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| - I really love the concept, but inconsistency is what let me down. There was a group of four of us and we waited close to a half hour to get in. After checking our IDs, Melinda's Alley wrist bands were given and the guy placing them on recited the rules to us. Outside of saying cash only, he mentioned that it is Prohibition style, so 1940s-1950s inspired, so my friend corrected him and said, "you mean 1920s, right?" He paused anxiously and said, "Oooh, you caught that?... I was just testing you." Good save!
I really hope he was joking but was annoyed that my friend even bothered to give him a hard time.
It was fun walking down a flight of stairs or two to arrive at an unmarked door and open it to find a dark red hallway. To the right, a small 2 seater with a couple of chairs. To the left, the rest of the long hallway. At first I thought there were two small bars set up. The first you approach when you walk in. The other at the other opposite end which wasn't even open.
It was a Saturday night and more and more people
kept arriving. One single bartender and 30 or so people waiting at that bar to get drinks. The drink menu is written on the wall with no description so with people asking what's in each drink, it takes awhile to get an order. That's why I think it's more adventurous to just try a drink without knowing what's in it. But no, I wasn't as brave. I ordered something that sounded like my typical Old Fashioned, but this time it was a New Fashioned, and whatever was in this variation, we all really enjoyed it.
The music playing in the background ranged from the 1940s to 1970s. The books adorning the tables included Stephen King and other more recent authors. Not really Prohibition style. The large group of 10-12 peeps dressed in 1920s garb who arrived after us were very Prohibition! If you can get past that, I thought the staff was super
friendly and the atmosphere was still cool. Very narrow but cool. If you have extra time to kill and want to drink in a basement "evac route" in the Renaissance Hotel, this place can fulfill those needs.
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