A Weekend in Chattanooga is Not Enough

 

As it turns out, this blog is a great excuse for weekend getaways … and to drink. So based on some requests from friends, we spent a recent weekend in Chattanooga to check out the cocktail scene. While Chattanooga is known for its outdoor adventures, we found plenty to do indoors at the many bars and restaurants, including a few speakeasies! And to be fair, we did walk across the pedestrian bridge to the north shore and back … totally worth the walk.

First, if you are staying in a hotel in downtown Chattanooga, you may find some pretty great cocktails in your own hotel bar. Chattanooga has a surprising number of great hotel bars. We stayed at the Moxy downtown on this trip. It’s hard to beat a hotel where you check in AT the bar and get a free cocktail before you ever go to your room. The signature cocktail is definitely the way to go! While the outdoor bar – the Railyard – wasn’t open yet for the season, we did enjoy our time at Bar Moxy including the patio. Unfortunately, the operating hours have been seriously reduced due to pandemic staffing shortages, so get your drink on before 11:30 p.m.

 

Just up the street, the Kinley Hotel has one of our favorite bars in town. Company is a speakeasy behind the bookcase in the lobby. They actually knock before letting you in (no password required.) The atmosphere is classic, with a great selection of food and drinks – including classics like an Old Fashioned and a Flamed Sazerac that was one of Scott’s favorite drinks of the weekend. They had Christy’s favorite champagne - a blanc de blanc. Company is a must for anyone wanting a classy evening or a step back in time!

 Another excellent choice is Whiskey Thief, the rooftop bar at the Edwin Hotel. It’s worth a visit just for the view of the riverfront. The drinks and food are an added bonus. (Fried Green Tomatoes, yes please!) Reservations are accepted and recommended here also.

And as for classic lobby bars, you can’t go wrong with Bar & Billiards at the Read House. Billed as a “speakeasy,” it’s pretty easy to spot off the main lobby. But the vibe is definitely 1920’s with a modern twist, as is the rest of the hotel. Scott had one of the best Manhattans of the trip here, and Christy got her one of her favorite drinks - prosecco.

One of our favorite spots has a new life at the Dwell Hotel. Formerly Matilda Midnight, Night Pearl is a tiki concept in the same dark and jazzy space off the lobby. The signature cocktails are creative and tasty. We also enjoyed some small plates here that you don’t find often – like fish dip and pot stickers.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo seems to have their own eating and drinking experience on one property. Food and great cocktails at Stir, Nic & Normans and Frothy Monkey … their own distillery with a cocktail bar at Gate 11, and a historic train car turned beer bar at American Draft. You could spend all weekend here! We also recommend a tasting experience at Chattanooga Experimental Distillery across the street.

Other worthy choices include the rooftop at the Westin Hotel, where they make a mean Manhattan with some of the best views in the city, and the new rooftop at the Chattanoogan Hotel. They actually replaced the indoor pool with a bar!

Of course, there are other options for great food and drink downtown. Another “speakeasy” bar hiding in plain sight is Wiseguy Lounge. It’s basically the basement section of Goodfellas Pizza, right behind the Moxy. We were expecting a secret door but it’s a staircase behind the bar. This building has some very cool stories. One of the rooms at Wiseguy was actually a secret gambling hall hidden behind a wall. You can now hang out in the same room with some of the same restored gaming tables. Oh, and did we mention that the drinks are excellent? The Old Fashioned made Christy happy, and Scott had a flaming bourbon drink called the Broken Hatchet - perhaps the best drink of the weekend. What is it with drinks and fire on this trip?

We love local businesses with great stories. No Hard Feelings is definitely one of those. This bar started out as a popup in Nashville and settled along Broad Street. The name comes from parting words the owner had with a previous employer. Good name for a bar indeed. It’s a great hangout space with a disco ball or two and lots of leather seating. The menu is simple, but the drinks are delicious. This would probably be our hangout space if we lived here.

 

After midnight, the list of available options gets shorter. We’re happy to share that we found an excellent spot for your a.m. needs! Exile off Main is basically a backyard bar just south of Main Street. The indoor bar space is pretty small, but as long as the weather is nice, this is a great spot to hang outside! Lots of chairs, a patio, cold beer and some good cocktails. This was a great way to finish the night.

Main Street has no shortage of great places for food and drink. On past visits, we’ve enjoyed Flying Squirrel’s cocktails and small plates. This time, we tried State of Confusion. Great space, great food and creative Latin / Peruvian food. 

To end the weekend, we enjoyed brunch at Proof, an incubator space that also appears to have a great drink menu. We’ll be back another time for that!

So to summarize our Chattanooga experience / detail our Tipsy Picks:

Favorite Hotel Bar – Company

Favorite Hangout Spot – Wiseguy Lounge OR No Hard Feelings

Favorite Late Night – Exile off Main

We realize that we missed an entirely separate category here – the breweries. We’ll have to save that one for another trip! But feel free to hit us up for ideas in the meantime … we’ve been to most of them.

🥃 🍷 Our favorite Knoxville Bars (so far) 🥃 🍷

 

Our blog is all about finding great cocktails where and when we travel. But we also like great drinks closer to home!  So this entry is all about our favorite places in Knoxville, at least for now. We spend a lot of time on the north side of downtown, so that’s where we’ll start. These are places that, unless we have plans elsewhere, you can usually find us on any given weekend.

Don’t worry, we’ll cover some other areas in future posts! 

Corner Lounge

Let’s start with our favorite spot. Ever wonder what it’s like to go “Where everybody knows your name?” Welcome to Cheers Knoxville, aka the Corner Lounge! This is for sure our favorite watering hole in Knoxville for lots of reasons. It’s the oldest bar in town. Con Hunley got his start here. Cormac McCarthy tossed back a few here. They are a classic bar with great drinks (Scott is hooked on Sheena’s Manhattan and Christy is a sucker for Nat’s Bucket of Mos), great food, live music, and a great bunch of regular patrons. Check them out before they get too popular – they did get a 3.75 on a recent foodie review – pinkies up!

Public House

10 years ago, you didn’t walk around on Magnolia Avenue just north of Depot at night. But Public House was there and they’re still going strong. They have a great selection of wine, beer and cocktails – yes, they have yet another of Scott’s favorite Manhattans in town. The bartenders are excellent (shoutout to Franklin and Javier), and the vibe is laid back. They also have a great patio area.

Frank & George’s

One of the newest of our favorite spots is in an unlikely place – a food hall. Frank and George’s Bar is part of the Marble City Market food hall. The bartenders are veterans from other spots in town and have come up with some great cocktails – the Old Fashioned and Manhattan in particular are very tasty. 

Central Depot

Just down the street from the food hall on Depot you’ll find the appropriately named Central Depot (located on the corner of said streets.) Literally, one of the coolest bars on the corner. The menu includes cocktails mainly made with local products and local beers on tap. It’s a friendly vibe where you can just hang out.

Brother Wolf

Once upon a time, we spent a lot of time at Sapphire on Gay Street. As we wait to see if they reopen, it makes sense that we would love the next business from owners Aaron Thompson and Jessica King. Brother Wolf is an Italian aperitif bar with a great selection of cocktails and small bites. They’ve done a great job with the space in the Old City!

Runner Up: For one of the best cocktail selections in town (including a fantastic Old Fashioned) Kefi is a great option. They have cocktail samplers so you can try three different selections at a time! Opa! (Yes, they have a Greek-inspired menu.)

Like we said in the beginning, there are lots of other places we enjoy just downtown – Tern Club, Double S Wine Bar, Bistro at the Bijou, Bernadette’s, 5:30 Lounge to name a few.  And some we haven’t tried yet like the Tennessean and Lonesome Dove. Stay tuned for more about our local favorites! We may even list our favorite Old Fashioned and Manhattan spots.

You may notice that we didn’t cover any of the growing number of breweries. That’s in another post here.

Think we missed something - Let us know!

🎉📿 Beyond Bourbon Street – New Orleans Cocktails 🎉📿

 

When you think of New Orleans, you probably have images of Mardi Gras revelers on Bourbon Street drinking “Big Ass Beers” and doing creative things to get beads from the balconies. There are lots of places to get a decent hurricane and bourbon milk punch. But for those of us who have been to the city a few times - and are maybe of an age where we prefer quality over quantity, here are some thoughts about our favorite places for a good drink in the Big Easy.

We’ll start by mentioning some of the classics – the places that everyone talks about and should be on your list. A Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s is a rite of passage. Just do it. But also note that the ones you get these days are from a premade mix here. Still, lots of booze and worth knocking it off your list! We took one of the many bar tours during our most recent visit, which we highly recommend if you want a shot of history with your drinks. That’s where we learned that an authentic Hurricane will be made with a shot of high proof (i.e., 151) rum on top!

Get your Vieux Carre (a classic Bourbon cocktail invented here) from the Carousel Bar and hop on for a slow spin around history at the Hotel Monteleone. Go to Napoleon House for the Pimms Cup (invented here) and some fantastic Louisiana fare - the Muffuletta is excellent. Get your Sazerac (one of Scott’s favorites) from the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel and your French 75 from Arnaud’s.

Now, for some options a bit more #offthetipsypath -

With so much consumption out in the open (yes, you can drink on the streets), there aren’t many authentic speakeasies in New Orleans. Of course, we found one! Double Dealer is a relatively new spot underneath the Orpheum Theatre. It used to be their basement ice storage room – literally how they would cool the theater in the warmer months! Today they’re serving fantastic cocktails and live jazz with the atmosphere you’d expect underground.

 

If you’ve been following us, you know we like craft cocktails heavy on the Bourbon. Bar Tonique has all that plus the classic NOLA drinks like Sazerac, Vieux Carre, and French 75 with their own twists on them all. This spot is on the edge of the quarter just across from Louis Armstrong Park, so it’s an easy walk or ride. We highly recommend this one as an escape from the madness.

And just down the street is another unique spot, especially for day drinking or night pizza. Rampart Treehouse looks like you are stepping into a Peter Pan novel. There’s art, booze and pizza! It’s a bit more of a dive bar, but worth visiting if you are already headed to Bar Tonique.

The appropriately named 21^st Amendment bar is another great location we’ve found. We spent a wonderful New Year’s Eve here a few years ago and have never forgotten it. This is a classy stop off of Bourbon Street with a great wine and cocktail list and live jazz most nights.

Laffite’s Blacksmith Shop - The oldest structure in the U.S. that’s currently a bar! It’s a bit far down Bourbon for most people, but worth the stroll! Their purple frozen Voodoo Daiquiri just might change your life … or ruin your night because they’re dangerously good. Pair it with some food from the deli down the street for a late snack.

Pirate’s Alley Café – Located in (gasp) Pirate’s Alley right off Jackson Square, this one is worth just dropping by for a drink. If you’ve ever been curious to try Absinthe, this is the place to do it!   They also have a fantastic Pirate’s Punch - as you might expect. 

We realize that with a city that has a drinking pedigree like New Orleans, new bars are opening all the time and we haven’t begun to cover all the options, especially outside the French Quarter. Places like the Garden District, the Marigny and Frenchmen Street are always on our radar. And we’re always looking for a good spot for live jazz! We’ll just have to keep going back for an update!

We started this blog for people like us who like to travel, like a good cocktail and are at a point in their lives where they can enjoy both. Hope you are enjoying our adventures and find this helpful to you!

Still in the City – NYC Take Two

 

Our adventures in the Big Apple continued after we made our last post, so let’s catch you up on the rest of the story! There are just too many great spots not to keep sharing with you.

We spent most of our week in lower Manhattan but ventured one evening to Chelsea (See previous post) and another evening up to Times Square. We’ll pick up there.

Bar Centrale – Located in an unmarked brownstone along “Restaurant Row” near the theater district, this was a true gem. We had tried to reserve tables the last two times we visited NYC without success. This time, we took a chance and walked over from Times Square and got in!  The Manhattan was one of the best presentations of the cocktail we’ve seen and the food was excellent. Very classy and worth the wait! Apparently, this is a popular spot after the theaters let out, especially for VIPs.

Dear Irving – We took another chance on this one after we went “uptown” and lucked into Bar Centrale. Dear Irving is tucked away in the Gramercy district. You go behind the curtain to find lots of dark wood, mirrors, candles … and fantastic cocktails! We enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching the experts work.

 Backroom – It’s hard to imagine talking about NYC speakeasies and not coming here. This is one of the original operating speakeasies from Prohibition, and it’s still going. True to the theme, it’s not marked, other than the “toy company” sign on the gate, and down a dark alley to a door where you ring the buzzer. Inside, the décor is classic 1920s and the cocktails are served in teacups, just like Prohibition. They have jazz dancing on Mondays, but we didn’t make that.  Maybe next time!

Little Branch – This speakeasy on a corner in the West Village has some of the best jazz in the city Sunday - Thursday with no cover. We visited last fall and returned for the drinks and jazz. We even managed to snag a table toward the end of the set.

As we mentioned in our last post, we also made time to try out some local establishments and classic pubs that we couldn’t resist.

White Horse Tavern – This is not a speakeasy, but a cool old tavern where writers used to hang out in the West Village. We visited during Happy Hour, and it seems every young professional in the village was at the bar. We scored a table and soaked it all in. 

McSorley’s – How can we not include this classic beer hall that hasn’t changed much in 100 years? We sat by the coal stove to warm up and had our beer and cheese … light and dark beer only, the way it has always been!

Whiskey Ward – A neighborhood bar below Houston with a huge selection of bourbon and whiskey. It was very crowded but we got a table by the window and enjoyed our drinks. Scott was surprised to get a pour of Elmer T. Lee for $16 … the best price we’ve seen anywhere for it!

Jadis - Gets the award for one of the only “twofers” on this trip … we liked it so much we went back twice in the same week! It’s a classic European wine bar with a great happy hour between the East and West Village.

Goodnight Sonny – Speaking of great Happy Hours, this one was another repeat from our last trip in September. Conveniently located in the East Village, they have great specials on drinks and a fantastic east coast oyster sampler platter for Happy Hour. The vibe is laid back and perfect after a work day.

Jackdaw – This one was on our list previously, and we are glad we made it this time! Great Old Fashioned cocktails and guacamole for a reasonable price at Happy Hour.  Another fantastic location in the East Village. 

Just so you don’t get the wrong idea about us (gasp 🙈), we did more than just drink for the entire week, to be sure! 

We highly recommend Free Tours by Foot. We took two of their tours on this trip and have used them before. The guide, Lori, was personable, organized and an excellent storyteller. Any of the tours with Lori are going to be worth the time and anything you pay.

We are also history nerds, so no surprise that we took a tour of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, including the catacombs beneath. This was a wonderful experience and a great way to learn about the old Five Points neighborhood and the Irish ghetto. Also not far from our hotel, we visited the New Museum. While it’s four stories high, the museum is an easy walk-through of exhibits highlighting contemporary art. We went on Thursday night when it was “pay as you wish.”

Both times we went “uptown” we had a reason. First, we went to the Summit One Vanderbilt. We’ve done most of the other observation decks like the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock and One World Trade. But this one is another level, literally. The experience we booked included art installations, a glass bottom observation window, a cocktail at the top and a ride even higher on the glass elevator. The views of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and upper Manhattan were incredible at night.  The second time out of our neighborhood we went to the Stranger Things experience just off Times Square. For fans of the show, this was absolutely worth it!

And finally, a shout out to some of the other small businesses we visited later in the weekend, including Taverna di Bacco, an authentic Italian restaurant near our hotel, and El Sombrero, where we got some of the best margaritas around late on a Saturday night. Can’t wait to try the food next time.

What’s even more exciting – there are new speakeasies popping up in the city every day, so we have plenty to visit the next time around!

🤫 Shhh Can you Keep a Secret? 🤫

 

New York City sure does love a good speakeasy. So we decided to see how many of them we could work into our schedule during a recent “working remotely” trip to the Big Apple. We tried one in a former massage parlor under a subway, one in the basement of the hotel where Nikola Tesla worked and invented things, lots of them behind secret doors, and some that are on the latest list of World’s Top Bars!  They all had one thing in common … fantastic cocktails! 🍸

We’ll start with some of the places we visited that are the real reason we do this. They are indeed #offthetipsypath … small businesses with stories and character. That Witch Ales You is a small brewery in Chinatown owned by a husband and wife with some great beer. Our favorite pour was a coconut porter! And two wine bars … the Immigrant and Jadis. Both of them are locally owned and feel like you are stepping into a European bistro. We highly recommend them.

Now let’s set the “Wayback Machine” for a second back to 2014, when we tried our first NYC speakeasy … Beauty & Essex. We were blown away by the concept of walking into a small pawn shop, only to find a two-story spectacle behind a backroom door, complete with winding staircase and chandeliers! Yes, this Lower East Side institution is still around and going strong through the Pandemic.

In September, we checked out one of the most popular NYC speakeasies … Please Don’t Tell. It’s behind a phone booth in a hot dog shop in the East Village. The drinks were fantastic and the vibe was dark and moody - as you might expect.

Now, for the latest marathon.

First, we’ll admit that we did some research online to gather a list of the greatest speakeasies and narrowed it down to the ones we had to hit in a 7-day period. Thanks to everyone who helped pave the way 😂

Here are the highlights.

Attaboy – This small discreet speakeasy is known for their long lines and creative cocktails. Our first attempt to get “on the list” took us three hours to get a callback, and by then we had moved on. So we arrived at opening time and were able to get some standing room at the bar, which offered us the opportunity to interact with the bartender. That’s the point here – you tell the bartender what you like and he creates something for you! Worth the wait. Another one on the top 50 World’s Best Bars.

Death & Co. – As the name implies, the theme of this East Village speakeasy is dark and brooding but the staff is friendly and drinks were excellent. Consistently on the list of World’s Best Bars for a decade.

La Noxe – Relative newcomers to the scene, but definitely one of the most creative spaces on the list. They are located in a small space basically inside a subway station. The bartender told us it used to be an illegal massage parlor. Entrance was a discreet door at street level, and the exit was on the stairway to the train.

Patent Pending – Out front, it’s a coffee shop. Behind the barista table … it’s a dark subterranean bar below the hotel where Nikola Tesla worked and created. So, it’s no surprise most of the menu has an “electricity” theme.  Excellent cocktails and vibe!

Basement – This one was just fun all around. The entrance is down some stairs and behind a vintage Coke machine along a very festive street in Chinatown. Inside, there’s more of a “carnival” atmosphere complete with beer pong tables. Only a hint of pretention and the drinks were solid!

Bathtub Gin – Take a step back to the roaring 20s here where the copper bathtub is the centerpiece of the room. We went for cabaret night and were seated next to the tub in the “splash zone.” Let’s just say we were warned ... and we got splashed. Excellent atmosphere, fabulous drinks, and phenomenal food!

Little Branch – Not entirely a “speakeasy,” but you have to know where to look for this door on the corner in the West Village that leads to an underground bar with great drinks and live jazz on most nights. We keep coming back here for good reason!

Dante – Not a speakeasy, but it was the World’s Best Bar in 2019, so it had to be on the list! The negronis are creative and legendary and the other cocktails did not disappoint!

Dead Rabbit – One of the World’s Best Bars in 2016 – it’s not a speakeasy – but it should be! It is an Irish bar institution in the financial district with some of our favorite cocktails and an extensive food menu. Worth a mention since we visit every time we’re in the city!

Granted, there are so many that we didn’t have time to visit, and we had to pick and choose a bit based on our personal taste, so you may not see some of the “best” on this list. Maybe next time!

Since we’ve been to the city enough to have done most of the tourist things like the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Broadway shows, etc. it was fun to dig deeper into some of the neighborhoods and do some “alcohol tourism.” Is that a thing? Maybe it should be! #alcoholtourism #offthetipsypath

We may have to give our livers a rest, but as always, your comments and thoughts are appreciated and welcomed! We love NYC!