Skip to main content8608 N Lombard St., 477-5489, centralhotelstjohns.com. 2-10 pm Monday-Thursday, 2 pm-2:30 am Friday, 10 am-2:30 am Saturday, 10 am-10 pm Sunday.
From the cultural ashes of past dive bars at this
location on the edge of the St. Johns "town square" comes the Central
Hotel's Art Deco-inspired peacock logo. Shining like a phoenix over the
still-ongoing blight of graffiti and drug deals, it speaks of future
promise—specifically, a hip, in-the-works four-story boutique hotel—but
currently delivers on some of the most competently made old-timey
cocktails seen anywhere in the city. From the Moscow Mule (in
era-appropriate copper cup, with hand-picked ice chunk) to the
otherworldly, lavender-scented Violette Drop, even the most discerning
connoisseur will be hard-pressed to find fault in bar manager Becky
Larson's masterworks. The d´Ecor is inarguably functional, punctuated
with the occasional pop of stained glass or dried herbs, but with the
low lighting, lottery machines obscured with lavender drapes, and rows
of apothecary jars infusing a range of housemade tinctures and bitters,
it gives the vibe of an actual speakeasy. (Password: gentrification.)
Happy hour: 4-7 pm Monday-Friday, all day Sunday. $1 off house cocktails, 50 cents off drafts.
Entertainment: Pool, pingpong, Friday-Saturday poker games.
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WWeek 2015