A Tale of Two Venues

I went to the bar Slide when it first opened, and was turned off by the "seating only with bottle service" policy (everyone else has to stand) and their lack of a cocktail menu. It turns out that there is a cocktail menu after all, but I only learned about it today. I guess they just didn't have it at their opening. It is full of bold-flavored drinks with Chambord, root beer and butterscotch schnapps, and champagne floats in many of the drinks. Most seem overly sweet, but then again I haven't actually had any of them so I can't say.

Tonight I stopped in to Vessel, a similar ultra-slick ultra-lounge in Union Square. Like Slide, they really spent some money to produce beautiful venue. I was there during happy hour, which was nearly empty. Later on they, like Slide, charge for seating, but I heard it was a different system than bottle service. Apparently you can just rent a seat without the bottle.

I would tell you for sure, but they didn't return phone calls. (Note to Vessel: This is not terribly smart.) Another strange thing is that they don't have a cocktail menu- just a short wine list and a short list of snacks. I guess if most of your customers are bottle service you don't even need a bartender, but it still seems odd for a new upscale venue to open without a cocktail menu that defines it.