Movie: Cocktail, 1988
Bar type: Uptown Tavern – Beach Cocktail Bar
How it redefined culture: Introduced the bartender as star-tender
Flipping a cocktail shaker, with one eye on his latest love interest: Tom Cruise made mixology both an artform and an aspiration in the 1980s. After a stint at a beach bar in the tropics, the wise-cracking Brian Flanagan settles for more modest Cocktails and Dreams back home in Queens. Cinema’s original Buddha of bartending, Flanagan’s flair and charisma are wholly responsible for making this film a cult classic.