Marianna Hunt

The best bars for celebrating Independence Day

  • From Spectator Life
The American Bar, The Stafford


While most parades and public fireworks displays have been called off for 4 July, it is still an excellent excuse for a good old American knees up.

Good food and drink are key to any Independence Day party. From smoky barbeque joints to slinky speakeasies, here are the best places to celebrate in London.

The Stafford

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The Stafford Hotel’s American bar was designed to dispel any sense of homesickness among visiting Americans in 1920s and 1930s London. Day-to-day items donated by visitors over the decades, from baseball caps to toy aeroplanes, dangle haphazardly from the ceiling.

It is one of the longest surviving American bars in the city and a plaque on the wall commemorates world war two resistance fighter Nancy Wake, who stopped by every day at 11 a.m. for more than 50 years for a gin and tonic.

In the style of true American cocktail bars, tuxedoed bartenders shake and stir up all the classics.

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