Mission Ranch
26270 Dolores St., Carmel
(831) 624-6436, missionranchcarmel.com
Any good Old Western watering hole needs a piano, and the bar at Mission Ranch, well, sets the bar locally. It’s a place to sing along to your favorite classics, and more importantly to gather and see familiar faces (and maybe some celebrity faces; see “Around Town” section). There is nothing pretentious about this place – it’s a classic piano bar as old-school as they come. Even when the pianoman isn’t playing, it’s an inviting and laid-back atmosphere for all ages, perhaps a little more mellow now than the reputation this historic venue had back in the 1930s-’40s as a rowdy bar scene.
