Jo W.
Yelp
3 words: They. Have. ABSINTHE!!!!!!!!!
I pretty much never expect bars to carry absinthe, but I still ask because you never know when a bartender will say yes. Came here for a company happy hour after a couple of years of passing by here and never stepping in but wondering what it's like to be inside and get a drink. They're kind of low-key swanky, especially with these pretty black-framed goth mirrors outside the entrance of the bar.
The bartenders were very busy with drinks and were very attentive to me and my coworkers. When I asked one bartender if I could get a drink, she said, "Of course darling, what can I get you?"
"Do you have absinthe?"
"Yes, we have absinthe. St George."
It took me a moment to register that I had heard her correctly. Yes, I felt lucky!!! I usually get absinthe with a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, but since I'm trying to cut back on sugar, I asked, "Could I have absinthe with ice and a side of water? No sugar."
When the bartender went to get my drink, my coworkers who saw me order were in awe that absinthe is my go-to drink. They even asked me to show them how I prepare it once the bartender brought it to me! It's not every day you meet someone who can stomach absinthe, and it was a great icebreaker with several coworkers when they asked me what I got.
The fact that they serve absinthe here has certainly skyrocketed Hello Stranger to my top favorite bars, which is a pretty non-existent list, since I usually don't like bars. It was also hella cool to watch the bartenders light certain drinks on fire with blowtorches.
Just docking off one star because of all the Halloween decorations they could have been creative with, they just HAD to decorate the whole bar with giant spiders and spiderwebs. They could have had skulls, skeletons, bats, jack-o'lanterns, but no, someone had the bright idea of declaring, "Let's just have giant spiders everywhere." I'm pretty much Ron Weasley when it comes to spiders. Remember that scene with Aragog in the Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets movie adaptation? Or Shelob from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King? Because eff that shite.
Absinthe made up for the lame Halloween decorations though. I'm sure I will be back, and I'm very happy to see Hello Stranger in downtown Oakland.