It’s Negroni Week! Until September 22, Houston restaurants and bars (as well as others across the country) are encouraging guests to drink this bittersweet classic cocktail, or their spin on it, for a cause. The annual event, organized by Imbibe magazine and Campari, has been running since 2013 and fundraises for Slow Food, a food sustainability initiative.

Historically, the Negroni cocktail is made with just three ingredients — gin, vermouth and Campari — stirred together in equal parts. Despite its simplicity, the Negroni is a complex beverage. With countless gins and vermouth on the market lending their unique characteristics, the drink can be bitter, sweet, herbaceous and/or fruity.

Over the last few years, celebrities such as Stanley Tucci and Emma D’arcy going public with their favorite variations have added to the Negroni’s popularity. (Tucci increases the gin to two ounces and prefers his up instead of over ice, and D’arcy went viral with her Negroni Sbagliato choice — and pristine pronunciation.)  The fun doesn’t have to stop with the original recipe — and that is often what Houston bars and restaurants are proving this week. For example, Coltivare is replacing the Campari with Berto Bitter and adding fig jam. The recently opened Aero is serving a few variations, including ones with Cognac and mezcal. Trash Panda Drinking Club is featuring an entire Negroni menu including the classic version, a jello shot, a tequila variation and more. 

Below is a full list of participating venues — and the list is so long that we’ve sorted it by neighborhood. There are participating locations all over the Greater Houston area, so go forth, and find your favorite Negroni! 

Bay Area Houston

• Ocean Sushi & Ramen
• The Davenport Lounge – Clear Lake

Bellaire

• KP’s Kitchen – Bellaire
• Rossa Room Speakeasy

Downtown

• Bandista at Four Seasons Houston
• The Laura Hotel
• Pour Behavior
• Rosalie Italian Soul
• Xochi

EaDo / East Side

• East End Hardware
• HiWay Cantina

Galleria/Uptown

• Aero Cocktail Co.
• The Annie
• Cache Cocktail Bar
• Caracol
• Duchess Uptown Park
• La Reserve Whiskey Lounge at The Omni
• Urbe

Garden Oaks

• La Mex

Hedwig Village 

• Ember & Greens

Heights

• Coltivare
• Johnny’s Gold Brick
• Lei Low
• McIntyre’s
• Permission
• Plume
• The Ready Room
• Trattoria Sofia

Lazybrook/Timbergrove

• The Barking Pig
• Cavatore
• Prime 131

Midtown

• FAO HTX
• Jethro’s Cocktail Lounge
• Two Headed Dog

Missouri City/Sugar Land

• B.B. Italia Bistro & Bar
• Bar Kada

Montrose

• 93′ Til
• Andiron
• Backstreet Cafe
• Boheme
• Clark’s Oyster Bar
• Clarkwood
• The Flat
• Flora
• Georgia James Steak
• Graffiti Raw
• Hugo’s
• Marmo
• Poison Girl

Northside

• High Five
• Trash Panda Drinking Club

River Oaks

• The Kennedy Houston
• The Podium at Porshe River Oaks
• Zanti Cucina Italiana

Rice Village

• Candelari’s Italiano
• Coppa Osteria
• D’Amico’s Italian Market Cafe

Spring Branch East

• Warehouse 72

Washington Avenue / Rice Military

• B&B Butchers

• Bayou Heights Bier Garten

• LadyBirds

• Puttery

West Houston

• Salt & Sugar Gastro Bar

Multiple Locations

• Adriatic Cafe
• Eight Row Flint
• Five Central
• Jonathan’s The Rub
• The Union Kitchen
• Wild

Ryan Kasey Baker