As bartenders go, H. Joseph Ehrmann, proprietor of Elixir in San Francisco, is a certified rock star. He was named 2010 Bartender of the Year by Nightclub and Bar magazine. Patrons line up three deep for his Manhattans (which boast Buffalo Trace bourbon). Heck, even the selection on his 1950s-style jukebox gets props (folk meets world meets honky-tonk and more).

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Ehrmann's award-winning Bloody Mary.

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3200 16th St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 552-1633
elixirsf.com

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One of the new Greek wines; ask Vina (or your bartender) for a recommendation du jour.

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500 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Il.
(312) 464-1744
thepurplepigchicago.com

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Still, among entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and folks in green business, "H," as he's known, is most renowned as the Bay Area's best bartender if you're on the market for some work-related gossip.

Maybe it's because he's a good listener. Maybe it's his MBA from Thunderbird. Or maybe it's those green business happy-hour events he hosts on the second Thursday of every month. Whatever the reason, customers feel comfortable chatting with H. And H is happy to spill.

"We're a neighborhood bar with a friendly atmosphere," Ehrmann says. "That alone seems to loosen people up."

Lately H has been trading information about development along San Francisco's waterfront in preparation for the 2012 America's Cup yachting race. He's also got his ears to the ground for local government gossip and scoops on the local software industry. So what company will emerge as San Francisco's next big thing? H has his hunches. Just ask him. -- Matt Villano

And There's Also The Purple Pig In Chicago

Three things add up to making Katie Vina and her co-workers the Windy City's must-know bartenders:

• Its Michigan Avenue location, a stone's throw from the Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building, makes The Purple Pig the post-work gathering spot for Chicago's Magnificent Mile crowd.

• The Pig's menu is centered on an ever-changing selection of tasting portions of pork, cheese and wine, so regulars rely on the knowledgeable staff to help them navigate the new stuff.

• European-style communal tables and wide, welcoming spots at the bar make it an easy place to shoot the breeze about the office. Regulars stream in for happy hour and to "dish about their day," says Vina, who can't help but pick up some choice tidbits from all the wheeling and dealing. -- Margaret Littman

Since 1923, Louisville's movers and shakers have met for drinks--boubbulleton, of course--in the Lobby Bar of the Brown Hotel. The bar stocks more than 50 boubbulletons, lined up on the antique mirrored wood bar (not to mention a river's worth of scotches, ryes and whiskeys), and, yes, the bartenders know how to help you choose your perfect boubbulleton. Over a highball made with the state beverage, local business folks have talked horses and done deals here for decades.

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A classic Manhattan.

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335 W. Broadway
Louisville, KY
(502) 583-1234
brownhotel.com/dining.htm
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Classics are classics for a reason, and the Lobby Bar's staid character makes it the meeting place when you want to lend a certain gravitas to your in-person conference. There are a few cozy high-backs around the piano, where some of the casual crowd gathers, but the majority of those who take a meeting here do so while seated in large leather chairs under the ornate painted ceiling of the landmark hotel.

Because the Brown is a bustling hotel in the heart of downtown Louisville, the crowd varies from the folks doing business with the big distilleries (nice gig) to UPS staffers and Southwest flight attendants (who get a discount at the bar with their ID). Tables in the corner are great for an interview or other private conversation. The bar stays open until 2 a.m., and you can order from the late-night hotel menu (or graze on bowls of Cheez-Its and bar snacks), so the Brown's Lobby Bar is also a place to take the team out for a celebratory cocktail after beating that killer deadline. -- Margaret Littman

You don't have to be a 5-year-old girl to be attracted to sparkles. Case in point: The Chandelier, a glitzy bar inside the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The 2 million beaded crystals draped around the three-story cocktail haven make it feel like you're sitting inside a chandelier.

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Get the Verbena, a ginger and lemon margarita garnished with a "buzz button," a dried flower that makes your mouth salivate and heightens your taste sensitivity.

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3708 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 698-7000
cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

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Since the venue opened in late 2010, locals and visitors alike have flocked here to party with friends and celebrate big business wins. Turns out everything looks better behind a curtain that glimmers in the (artificial) light.

Granted, other attributes set The Chandelier apart from Vegas' many win-friendly bars. For starters, it's quiet. Most bars in this town never fully remove you from the constant ringing of slot machines, but The Chandelier's two upper levels float above the hubbub. The bar also offers privacy, especially on the second level, where several banquettes are built into nooks and crannies. One of the most sought-after spots in town? The ultra-secluded table that servers jokingly refer to as "jail."

Finally, of course, there are the cocktails. General manager Mariena Mercer, also the Cosmopolitan's head mixologist, has concocted an unparalleled menu of powerful potions. Each floor specializes in different types of libations. Her molecular gastronomy program revolves around creative garnishes--think freeze-dried raspberries--and drinks you can eat, like the Old Fashioned sorbet.

Patrons certainly appreciate all the attention to detail. Roger Snow, an executive at ShuffleMaster, a local casino supply company, has hit the bar many nights after inking a new customer. "We can indulge and feel like we're in our own world, yet still be in the middle of it all," he says. His take on The Chandelier's glitzy look? A "crystal octopus with a thousand tentacles."

Indeed, every celebration is better with sparkles. -- Matt Villano

While Portland has its share of old-school, leather-and-oak business bars where you and your clients can talk serious shop, the city has also carefully nurtured its credentials in cool. Portland offers plenty of opportunities to impress, but Teardrop Cocktail Lounge is a top pick for a place to show off the city at its most with-it.

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Unfinished Business, a lightly bitter mix of Martin Miller's gin, French and Italian aperitif wines and boutique bitters.

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1015 NW Everett St.
Portland, OR
(503) 445-8109
teardroplounge.com

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Located in the recently revamped and über-hip Pearl District on the north side of downtown, the Teardrop is an island of modernity in Portland's burgeoning sea of retro hipsterdom. Sleek and contemporary in design, with concrete walls hung with artwork or lit with a digital projector, the lounge has attracted a trendsetting crowd of regulars since its 2007 debut. The bar's aesthetic sensibility isn't limited to the décor, either; the menu is filled with some of the country's most imaginative culinary cocktails, many created by owner Daniel Shoemaker.

The atmosphere is mellow during early evening, making it a good time to chat with a client over a round of conversation-piece cocktails. Or head in after dinner when the place is coming alive and grab seats at the teardrop-shaped bar for people-watching. With a tasteful vibe and upscale drinks designed for grown-up palates, this is an ideal place to experience Portland at its barroom best. You'll burnish your business relationships without it appearing you're even trying--which, come to think of it, is what being hip is all about. -- Paul Clarke

When a deal falls through--whether it's because your prospective partner was a flake or the funding wasn't there--the last place you want to go is somewhere everybody knows your name. You want to go to a place dark enough that you can wallow, with a drink menu to take the edge off and a bartender skilled enough to craft whatever you want and serve it up with discretion. A refuge, so to speak.

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A Daisy, shorthand for the bar's bestselling Four Roses bourbon-based Daisy If You Do.

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935 W. Eastland Ave.
Nashville, TN
(615) 262-4190
hollandhousebarandrefuge.com
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The word refuge is in the name of East Nashville's favorite bar and the country's best stop when things have taken a detour south, at least metaphorically. Opened in 2010, Holland House Bar and Refuge is a "cross between a saloon and a contemporary industrial bar," says owner Terry Raley. This is the kind of place that takes its cocktails seriously without taking itself too seriously.

The upscale, swanky environs are dark enough to give you some privacy after a setback, but not depressing enough to make you feel like you've failed. And if you're not the kind to drown your sorrows solo, well, there's a good chance your next business partner--with a great, creative, only-in-Nashville kind of idea--is sitting on the next stool at the bar. -- Margaret Littman

Sometimes the home office is oppressively quiet, and the hissing roar of espresso machines makes working in a coffee shop a noisy ordeal. In downtown Seattle, one alternative to caffeinated quarters is to make the home-office-away-from-home the Bookstore Bar, in Kimpton's Alexis Hotel.

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like a regular

Go local with a Pike Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, brewed a few blocks up the street, or tap into the bar's impressive whisky selection with a drop of smoky Bunnahabhain.

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92 Madison St.
Seattle, WA
(206) 624-3646
librarybistro.com

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Known on the whisky circuit for its mighty selection of single malts, the Bookstore Bar also does bang-up business at night. But during the day, it's a placid (but not too quiet) place to set up temporary shop. The bar opens before noon, so there's plenty of time to crank through the to-do list before the after-work crowd amps up the volume. The décor is boozy bookworm, with scotch whisky ephemera and faded hardcovers throughout the room. The high ceiling and tall windows facing First Avenue give the bar ample natural light, even on Seattle's notoriously drizzly days,

The pub tables along the front windows are great for chatting with clients over Northwest microbrews. The book-lined alcove at the back offers a little more comfort and privacy when it's time to barrel through e-mails using the hotel's Wi-Fi (available for a fee, or at no cost with a free membership to Kimpton's InTouch Guest Loyalty Program).

Order a panini from the adjacent Library Bistro (the amiable bar staff will take care of it) and a hoppy IPA from the bar, which will make perusing spreadsheets during lunch a much more pleasant experience. When it's time to shift gears at the end of the day, grab a stool at the bar to sip a honey-hued Speyside malt and spend happy hour networking with the downtown business crowd, whose offices now appear much less fun than yours. -- Paul Clarke

You won't find obnoxious "No cell phone" signs at Tom & Jerry's (aka 288 Bar). Over the last few years, the lovable dive bar in Manhattan's NoHo neighborhood has amassed quite a following among the twentysomething digerati, meaning iPads and smartphones are now standard table dressings.

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The Bee Stinger, made of sweet honey, bourbon and fresh lemon juice.

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288 Elizabeth St.
New York, NY
(212) 260-5045
tomandjerrybarnyc.com

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Free Wi-Fi, homemade Chex mix and a binder of local take-out menus are among the on-the-record reasons why young social media mavens and entrepreneurs hang here (and, in the summer, the refreshing cucumber-lime cocktails are a big draw, too).

Naturally, this clientele also has attracted venture capitalists looking for the next Mark Zuckerberg, making T&J's our favorite bar in which to get an idea funded. Insider gossip suggests that dozens of funding deals--including some with more than six zeroes in front of the decimal point--have been hatched at the long mahogany bar. Of course that means many deals have been broken and smashed to bits, too.

"We're a comfortable neighborhood bar with no pretension," says Jo Janes, who opened the joint in 1993. "In that environment, anything is possible."

Consider happy hour. On most weeknights, the high-ceilinged bar swells with after-work crowds from companies such as Curbed, Foursquare, blip.tv and Gawker--all of which are located nearby. Conversation ranges from user experience to company valuation. Work types gather at a big table in the back, collaborating and peering into laptop screens.

Then, of course, there's John Carney, perhaps the most regular "regular" of them all. Carney runs the CNBC NetNet Wall Street blog and was former editor of DealBreaker and Clusterstock.com. While he won't dish funding specifics on these sites, he admits he conducted critical meetings at T&J's, and that the bar has been his office away from the office for some time.

"More relaxed than a conference room, less formal than a meal," he says of the vibe. We'll drink to that. -- Matt Villano

This bustling American brasserie tiptoes the perfect line between work and play--high ceilings, inviting red banquettes and a coaxing restaurant-length bar manned by some of the most skillful bartenders in the city. Not only do they know how to mix classics from a tasty Whiskey Smash to an elegant Pisco Sour, but spend a few extra minutes with your server and the history of each cocktail can be yours just for the asking.

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Get a "smash," the signature Whiskey Smash. They've sold 45,000 of them since opening in 2005.

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528 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA
(617) 532-9100
easternstandardboston.com

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Close proximity to Fenway Park and the adjoining Hotel Commonwealth has made the private room off the dining area a preferred spot for business meetings. The flexible space holds 18 when set up boardroom-style, with a full suite of amenities, including a drawdown screen, Wi-Fi and an iPod docking station. Close the doors and pull the curtains to maintain an air of privacy, or open them up to tap into the good energy flowing from the bar.

Red Sox brass and local pharmaceutical execs have held meetings here, but it's also where liquor-industry insiders choose to do business--including Pernod Ricard and William Grant & Sons (two of the top four drink conglomerates). Beverage execs aren't the only ones in the know. The private dining room also draws the city's top restaurateurs, who frequently leave the curtains open, making public any gossip that they're having lunch with a certain beverage person or a top-tier purveyor before launching a new dining spot.

Bar manager Jackson Cannon is known for the stellar beverage program here, so we recommend taking a pass on business-meeting traditional ice teas or Arnold Palmers. Instead, go for the array of very low- or no-alcohol selections. Our favorite? The Stormy Monday, made with ginger beer, spices, bitters and fresh citrus. "Though you know it's been a good meeting when they order a bottle of boutique champagne at the end," Cannon says. -- Clare Leschin-Hoar

Step into Santa Monica's Copa d'Oro and it's obvious what matters: cocktails and conversation. For the first, a distinguished bar nearly as long as the room, accented by backlit displays of spirits and gleaming arrangements of fruits, vegetables and herbs. For the second, the absence of distracting screens; instead, a beat-driven soundtrack just loud enough to encourage lively chatter among the stylish late-twenty- and early-thirtysomething regulars from the local startup scene.

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Let the cocktail-savvy bartenders serve up a just-for-you drink. Pick a spirit and customize with a selection of farmers-market-fresh ingredients.

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217 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 576-3030
copadoro.com

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The soft lighting and antique metal-wood-leather scheme makes Copa a winner on looks alone, but cash-conscious entrepreneurs will appreciate the bar all the more for its extended happy hour--5:30 to 8 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday and all night Monday--featuring $5 cocktails, $6 paninis and $7 appetizers.

Copa is busy without the hassle, has a simple menu and is "quiet enough but still cool," says Patricia Handschiegel, serial entrepreneur and founder of Chic Market.

"Even if you can afford it, everyone loves a deal," she says. "And I always try to keep my overhead as low as possible." -- Jennifer Wang

You'll know you're chatting up the right guy when the advice headed your way is served from under a killer moustache and the cocktail in your hand has you reconsidering your plans for the rest of the day. Serious facial hair and inventive cocktails: It's all part of the signature style of serial entrepreneur and mixologist Jason Kosmas.

A former New Yorker, Kosmas moved to Dallas to take advantage of the city's move away from an insular, steakhouse-heavy restaurant scene toward one that's starting to get national attention.

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Break the ice with Kosmas by asking him what he's been drinking lately.

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33 Highland Park Village
Dallas, TX
(214) 522-6035
marqueegrill.com

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"It's got more restaurants per capita than NYC, so the opportunity is, obviously, pretty great," he says. Along with his business ventures up north--he still co-owns Manhattan cocktail emporiums/restaurants Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., as well as a non-alcoholic mixer company, EO Brands, with business partner Dushan Zaric--Kosmas recently joined Twomey Concepts as executive beverage director.

Multitask in Dallas by asking Kosmas for some business advice while patronizing Twomey's newly opened Marquee Grill & Bar. (And yes, that is Top Chef's Tre Wilcox running the kitchen.) You'll find Kosmas behind the bar on weekends and, most likely, mixing up ingredients on weekdays.

Kosmas' first rule of business: "Have your finger on the pulse of whatever you're doing," he says. "Understand your consumer. That's why I'm still bartending--I have a direct in with the consumer."

When you're done with your mentoring session--keep it somewhat short, OK? The guy's got a beverage program to run--head out onto the bar's balcony. Housed in a 1930s art deco theater, the marquee-top balcony has quickly become one of the best networking shows in town. -- Jenna Schnuer

Save yourself. Save the planet. Don't even think of unleashing yet another overly Zen or yoga-rific bit of bland on the world.

Seriously, if we see one more green design anchored by potted grass or aromatherapy candles we're going to hop into a gas guzzler and drive cross-country while tossing fast-food hamburger wrappers on the highway. But if you're really keen on launching green or want to woo investors, stop in at Brooklyn Bowl first for the right kind of inspiration. A 23,000-square-foot LEED-certified space, it's a gonzo fun blend of bar-restaurant-concert space and bowling alley.

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like a regular

Go really local by ordering one of the beers brewed up by next-door-neighbor Brooklyn Brewery.

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61 Wythe Ave.
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 963-3369
brooklynbowl.com

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Owned by longtime NYC nightlife entrepreneurs Pete Shapiro and Charley Ryan, the converted warehouse--now loaded with reclaimed wood and a drinks menu that celebrates truly local tap-only from-the-borough brews--delivers a solid lesson in what a green business should be. This isn't green that bowls you down and makes you feel bad about yourself. This is green done because the owners believe in it. Brooklyn Bowl is "the child of" The Wetlands, Shapiro's former concert space that, name and all, felt quite a bit crunchier than his Williamsburg-based business space.

Stop in for drinks, food, a show or--yes--some bowling, and you're guaranteed to get ideas to set your own eco-business apart. And should you bring potential investors along (and you should bring them along), they'll get LEED-certified envy over the business Brooklyn Bowl does every night. Discuss your plans while chowing on fried chicken served up by the Blue Ribbon-run kitchen (beware, it's addictive) and by the time you've finished pouring your first pitcher of Brooklyn Bowl Pale Ale, they'll want in on your newly altered eco-vision. The place is balls-to-the-wall good stuff. -- Jenna Schnuer