Society Lounge

It was my first time here tonight. My friend and I came for some drinks and a cheese board. The drinks came in these beautiful Christmas themed mugs. However, my drink was not to my liking (the Hot Rum drink). Everyone knows that uncomfortable feeling of trying to decide whether to force yourself to drink it, waste it, or tell the waitress. Well, I decided to tell the waitress and she was extremely kind and understanding and swapped my drink for a different one. It saved my evening. The ambiance was fantastic. The place was decorated with ornaments, tinsel, and there was even a Santa clause who came and took photos with everyone.

Stopped in on Sunday by recommendation of my former mentor from Crafted Cocktail Co. in Wadsworth. Bartenders like to visit other craft cocktail lounges, so I was excited to be here. Surprised to see it was service industry night with 1/2 off cocktails so I ordered more than usual to tour the menu. Atmosphere and cocktails will always win me over, and this place doesn’t skimp on either. I was excited to see another bar other than my own serving a clarified milk punch, albeit sweeter than my usual drink, it was delicious. All of the cocktails my date and I ordered were balanced, fresh, and well executed. Even the ice was sexy. The space is swanky and fun without being cliché, I enjoyed watching the staff work and your little service area with the garnish bar cart and prep space is brilliantly set up. The bar itself is a thing of beauty. My only point of contention was the service. I am a bartender, manager now, but I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’d never call myself a bubbly or overly chatty bartender, that’s not my personality. However I still engage my guests and make an effort to go beyond, “What will you be having.” I asked for recommendations to follow up the Milk Punch, the bartender seemed less than enthusiastic in answering. He was training someone, but his trainee was clearly more excited to be there than he was which bummed me out because working at a bar like this is my personal dream. The gentleman who served us first was even less friendly and barely made eye contact when talking to us, we were the first or second guests at the bar. Over all none of the staff was overly welcoming except the trainee. A few guests got a hi welcome folks walking in, but that’s about it. The second issue was the bill. 1. It’s just a touch pad with a total handed to you. 2. There’s no itemization so you have no idea what you’re actually paying for. The initial bill was $107, I explained we were both in the business and showed my pay stub for proof, the bartender said we didn’t need to prove it so I assumed both of us would be discounted, it dropped the bill to $84. That’s not half off? It’s not even 25%? I understand tax and service fees, but there’s no actual check to explain this math. I didn’t want to argue so I paid and left $25 to compliment the cocktails and because I’m not a Karen. Please consider using a classic check presentation system and save the touch pad for one and dones. It doesn’t fit the atmosphere and it leaves a lot of room for interpretation and errors. 5 stars because the place deserves to keep its ratings, but some room for improvement.

Great place for delicious cocktails. This place is tucked away, but their cocktails are on point. Loved the cilantro lime ice cube in the spicy mezcal margarita. Also, that cheddar rosemary popcorn- good god that’s good!

Very cool pop-up Christmas bar. It was fun and festive. Service was great and drinks were good but pricey for the size. Great place to meet friends. Went early 5oclockish and it was easy to get a seat but filling up quickly as we were leaving.

Got some really great service on Saturday night. The cocktail menu has all of the cocktails written out with illustrations. It’s very neat. The pineapple Oaxacan milk punch was our favorite. (Anything that is milk punched is usually *chefs kiss*). The Elegante was also a really nice cocktail for those who love a traditional martini. We had the Cafe Carre that was too “spirit forward” for my friend. The bartender very kindly made him another one that he would like.