By Liz Borod Wright, ZAGAT.com staff editor
Every bar strives to achieve a certain degree of cool, but some have the act down cold – as in ice cold. Whether you're out to beat the end-of-summer heat or just looking to chill, check out the nightspots below – even reading about them will make you feel cooler.
Absolut Ice Bar
29-33 Heddon St., London, United Kingdom W1
020 7287-9192
Built entirely of Swedish ice, this Soho vodka bar is a winter wonderland year-round; the £12 cover (£15 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings) gets you a vodka drink in an ice glass and a loan of cape and gloves to help you withstand your allotted 40 minutes in the minus-five degrees Celsius environs.
1551 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
312-730-4395
It's easy to feel cool at this Lincoln Park lounge, whose minimalist white interior is modeled after a Boeing 777; staffers in airline attendant minidresses serve shots in glasses made of ice and bring bottles to tables with built-in chilling compartments.
The VodBox at Nic's
photo: Howard Wise
453 N. Cañon Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310-550-5707
Beat the Beverly Hills heat by reserving some time in this retro-chic lounge's VodBox, an oversized walk-in freezer (coats provided) where a guide will help you choose which vodkas to sample.
The vodka freezer at Red Square
Mandalay Bay Resort, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, NV 89119
702-632-7407
If the ice-topped bar isn’t cold enough for you at Mandalay Bay’s Russian-themed restaurant bar (which has a similar sibling in Atlantic City’s Tropicana hotel), then gather your entourage, borrow some coats and head into the bottle service–only vodka freezer.
331 W. 51st St., Manhattan, NY 10019
212-974-8030
Your drink won't get warm at this slick new gay lounge in Hell's Kitchen – there's a block of ice running the length of the bar to keep your beverage (infused vodka is the house specialty) cold.