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| - Editing my previous review because I decided to give the Rum Bar another chance. I'm glad that I did. It was a totally different experience during my subsequent visits! I tried the Pina Colada which is out of this world good! The service during our subsequent visits was infinitely better. Infinitely. I'm surprised we decided to give this place another shot after our initial experience, but I'm glad we did. It must have been an off night because our following visits have been consistently good.
Old review below:
I really wanted to love this place.
My husband and I just moved to Phoenix from the east coast. He's a native of the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and I lived there for many years. We know good rum. When we saw the aptly named "Rum Bar" was only blocks from our home in the arts district, we were super happy. We decided to give it a go on a night of celebration.
From the moment we walked in, there was confusion. They were about 45 minutes away from closing, which we assumed was ample time for a drink and an appetizer. I noticed that they had two of our favorite Venezuelan rums. When I explained to the bartender what kind of rum we typically like and asked if she could recommend something similar so we can broaden our horizons a bit, she looked a bit wide-eyed and proceeded to ask a man who was sitting on the corner of the bar who I am going to assume is the owner. That became the precedent for the evening. We asked a question, she asked the man at the bar. Perhaps it was her first night, and that's OK, but a few smiles would have turned this review into a positive one. In addition to her overall unfriendly demeanor, we simply couldn't get over how pretentious the place felt. My husband ordered a Cuba Libre. The bartender hesitated much longer than was necessary and told him "we serve that rum in a snifter" effectively telling him he couldn't order what he wanted. She then brought him a flight of rum which wasn't even the same brand as the drink he had ordered. When we both looked confused, she took it away and started to pour another flight. By now, we were really irritated and felt really unwelcome. My husband corrected her again. "Please, I'd like a Cuba libre." Rum is fun, people. Maybe not wherever the owner is from, but in Venezuela, it's passed around at the beach. We drink it at every party, formal or otherwise. Cuba libre is a perfectly legitimate cocktail, just as legitimate as the mojito I ordered (which I will say, was excellent, hence the two stars instead of one) When it was clear we weren't going to accept the flight of rum she was trying to force on us, she walked over the the man at the bar yet again, who laughed (at our pedestrian choice of drink?) and waved his hand in resignation. She then brought my husband the tiniest, most watered down rum and coke imaginable. Not a Cuba libre. A rum and coke. No lime to speak of. When he asked for a lime to turn his rum and coke into some semblance of a Cuba libre, she said "oh you wanted lime with that?!" incredulously.
We ordered the plantain spring rolls with mango chutney. They were utterly tasteless, except for the chutney. It was basically store bought frozen won ton wrapper and not a hint of sweet plantain. Not one hint.
We're exceptionally disappointed that we didn't love this place. The only redeeming factors (not for us, we won't be back) are the prices which are reasonable and their good selection of rums.
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