Gatsby

I 100% dislike coming here. I only come when there is a band that I like playing. The service, though friendly, is excruciatingly slow (like 3 people in front of me at the bar and I don’t get my drink for 20 minutes). Not only that but the bartenders always seem disorganized, not knowing which step to start with. The drinks are also expensive considering their utter simplicity. $ 8.50 for a Bloody Mary using well vodka? No thanks… the only appeal about this place is the pretty setting. And if you’re under 21, the fact that they never check IDs.

After two 5 star meals, I thought we’d make it 3 in a row when we stopped here for a night cap with our Okie hosts. We’re all about cocktail culture and if Stillwater can be home to fantastic Asian cuisine (3 different spots), surely they can execute classic cocktails in this town… right? Well not so much. Two of the drinks we ordered off the menu were fine, not as balanced as they should be, but not undrinkable. My drink however was a sh*tshow. I order Manhattans nearly everywhere I go that has a bar «program» because it’s a drink every bartender should be able to make and make well. The thing about Manhattans is that there are a lot of variables, like a club sandwich, so you have to be specific about how you want it. I’m always very specific about how I want my drink because in my mind it should make the process much easier on the bartender. And then if the drink is wrong, that’s on me. So this is how I order: «Bulleit Rye Manhattan up, dry with extra bitters, lemon peel, stirred not shaken.» I knew I was in trouble when the waitress wrote none of that down and started to walk away after «bitters.» After a good 5 minutes (waaay to long to make 3 drinks), I’m handed a rocks glass with a room temperature «cocktail» in it. The waitress says, «This is how we serve STIRRED drinks.» So they had no ice at Speakeasys? WTF? The drink should have stirred with ice in a tin and then strained into a coupe or martini glass, not served room temp in a highball glass. You’re a speakeasy but you don’t know how to make Manhattans? I went inside and asked for a glass of water, sucked it down, and settled on a Manhattan on the rocks (but I’m sure I paid an upcharge to have it neat, though I never saw a itemized receipt). Oh, and the kicker? The iPad they use for credit cards forces no less than a 20% tip on you. I was at 2 stars when considering the nice patio space until I remembered that little annoyance. Save your money kids and just drink cheap beer.

The Mr. and I tried on a whim just to find something a bit different than usual/​casual Friday night and found a new favorite! It was a pretty upbeat but still mature atmosphere — we were pleasantly surprised by the live music (which I can also happily say was never too loud and didn’t detract from conversation even though we were sitting at the very front of the bar).
The bartenders were more than attentive — all three checked in on us at least once or twice… Our ‘main’ bartender introduced himself by name, and not only made one of the best Manhattans (Bulliet/​sweet vermouth/​bitters/​up!) I’ve enjoyed in a good long time, but also made a great, classic Old Fashioned for my husband (yeah, we like our whiskey!) and then offered his own specially crafted, *smoked*-lemon-rind twist on it for his second round which was beautiful!
They have a pretty patio out back and several patio heat lamps spaced throughout, which our bartender (who maybe he just liked us, or maybe was just worried we’d had ‘too much’ and might freeze if not attended to) actually came out to light for us when we mentioned we wanted to wander out.
It is just a bar — so no real food, but yummy snacks (pita and hummus! cheese plates!!) and desserts (I’m pretty sure — but was distracted by water crackers, Gouda and fontina, so not absolutely sure.. .)

Awesome place with great service. Floyd was our bartender, and he was really personable. He took the time to have a real conversation with us and not the usual bartender banter. They had some good craft beers and wines. We didn’t have any mixed drinks, but it looked like they had anything you’d want. What really sets it aside, though, is the ambiance. What a cool place! And I love the bartenders and servers dress in keeping with the era of the bar. We can’t wait to come back!

I liked this bar because it had an awesome theme and it was decorated very well, but it had some problems. The menu didn’t have a wide variety of cocktails so I tried one of the specials called the Moscow Mule. The bartender used artificial lime juice and the drink tasted horrible. Some girls, I assume employees, came in and went behind the bar and started making their own drinks and one girl started eating pickles out of the container without washing her hands. A male employee came out of the bathroom and they started talking about what he had just done in there. And as we were leaving, a man told one of the employees to lock up early and they were yelling «Bitch, go lock the door!» It was a very inappropriate set of employees.