Best Bar & Best Specialty Cocktail

Dogwood Cocktail Cabin is better than it has any right to be. It’s in such a prime downtown location that they could probably coast by on strong drinks and decent bar food, but instead there’s a sense of curated deliciousness to the Dogwood that continually exceeds all expectations.

Owners Doug and Phoebe Pedersen don’t take this for granted. “The magic at the Dogwood is all in the small details,” say the Pedersens. “We wanted to provide an experience that goes beyond a quick drink. Order something you can’t get anywhere else, look around and take it all in.”

For me, what makes or breaks a spot like Dogwood is what they do with their vodka. Surprise me. Remind me that there’s a sweet science to the art of the cocktail. Dogwood knows this, which is why the Poco Loco won Best Drink. The infused vodkas are pretty excellent across the board, but the Poco Loco takes a pineapple and habanero-infused vodka and combines it with lemon and honey to make one of the only drinks in town I’d go out of my way to get.

The Pedersens explain: “Like most of our cocktails, it was culinarily inspired. I remember eating something with pineapple and habanero and thought ‘this would be even better with vodka.’ What makes all of our drinks work so well is balance.”

It’s a delicious drink and the Dogwood is itself a jewel in the center of downtown. As a matter of fact, I’d be there right now… if I only had a brain.