For three years, John Cullen, Zoie Torres and their crew brought something unique to downtown nightlife — a place that was both comparatively upscale and unabashedly casual, a craft-beer haven with a friendly vibe and a dedication to local art and music. It was the latter that did ‘em in this past June (who moves downtown and then complains about the noise?!), but the space at the edge of the EDGE District will still offer a more-than-worthwhile drinker’s destination: Veronica Danko is bringing the Independent Bar, now a Seminole Heights mainstay, back to the city of its birth. Hell, it might be open by the time you read this. —Scott Harrell
This article appears in Best of The Bay 2016.
