​Selecting Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis 2011 was no picnic. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this RFT Music series, we're beeboping and scattin' our way through notable runners up in a number of categories.

Diana Benanti

The Royale

​Whether for a quick unwind on the way home from work or a long-haul with friends, the neighborhood bar is the backbone of many a social circle. But how to pick among the hundreds peppering every nook and cranny of our fair city? We've narrowed it down to ten. Note that this is just within the city limits -- we'll weigh in on the surrounding areas soon.

See also: the Ten Best 3 a.m. bars in St. Louis.

Riley's Pub
Tower Grove East is practically a no-fly zone for bars, but nestled on the corner of Arsenal Street and Arkansas Avenue is this 'hood's saving grace -- and we reckon one of the best little Irish bars this side of the Emerald Isle. Riley's only has one flat-screen, which is positively Paleolithic by today's standards, and good golly do we appreciate that. The high-backed booths are perfect for a private conversations with a handful of pals or penning a novel, should you be afflicted with that Joyce-ian curse. This bar's carefully curated jukebox (Peggy Lee to Tom Waits) is highly decorated -- it won honors as this paper's Best Jukebox in 2006 and 2011.

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Diana Benanti

Inside at Lola.

​Selecting Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis 2011 was no picnic. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this RFT Music series, we're beeboping and scattin' our way through notable runners up in a number of categories.

Not yet ready to call it a night when the clock whirs past 1:30 a.m.? Then head to one of these bars -- our rundown of the best places to be at 3 a.m. -- for one last round.

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Josh Rowan

​By now you've probably seen this year's Best Of St. Louis picks. Your new favorite band might be in there somewhere, and to help you find out for sure, we've tracked down each winner's next show. Many of them are playing this weekend. And between the three outdoor festivals on Saturday and the usual embarrassment of musical riches that seem to be going on lately, you can even see a whole bunch of these folks for free. So get those calendars at the ready...

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Photo by Josh Rowan

​The 2011 Best Of St. Louis issue is out today, and in it our picks for nearly 400 of the things that make this city great. Many of them are music related, and over the next few days we'll have some handy resources for tracking down and enjoying some of the best the scene has to offer. But first, the complete list of this year's music Best Of winners, which you can find below. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.

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