Bryant M.
Yelp
This is a new and beautifully sleek second-story cocktail lounge/restaurant right downtown Grand Junction. Their focus is on prohibition-era cocktails and they boast an impressive array of eclectic and tasty spirits. (I tried a small sample of Cnia Mata sweet vermouth and Purity Gin, both of which were new to me, and both absolutely delicious.) The bar staff is so friendly and welcoming, in particularly a very cool guy named Mikey. This man knows his stuff and was very generous in sharing his encyclopedic knowledge on drinks and answering all my out-of-towner questions about Grand Junction. The Last Word he made me was simply divine. (See pic). Thank you, Mikey!
A different bartender made me a martini, but shook it instead of stirred it, and left a ton of ice shards in the drink, which ended up diluting the cocktail pretty quickly. As a result it was not as tasty and satisfying as I was anticipating. (The martini is my favorite cocktail, btw, so forgive my fastidiousness here.) Perhaps this is something I should have pointed out to them prior to ordering, but I assumed martinis were always stirred. Remember, James Bond had to go out of his way to say he wanted his shaken, not stirred. Also, I was not asked if I wanted a garnish (i.e. lemon peel or olives). Anyway, all of that can be forgiven. I should note that I was tempted to dock a point because my two cocktails totaled $37.99 before tip, which is even more than what I pay in my home city of Chicago.
So in that regard, there are some minor areas for improvement, and I have no doubt that they will get these fixed. After all, this is a new operation and they are still growing. Still, the overall experience is 5-stars all the way. Locals are very lucky to have a place of this caliber in their midst.