“Bars are trying to find creative and fun ways to engage you when you’re on site,” said Cole. The group is playing with specialty ice, like a monogrammed snowflake-shaped ice cube that brightens up seasonal Winter Wonderland cocktails. For example, the cocktail list might include signature drinks like The Screen Test, with dark rum, kumquat liqueur and coconut milk spiked with basil and Thai chilis. But I want to know I have space and not stand in line outside and hope someone leaves, or that I’m arm-to-arm with everybody that I don’t know.” “I want to be able to go out with my friends in public to a place and have drinks,” Cole added. Cole said it is meant to be comfortable enough for day use and elegant enough for a pre-theater drink and snack, as well as late-night cocktails. They don’t need to be six-feet-spaced and rules to the nines, but … having it where there’s a reservable table for a drink or a lounge space for a drink and not be obligated to do a whole dinner, just have snacks.”ĭesigned to be a whimsical and lively space, The Madrigal aims to encourage interaction and conversation. “To be accommodating to people, I feel that - and as I personally get older - people want to have a little breathing room. “For me, one of the big things is having a guarantee that you have a seat,” said Ryan Cole, partner in the Hi Neighbor Hospitality Groupthat opened The Madrigal in November.

That way they can be sure to sit at a table and not risk standing at a crowded bar.

Now, however, bar operators are opening their venues in droves, drawing in pandemic-weary guests with rich experiences and innovative beverage menus, finding balance between the need for space and separation with the pent-up desire to gather for a drink.įor many new bars opening this fall, that means allowing - or even requiring - guests to make reservations.Īt the newly opened bar The Madrigal in San Francisco, for example, guests can make a reservation, even if they’re not having dinner.

Despite the uncertainty of the holiday season and the potential rise of yet another coronavirus variant, bars are coming back across the country.Īrguably hit harder than restaurants by COVID-related restrictions over the past year and a half, many beverage-focused concepts coming to fruition now were poised to debut in the spring of 2020 but shuttered when many states decided bars were not conducive to the social distancing and mask wearing necessary to prevent spread of the virus.

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