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton drink their way down the southern California coast, where they find an old stagecoach stop in the mountains of Santa Barbara, a pop-up culinary cocktail bar in a Venice garden, a beachfront dive with the coldest beer in SoCal, and comedian Bill Burr.
Jay and Sean take a very small break from all the drinking as they go in search of the best bar food in America. In San Francisco, they toss dough with a champion pizza maker. In Chicago, they learn the true meaning of going "whole hog." And in LA they nearly drown in nacho cheese with comedian Al Madrigal.
In Chicago, comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton learn booze's mobster roots. They get the Picasso treatment at a neighborhood landmark, take in the comedy scene with Pete Holmes, and get a taste of the local music with Blues legend Buddy Guy.
Comedians Jay Larson and Sean Patton witness Detroit's resurgence, both as a city and a place to drink. Named Esquire's Bar City of the Year, Detroit welcomes them with a train station turned craft beer hub, a spirits tasting straight out of the history books, and a city-wide bike ride with hundreds of new friends.
Jay and Sean play bingo, beer pong, and virtual golf at the best game bars in the country. They also get heckled at the Renaissance fair, test their smarts with comedian Kyle Kinane, and somehow strike out with swimsuit model Nina Agdal.