Grapes & Barley

Grapes & Barley is the celebration engine of the strip: a top deck with a view that improves as the night comes in, live music most evenings (from dinner-hour acoustic to a house band that plays the songs people actually want), and a kitchen with genuine range, from a carnivore platter that defeats two people to a berry chicken salad on the virtuous end. The pineapple-jalapeño margarita and the gin blackberry bramble anchor a cocktail list that punches above beach-town standard. There are also resident birds who greet arrivals, because apparently every good bar needs a doorman. Worth knowing: this is one of the most gluten-free-fluent kitchens in town: items are clearly marked on the menu and the kitchen adjusts dishes on request without drama. Groups are handled gracefully; a thirty-person birthday reportedly ran without a hitch.