With crashes and clatters bringing about cheers and encouragement, patrons of the Replay Lounge send softballs hurling at blue and white beer cans arranged in the manner of bowling pins.

Pinball inspired murals decorate the walls, and memorabilia from The Simpsons and Spinal Tap hang over the bar. The Replay, 946 Massachusetts St., has served Lawrence residents as an arcade, bar and live-music venue since it opened in 1993.

Esquire Magazine named the Replay in its second-annual listing of “The Best Bars in America” in its June issue. The list included 49 other bars throughout the country, as some of “those harmonious and radiant places that serve us drinks, keep us company, and put up with our regrettable behavior.”

Steve Topping, a Replay regular, said it was only fitting that the Replay be recognized on a list of the best bars in the United States.

With weekly events like Pabst Blue Ribbon Bowling, the Replay’s patrons and bartenders participate in all kinds of back-patio sports while waiting for the almost nightly musical entertainment to arrive and set up.

Roy “Buddy” Kite, an assistant editor at Esquire, said that he and other staff writers and editors for the magazine pooled together their backgrounds to write the article about venues like the Replay.

“We have guys from all over the country, which is a pretty helpful resource,” Kite said. “We also reached out to all of our freelancers all over the country.”

The Esquire list included such bars as John D. McGurk’s in St. Louis and The Red Key in Indianapolis. Kite said that the editors of Esquire intended to highlight the qualities of a good bar and compile a helpful list for travelers.

“Any place that is inviting and comfortable and caters to the local community is a good bar and that varies a great deal from city to city,” Kite said.

Magazine editors reached out to several writers in Kansas for input as to which bars were worthy of consideration.

“The name, Replay Lounge, kept coming up,” Kite said. “It seemed different from what you’d expect of a bar in Kansas.”

Kite said that one of the deciding factors was the Replay’s diversity as a live-music venue.

“We just kept hearing about how strong a music pull it had,” Kite said.

Competent barmen, reasonable prices, good food and a tasteful lineup of music were all taken into consideration when deciding which watering holes would make the grade, Kite said.

Topping said that Lawrence was the perfect place to find the best bar in Kansas, though Wichita, Kansas City and Topeka offered good venues as well.

“Probably 15 bars in Lawrence could have made it on the list,” Topping said, and then he began ticking them off on his fingers. “The Bottleneck, The Granada, Harbour Lights, Louise’s, Quinton’s, dot-dot-dot. The bottom line is that they looked in all 50 states and picked only one bar in each one.”

Jason Supernaw, bartender at the Red Lyon Tavern, said he felt that some of the Replay’s good attributes included the patio area as well as the drink prices and the music.

“It’s a really nice place to drink with a lot of cool people,” Supernaw said.

He declined to say anything negative about the Replay on account of his having “friends over there who’d kick my ass.”

Nick Carroll, owner of the Replay, said that though the writers of the article had never actually come to the bar, he was proud and honored that his bar had been mentioned.

Kite said that Esquire is in the planning stages of expanding the online list to provide a forum where readers from across the country can comment and vote for their favorite bars making the list interactive and “more democratic.”

— Edited by Joe Caponio