DEATH & TAXES Provisions and Spirits

I’d like to know how this place has so many 5 star reviews. Are they paying people under the table to write these raving commendations? Are there really that many people in Reno who can regularly pay $ 12 for one drink? Do people get some sick, fetishistic thrill out of people being blatantly rude and apathetic to them? If so, then yep, this is an-​almost 5 star establishment.
As for me, I don’t enjoy being ignored when I walk up to a bar, preparing to give my hard earned money to you. If that’s how you are going to act when someone comes to your establishment, you don’t deserve anyone’s business. Period.
I don’t enjoy paying for a drink that costs more than my dinner when it’s made by someone who didn’t smile, or attempt to relate to me once. Who do you think you are? You serve alcohol for a living, I educate our future. Don’t treat me like you’re better than me, because you’re not by a long shot. Yup. I went there.
Look, if service and money is of no concern to you, this is a great place. They know what they are doing, as far as how to make a decent drink. If the service you receive matters, and you don’t happen to have a septum piercing, this place probably won’t be your jam.
In ending, I’m not here to make friends, just to give my honest opinion on service and product. If my review seems harsh, it is. It’s also true.
*As an aside, Death & Taxes will be purchasing the house that currently houses The Isles, a popular, well-​loved, long-​standing establishment in Reno. They will not be keeping the current staff and will not be continuing the business side of the tea shop. This makes me even more irate, as they could easily continue The Isles. They could continue making many customers and friends of The Isles happy, but they chose not to. They will, most likely, replace this beloved establishment with another pretentious, expensive place that treats their customers like garbage. The way Death & Taxes runs their business is NOT the way small, local business should be run. I will NOT be supporting them in any venue henceforth.

As a New York City native/​future San Franciscan, I’m used to intricately made drinks and I absolutely LOVE it here, I feel so at home. From the all black, dark décor and gorgeous chandeliers to the amazing cocktails it doesn’t even feel like I’m in Reno and actually makes me kind of home sick. Worth every dollar. (For those of you complaining about the price, Reno has several cheap liquor stores, bars and glorified night clubs scattered everywhere for you to go to) you get what you pay for.
The bartenders are focused yet very friendly (definitely not rude or condescending like a few of the reviews say). Brandon, Ivan and Matt are super nice and know their stuff. I wasn’t an avid whiskey drinker because I’m very picky about whiskies and Brandon introduced me to the foreign relations and now I’m obsessed. The death’s mule is also amazing, the best mule I’ve ever had to be honest.
Drinks come out pretty fast and quality is amazing, you’ll be able to tell they treat every drink like its the most important drink they’re making. Hands down the best drinks I’ve ever had in Nevada and yes that includes Vegas. Great quality drinks and service is imperative over anything. Death & Taxes is so refreshing and elegant compared to the other places in town that are always littered with infantile frat guys that I already see enough of on campus.
Great place to unwind and chat with friends, I’m going to start coming here weekly and by the end of the summer I definitely want to try everything on the menu.
Highly recommend!
Note: this is not the place to go to if you are already or planning to get wasted on vodka sodas. Might I recommend Lex or the brews brothers for that.

My frustration with not finding a good place to get IPA in Reno continues with this bar. The only decent IPA they have was in a can. My wife got the Greyhound. 11 dollar drink rivals the Bay Area in prices. Not the best Greyhound either. I miss Oakland’s Café’ Van Kleef’s Greyhounds… Anyways what saves this is the nice bartender. He graciously told me a good place to find a selection of IPA’s. I am sure he is an excellent mixalogist as well. Looked like there was some fresh mint, and awesome elixers. This is the place to get the creative fancy drinks and reminds me of Trick Dog in SF.

This bar is cool but their drinks are expensive i. e 2 cocktails for $ 24.00 BUT my drink was fresh and yummy. The crowd was chill and the musick was hippity hoppity. I would go back :)

If you are into hard stuff this is your spot.
Service, ambiance and drinks are top notch (you get what you pay for)
Interior is as dark as it’s name!

Death & Taxes is really a must-​see bar! Everything is painted black and it has a very unique vibe to it. I love their «secret» door that leads to the back room of the bar (it looks like a book-​case with miscellaneous items on it).
I highly recommend ordering their Moscow Mule — it might very well be the best Moscow Mule I have ever had. All of their drinks are very unique and the bartenders put a lot of time and effort into them. This is probably why their drinks are a bit pricey (about $ 12/​drink). Death & Taxes offers some unique flavors and mixtures and it is fun to explore their menu.
There is limited seating so if the bar is busy, you probably won’t get to sit down. This is a great place to go if you’re a whisky fan and only want one or two drinks.

What a nice change… GREAT customer service! Love the atmosphere and location. Both bartenders were attentive and knowledgeable. The drink selection is impressive. We will definitely be back.

This place is awesome Ivan knows his booze enjoy the atmosphere and vibe gotta come and check out!!!

Allots and allots drinks my personal experience was good. Diferent but good, classic friendly and chill, 2 dollar bills it’s used for change… well guys I be back I waiting for this summer times…

Good drinks. Cool atmosphere. A little too dark for my taste, and not much seating when it’s busier, but I still dig it. I rarely know what I order when I go there. I just tell them alcohols I generally like and let them be creative. Always a good experience. The place is a little pricey, but a nice treat for the occasion

A cocktail is only as good as the sum of its parts. Each ingredient, imparts its own nuanced flavors, and when arranged in proper proportion, creates balance and harmony that amount to the signature of that particular drink. A great cocktail has a signature that calls you back again, and again.
Death & Taxes is a place that brings these cocktails to life. Using house made syrups, bitters, infusions, and a vast library of spirits and liqueurs at their disposal, the bartenders here can put together a version of a classic that will transport you back in time, or serve up a modern concoction that will leave you thinking about the last sip all night long.
The ambiance is dark, yet modern, and the glow of the low lights seem to illuminate the bottles at the back of the bar, making them reminiscent of the vessels you may find in a witches lair. And though there may be the occasional flame, and possibly some smoke, there’s no black magic behind this bar. Just quality Cocktailing.
Don’t mistake the aloof nature of the staff for anything other than the fact they’re devoting the necessary attention to their craft. They strive to serve up a great drink to every guest that takes a seat.
The menu changes seasonally, and the unique bottle stock rotates as well, so you’re always in for a treat. If you’re feeling lucky you can give the bartender a bit of direction and a whole lot of leeway and you’re sure to find a winner.
Death & Taxes is a cocktail bar for the cocktail enthusiast. Leave the training wheels at home.

This is a very cool space with creative bartenders. I was surprised it was not more crowded when we were there, but it was raining, so I suppose a lot of people stayed home due to that. We were visiting from out of town so were looking for interesting places to visit. The few block area that surrounds this bar is full of cool places. If I lived in Reno, I’d want to be within walking distance of this place.
It’s a craft cocktail bar and they do a nice job of including some creative options. The walls, floor — everything — is black, so it’s quite dark inside.

Stopped by here because of the name of the bar! Death and Taxes is also the name of a beer… and I’m a huge tax law nerd… and I love alcohol… so those are my reasons for coming in.
This reminds me of cocktail /​whiskey bars in SF… and the prices are comparable at about $ 12/​drink. Some very top shelf alcohols, very unique and tasty cocktails. There is some room to sit and stand, but not too much. It’s very dark and intimate, speak easy — so good for a first date possibly!
Tried one of the Gin and Tonics which was delicious, and there was one with star anise that is very much unique. I don’t think its for everybody, but I enjoyed it!

I love that Reno is renovating these tiny brick homes in Midtown into fun and innovated businesses. Death and Taxes is a dark, romantic, True Bloodesque feeling bar with black walls, black leather couches, tiny oil lamps, and crystal chandeliers barely illuminating your fancy cocktail. The cocktail menu is elaborate, they present the list of lavish libations on gold paper and printed in black lettering consisting of unique and rare liquors such as chamomile rum or house tobacco bitters. Average cost of a cocktail is $ 12. There is indoor and outdoor seating. The atmosphere is casual. Another score for Midtown in my opinion.

I’ve come to this place several times and their drinks are amazing! I usually drink gin so I’ve had all of their gin and tonics. The ambiance is wonderful, it’s dark and decorated beautifully! Most of the time it’s really quiet and comfortable.
The only downside that I’ve found in this bar is the personnel that works here. Once I came in during the day and there was a guy, red head (maybe) that was an absolute genius when it came to spirits. He knew everything there was to know about any bottle and created amazing drinks. If he’s not there then the experience sucks. The three other bartenders I’ve sat with here are so rude with ZERO personality. They make you feel uncomfortable and like they don’t want you to be here.
If that could be fixed they’d be an easy 5 stars. I’ll still come back, their drinks are THAT great!

No matter what time of day you go in this place is dark.
It is the coolest looking bar and very unique. The floor is black. The walls are black. The furniture is black. You get it, it looks like the can of black paint exploded inside the building. It’s odd but I like it in a Wednesday Adams kind of way.
The drinks are a precision. They take a little more time to make here so don’t ever be in a rush for a quality cocktail here. There are many different variations on as many drinks as you can think of. The latest time I was in was during Negroni Week and they had created a special list of six variation of the Negroni.
I do find the prices here a little higher than other spots around town. Our drinks that night were $ 12 each.
Worth a stop just to check the place out.

Every cocktail I’ve had here seems like the only one the bartender has made all day. Special care, and a little extra time, goes into every drink.
I knew this place would be good — it’s under the same owner as Midtown Eats — who obviously has a serious devotion to putting out quality.
The ambiance is dark, luxurious goth. The cocktails here are around $ 10 a piece, but you get what you pay for. Each is made from carefully picked spirits and house made additions. Sit at the bar if you can — it’s a treat to watch the bartenders at work.
During our last visit, my cocktail was in a tall, thin glass with a sprig of fresh herbs. As the bartender served it, he pointed out that the drink wasn’t filled to the top, because the owner (and menu designer) wanted you to experience the scent and taste at the same time. The lower level forces your nose in the glass. So thoughtful.

This place was cool and Gothic… Love the quaint, dark feel of this little bar! Unique and interesting. Great service. On the expensive side for a drink at about $ 12 each.

This place has always been one of my favorites! Fresh ingredients knowledgeable staff cool ambience… Amazing cocktails! The place is a little bit dark so be sure to come here after dinner for after dinner to her for a cocktail before you head home. Love love love it! Be sure to chat with MATT! The bartender. Classy, funny and not bad to look at !, wink wink :)

Anyone who’s read my effusive reviews of Midtown Eats knows that I’ve long been a big fan of the cocktails created there. So it would seem only reasonable that I should by now have a bar stool with my name engraved on it at Death & Taxes. However, last year was a tight one for us, and pricey craft cocktails had to be cut from our household budget. Woe! So it wasn’t until recently that I finally had an opportunity to visit.
I may have built it up a little in my head.
But I was not at all disappointed. It was everything that I hoped it would be. You see. I’m what I like to call a «detail-​oriented» person. (Others might describe it as «crazy-​OCD,» but that’s their problem.) So when I see somebody who puts an outrageous amount of care into every aspect of their craft, it gives me pleasure just to watch. I was thrilled to nab a spot at the bar on a busy Friday night where I got to just sit and watch Ivan work. Way back when I tended bar, I worked in banquets, which means that I pumped out vodka tonics and rum and cokes for hours at a time and came home smelling like I’d been attacked by a giant lime. I only dreamed of doing what Ivan does. He and the other bartenders are artists, pure and simple. They may not be super chatty, but that is because they are intensely focused on creating an alcoholic masterpiece for your pleasure!
During the course of the night, Friend and I sampled Vespasian, Death’s Mule, Scottish Shipwreck, El Cid, Steel Magnolia, St. Tropez, and 1919, otherwise known as good, better, best, and OMG. Because I enjoyed the mezcal in the 1919 so well, and knowing my passion for his brandied cherries, Ivan made me an off-​menu Mezcal Manhattan, which was a real treat, but not as good as the 1919, which won my heart that night. But really, anything that comes across that bar is great.
And when I manage to tear my eyes away from the gorgeous cocktails, can I mention the rest of the bar?! Which is AMAZING! I totally dig the dark, dark, Victorian vibe going on here. The line that I kept toying with in my head was «I felt like I was waiting for my Doom Buggy to arrive,» except that I didn’t want that to be misinterpreted as being condescending, so let me clarify that I love the shit out of Haunted Mansion, and I think the décor here is perfection. PER. FEC. TION.
Does it seem that I liked it here just a little? So you can imagine my chagrin when, towards the end of my visit, a group of already wasted women, apparently on some sort of celebratory bar crawl, loudly made their way in and shoved forward to the side of the bar near where I was seated. Their fearless (and tactless) leader took one brief look at the menu and started slurring «What the FUUUUCK… I don’t even know what any of this means! Who gives a FUUUUUUCK about cucumbers in their drinks? I don’t care! I just want to get FUUUUUUCKED up!» And internets, let me tell you… I wanted to fight her. Fight her with my fists. And the only thing that kept me from schooling her in the ways of ass-​whoopery was how well Ivan took it in stride and calmly proceeded to make them a tray full of drinks that they VERY WELL DIDN’T DESERVE.
The moral to this story is, if you want to drink cheap and get wasted, this is not the place to be. If you want to slow down and really appreciate what a cocktail can be, why are you still reading this? Get over to Death and Taxes.