🍷 Thankful for Happy Holler 🍷

 

If you’ve been following our adventures, you know we love spotlighting local businesses in cities around the globe. But we also believe in showing some love to our favorite spots right here in our own neighborhood.

When we began house hunting in 2021, we told our realtor we wanted to be within walking distance of the Corner Lounge. It’s been our go-to for great food and cocktails since before the pandemic, and it also happens to be the oldest bar in Knoxville.

Our realtor nailed it. We’re within walking distance of the Corner Lounge and lucky to be so close to all the great spots in Happy Holler—an area in north Knoxville that’s been a hub for fun and mischief for over a century. Now, with the addition of a locally owned movie theater, Central Cinema, it’s the perfect all-in-one date night destination right on the same block!

Here are some favorite #tipsypicks in our neighborhood:

Corner Lounge (see above) – Come for the food (best chili dogs around) and stay for the cocktails! Not exactly in the “Holler,” but the reason we’re here!

The Marlowe – We’re so excited about this spot in the neighborhood. The delicious food, creative cocktails, half-priced wine bottles on Mondays, and live jazz on Tuesdays make it a standout. It’s ideal for a date night or a classy dinner out.

Oak Room by Abridged – Shh, we don’t want to share that this barrel room for Abridged brewery has one of the best bourbon programs in town!  And the food is fabulous!

Zero/Zero – This natural wine bar offers an amazing selection by the glass or bottle, along with beer and tasty food! They host pop-up dinners, dance nights with live DJs, and more. It feels like our home away from home, with owners who have thoughtfully created a cozy spot to relax, reconnect with friends, or enjoy a date night. Choose your own adventure!

The Pirate Tavern –Who wouldn’t love a pirate-themed bar in the neighborhood? They boast an amazing rum selection (of course), an extensive beer list with drafts and cans, and a food menu sure to please even the grumpiest old salt. To top it off, they host nightly events and welcome everyone with open arms!

XYZ – Again, who wouldn’t want a show bar with live entertainment in your neighborhood? They also have some of the best drinks at the best prices around. 

Central Flats & Taps – These folks were doing it right long before the Holler was cool. (or maybe long before the last time…) Great drinks, great food, great patio.

Central Bottle Shop – Though not a food or drink venue, this corner bottle shop has become our favorite spot for wine and spirits. They host tastings every Friday, and their Back Label Bottle Club is a must-join—we’re proud members ourselves!

And, not that we’re trying to sway you … OK, we are … There is plenty of free parking along the streets and a large free lot down the hill on Anderson. 

We’ll be back out on the highways and airways soon enough bringing you all the #tipsypicks … but sometimes it’s good to show some love to those spaces closest to home! What's your favorite place in the Holler?

🎨🎭 Get outta (down)town and drink in the artsy side of Asheville 🎨🎭

We mentioned in our last post that we found downtown Asheville, North Carolina to be recovering from flooding and damage after Hurricane Helene. But our last trip also took us to a few places outside of downtown proper – and we think they’re worth mentioning!

In particular, West Asheville is home to lots of funky eclectic spots for food and drink. It’s not necessarily walkable from downtown, but worth the short drive (or rideshare). 

As fans of natural wine, our first stop in this area was Leo’s House of Thirst. A literal “house,” this cool space has as much room outdoors as it does inside. They have a great list of wines by the bottle and by the glass, and their small kitchen space puts out some big flavors! We will definitely visit here again.

Just down the street we found some amazing cocktails at Character Study. We could have spent all day here, as it’s also a place to browse, buy, and read books cleverly placed all over the room. They have daily drink specials and we were fortunate enough to find their Old Fashioned as the special that day. We pulled up some comfy chairs and settled in! Absolutely a #tipsypick for anytime we’re in town. 

Another neighborhood that’s still recovering and worth your time (and money) is the River Arts District. This former industrial area is now home to dozens of art galleries, studios, restaurants, bars, and breweries. Many of them are just getting back on their feet after Helene. We stopped in (after a bit of a search – it’s unmarked) for a drink at a cool little spot called the Crucible. The inside space is small and moody, with actual crucibles on the tables (ceramic containers used for melting or heating things like metal). We had their riff on an Old Fashioned called Gather Your Flowers, which featured toasted pecan-infused bourbon. There’s also a nice patio space outside. Business has picked up lately after Esquire Magazine named it one of the “Best Bars in America” for 2025. You’ll see why.

This neighborhood is also home to a number of breweries, which we will get to at some point!  For this visit, while we were in the area, we chose to go #offthetipsypath to two of the largest production breweries in the region. That may sound a bit off brand, until you realize that they are among the largest employers of local staff and have contributed to the recovery of the community since Hurricane Helene. 

New Belgium Brewing is based in Colorado but opened its second production hub in Asheville just west of downtown in 2016. They have a scenic 18-acre spot along the river with plenty of space to relax and enjoy the scenery along with some of their award-winning beer. It’s worth a visit just for the tasting room and patio!

And if you go just a bit farther south of Asheville you come to what you might call the Disney World of beer… Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. This campus in Mills River is a destination in itself. Along with brewery tours daily, they also have a fantastic restaurant and taproom where you can indulge in all the beer offerings on tap. Sierra Nevada is still owned by the same family that started it and they are very active at the NC facility as well as collaborating with other local breweries. Big and successful can still mean #shoplocal and #drinklocal.

And yes, we realize we left off the most obvious local brewery, Highland. Saving that for next time!

We’ll end with the same message we started with – go visit these amazing Asheville spots that need your support and your business!

Let us know which ones were your #tipsypicks!

Asheville’s Local Hotspots are Open for Business

 

In September 2024, Asheville North Carolina and the surrounding mountains faced the unthinkable when a hurricane (or what was left of it) brought flooding and devastation to the region. More than a year after Hurricane Helene, local businesses in Asheville want people to know one thing… they’re open for you. Unfortunately, there are some exceptions – locations that were too heavily damaged and will never reopen. But here’s our attempt to highlight those that we found on a recent visit that are open and serving again!

First, we can report that long-time favorite downtown spots like Top of the Monk and Imperial did in fact survive both the pandemic and Hurricane Helene. Top of the Monk in particular is worth the wait for seats, even if you have to stand out in the cold for a bit. Their cocktails are top notch and where else can you pick your own snacks from an apothecary cabinet?

Speaking of apothecary… we’ll go with that theme for our first few highlights. How about a fantastic cocktail bar that also makes its own liquor? Antidote is a relatively new spot in the South Slope area – new construction that looks like it’s right out of the 1920s. They have creative cocktails and a wonderful Black Manhattan on the menu as well as tasty charcuterie and other bites. They’re part of the Chemist Spirits distillery, which offers their own gin, vodka, and whiskey. This is a #tipsypick!

There’s also a place downtown that makes their own natural wines and cider! Botanist and Barrel is a cool little spot where you can get wine and cider by the glass or by the bottle. The staff is excellent at helping you navigate and taste the options… and there are lots! They also have guest bottles for purchase and a cool atmosphere perfect for hanging out. This is an ideal mix of bottle shop and wine bar!

And one more with the theme – Sovereign Remedies is an eclectic cocktail spot with lots of dark wood but also great natural lighting through their huge windows. They have a fantastic Old Fashioned among other cocktails and a nice wine selection.

Changing tracks, you know we love a good speakeasy! The Crow & Quill fits that with an unmarked door down a side street. But it’s worth the hunt because this place always delivers great cocktails and some live music along with a very cool vibe that fits the theme. Their Smoked Old Fashioned is one of the best around and you have to see for yourself how they add the smoke! This place is less of a secret now that they were named one of the best in the country by USA Today. Find out for yourself why this is a #tipsypick! 

We also love great historic buildings that find new life as places for great drinks. That would include The Times Bar and Coffee. This eclectic spot used to be the S&W Cafeteria back in the day – as in 1929. It was also home to the Asheville Times newspaper for many years. Now it’s home to a coffee shop in the morning that turns into a beautiful cocktail spot at night, complete with high ceilings and chandeliers. The drinks are top notch, with their takes on classic cocktails including the Rob Roy, Rusty Nail, Sazerac, Daiquiri, and too many others to mention… even barrel aged and smoked if you prefer!

For creative cocktails in an underground vibe – literally – Farmese Cocktail Lounge is a great spot!  This basement space has lots of great areas to relax for a drink – think wood and leather furniture. Customer service is a winner – the bartender even apologized for running out of “big rock” ice before he made our drinks, which were still very tasty. 

Some others worth mentioning – 5 Walnut Wine Bar is a welcoming space with a great wine list and food options. They often have live music!  Rankin Vault is billed as a cocktail lounge, but they are very popular for their burgers, which we can agree are fantastic! There is even a room that was a bank vault… the door is still intact. And Curate’ has a wonderful food menu with tapas, wine and cocktails. 

Do yourself (and these businesses) a favor and make the trip to Asheville and give them some love!  Stay tuned because next time we’ll share some cool places we found in a couple of neighborhoods just outside of downtown in our next Off the Tipsy Path post.

🍷🍸 NYC: Underground Cocktails and Above Ground Natural Wine 🍷🍸

 

New York City is home to literally hundreds of great bars – dive bars, speakeasies, historic watering holes and world-class cocktail experiences. But there are some you just have to try for yourself.

For example - have you ever considered going dancing in the subway in New York City? If you’re willing to go underground near Times Square, you’ll find Nothing Really Matters. Even if you miss the discreet door on a landing, once you step inside, the disco ball is a dead giveaway that you’re in for a good time. The atmosphere was indeed fun and the drinks were better than we expected! This is a unique stop for any night out near the square.

Not far from the first stop, you’ll find the entrance to what looks like a sex shop. In the 1970’s and 80’s, that wouldn’t be an unusual sight in this neighborhood, as Times Square was full of adult bookstores and theaters. Now, the signage would appear out of place if you didn’t know that this one leads to The Woo Woo, a fun underground speakeasy behind the faux sex shop. Clutch your pearls and embrace the kitsch and you’ll be rewarded with great and creative cocktails and a fantastic experience. In fact, we had one of the best smoked old fashioneds of the entire trip here. Enjoy the visuals, it’s a #tipsypick!

While we’re at it, we should also recall our first visit to an underground subway speakeasy … La Noxe is worthy of another mention in this category from a previous visit. This former brothel turned cocktail spot is still going strong!

Now let’s go back above ground for a few #tipsypicks we recommend on the Lower East Side and the Village!

Bar Veloce (pronounced velo-chay in Italian) is a neighborhood cocktail bar that we think is hidden in plain sight. That’s maybe because we haven’t noticed it until now! But it will definitely be one we’ll return to. It’s the kind of place you can enjoy an afternoon cocktail or glass of wine (which we did) and escape the madness that is NYC. We hear it gets quite lively at night though! We’ll be sure to let you know. (We should note that there are several locations, all locally owned, but we visited the one in the Bowery.)

Another neighborhood spot nearby with a well-earned reputation is Mother’s Ruin. Yes, it’s named after the historic nickname for gin during prohibition, so there are gin drinks aplenty. During the day it’s a low-key spot for great drinks and food including brunch, but at night it can be a bustling hot spot, mostly for locals. We will visit this one again as well!

Since we’re on the Lower East side, it’s no secret that we are enjoying exploring the world of natural wines. Those are varieties made without preservatives and other additives. And there are three fantastic natural wine spots all within a few blocks of each other on the LES. All of these were recommended by the folks at our local natural wine bar in Knoxville.

Somm Time is maybe the most intimate of the wine bars but they make up for it with a giant reputation for having some of the best food to go with their selection of wines by the glass and bottle as well as pairings. They also have quite a selection of orange or amber wines, also known as “skin contact” wines.

Which brings us to another wine bar in the same LES neighborhood… Skin Contact. That’s right, they embrace the selections of wine that are left to soak with the grape skins. They opened in 2020 and weathered the pandemic by focusing on natural wines and small producers, mostly from Europe, that you don’t find elsewhere. This is a great stop for wine lovers!

And finally, yet another fantastic natural wine bar in the LES … The Ten Bells. They have a lovely space that includes garage doors which they open to enjoy the fresh air, and if you think oysters go well with wine, this is your spot!  They also have a great happy hour and tapas to pair with your wine. They were among the first in the city to embrace natural wine back in 2008 and they’re still going strong!

Can we ever get enough of NYC? What are your favorite spots?