Double A @ Mercadito

I don't think there's yet a thread on Double A... Anyone been and care to share? I was there for an industry event last night, which I'm assuming was very different than it usually is at Double A, made me curious about what a typical night is like there.

Double A at Mercadito
108 W. Kinzie St.
Chicago, IL 60654
312-329-2444
rsvp@doubleachicago.com

it's not that great. the drinks are made at a center of the room island, which just means it feel like you're sitting behind the bar (i.e. your view is just rows of well liquor, trash, etc.). one cool thing is that ive never been to a fancy cocktail bar with more female bartenders (mixology is such a dood party). that said, it also feela a bit sexist as it might just be an eye candy thing.

the cocktails themselves are nothing memorable and the whole place is more of a bottle service thing. and gosh! the trials of getting in... going downstairs, having to make it through these meaty doormen... it's enough to make you say who gives a hoot?!?!

also, i stuck my hand in between my seat cushion and got a prick that caused me to bleed. it was probably just a pin or a loose sliver of glass, but im kind of a freak and thought, considering the hipper than thou clientelle, that it was some kind of hypodermic needle from drug use and that i was going to get some sort of blood-borne disease. it wasn't. no big.

sfb

sailingfanblues wrote:it's not that great. the drinks are made at a center of the room island, which just means it feel like you're sitting behind the bar (i.e. your view is just rows of well liquor, trash, etc.). one cool thing is that ive never been to a fancy cocktail bar with more female bartenders (mixology is such a dood party). that said, it also feela a bit sexist as it might just be an eye candy thing.

Very interesting. Last night there, again, a private event, was much different.

The bar positioning is indeed very peculiar. We ended up just standing at the bar, which doesn't seem like what you're supposed to do there with the usual table service, but otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see the drinks being made, which I wanted to do. Also, the bartenders last night were not Double A's usual--all men--though I did comment as the wait for cocktails got long, that I wished the women from Velvet Tango Room were working the bar, having seen how they can turn out solid cocktails for a crowd at Bar DeVille back in November.

sailingfanblues wrote:the cocktails themselves are nothing memorable and the whole place is more of a bottle service thing. and gosh! the trials of getting in... going downstairs, having to make it through these meaty doormen... it's enough to make you say who gives a hoot?!?!

So do they just make you any cocktail you ask for? Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with doormen...

Tried to go once but they don't open until 8 pm on Saturdays, which didn't line up with my plans . My understanding is that reservations are required and that they are only attainable via email (sorry, don't remember the addy). I received a prompt reply to my request but again I wanted to have drinks earlier than they than they were open. Someday, though...

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:My understanding is that reservations are required and that they are only attainable via email (sorry, don't remember the addy).

This is the email to get in: rsvp@doubleachicago.com

happy_stomach wrote: So do they just make you any cocktail you ask for? Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with doormen...

they have some sort of list... i was there in december and nothing was that memorable.