The holiday season is upon us, which usually means family and friends come to visit and want to go out and celebrate! Or your local family and friends want to go out and celebrate. Either way, if you’re looking for an establishment that’s close to the Stepping Stone community and you’ve rounded up a designated driver, here are a few local places where you can belly up to a bar.

This time, our “top sips” focus is on local brewers. But we also added an option at the end for those who aren’t beer drinkers:

Barnett & Son Brewing Company

18425 Pony Express Drive

Barnett & Son is a small craft brewery and tap room focusing on handcrafted ales and creating a “home away from home” for customers. The founder was a homebrewer who started donating his beer to community events and fundraisers, and people who loved his beer finally convinced him to open his own brewery. Events here include trivia, yoga, and poker night.

Elk Mountain Brewing

18921 Plaza Drive

Soon to be named “Downhill Brewing” (story here), this small-scale brewery is a pivotal cornerstone in the Parker community, serving unique handcrafted microbrews with award-winning recipes. They specialize in German beers with a twist, bringing home a Bronze Medal in 2017 for their German-style köelsch. Every Tuesday, teachers get 20% off with staff ID.

Lone Tree Brewing

8200 Park Meadows Drive

Lone Tree Brewing is a European-style craft brewery that emphasizes small, handcrafted batch beers. Inside the family-friendly taproom you’ll find board games and televised events. Food trucks are parked outside Tuesday through Sunday — find out which ones are scheduled here.

Breweria

6730 S. Cornerstar Way

This small, community spot features exceptional beer, pizza, and people. On the beer side, you’ll find super-small-batch beer of exceptional quality and flavor. On the pizza side, enjoy pizzas, calzones, breads, and salads. These two come together in that the pizza dough is made from scratch from the leftover grains from the brewing process.

Vines Wine Bar & Bistro

19501 E. Mainstreet

Featuring a friendly, casual, and comfortable setting, this wine bar is perfect if you’re looking for a tasty glass of wine and interesting conversation. Vines features handpicked wine selections from California, Italy, Spain, Australia, France, South America, and more. Their menu offers tapas, salads, and brunch on Sundays.  

Have you been to these locations yet? If your friends or family are not the type to drink, why not invite your neighbors, long-time and new, to explore a few of these spots? You just might form friendships for life. Cheers!