| rev:text
| - I have to confess that I'm somewhat torn up about having to leave a three star review for a place that, in so many respects, I have quite adored and might once have given 5 stars to. Indeed, we fell in love with VTR from the moment we first stepped in. The speakeasy vibe, the black and white films screening silently on the small TV behind the bar, the gorgeous mahogany bar itself, the extremely personable staff, and above all, the sublime drinks. We are cocktail lovers, hitting up bars like this in nearly every city we visit, and so we know that the bartenders here are really quite excellent. All that led this to be the kind of place that we used to make an event of visiting, to the point of glamming up in our vintage best to have even one drink there (swank suit for him, dress and heels for me). There were some disappointing elements to the experience (the ugly wall art and menu covers; the meh bathrooms; the pretentiousness of some customers, the $16--yikes!--cocktails, the long wait to get a table on weekends), but overall we loved the experience of going there so much that we thought of it as one of the things we loved best about Cleveland.
But then, over time... the bloom faded from the rose. This happened through a combination of factors. In part, we increasingly felt less at home than we wanted. We started to notice that it wasn't our scene socially (it's more a rich dudes spot than a hip spot); the owner was obstrusive (kissing my hand and commenting on how much he appreciated a well-dressed "lady"); and then... the price for a cocktail was hiked up to $18. I'm sorry, but what?? I've had some amazing cocktails in Boston, DC, NYC, Seattle, New Orleans, Chicago, and none of those cocktails were $18. At that price, one starts to feel a bit... hosed. And it's backfired: now, instead of buying two drinks, we get one; we are less likely to go to VTR for a cocktail before dinner because a cocktail costs as much as many entrees; and instead of it feeling good and special, it's started to feel extortionate.
I also find myself a bit miffed by the inconsistent dress code. A man dressed to the nines is asked to leave if he won't remove his hat, but a table of bros in shorts and flip flops gets to stay??
VTR: We miss you, but we've lost our special something. Can you take yourself a little less seriously? Bring the drink price down below a fine restaurant's entree price? Make this more about pleasure, and less about pretension? We'll come back to you, I swear, but you've got to meet us halfway.
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