Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Swanky Secrets

After catching up on all four seasons of Mad Men, I must say I was in desperate need of an old school classy lounge with a Frank Sinatra vibe. I still haven't found that 50s swinging speakeasy joint but what I did find I was plenty satisfied with.

For a close friend's 21st birthday we decided to partake in the best part about Corpus being small- bar hopping. We started out at Outta Bounds, small bar with decent drink prices, mostly chosen because its on the edge of inland Corpus plus it's familiar and an easy bar to acclimate yourself to night life with. A quick thirty minutes there and it was time to book it. We took sober rides (driven by minors haha) to our next destination Molly's pub. Pretty much exactly what you'd expect in an Irish pub, dark wood, dark atmosphere and loud drunken bar goers. Molly's does however have an excellent beer tap selection and their Irish Car Bombs are very reasonably priced. Also the bartender/owner is one of the cooler bartenders in Corpus, funny attentive and rather charming. eh hem. 

A few car bombs and boogying to live music later, we again hopped into the sober rides to the last and my personal favorite bar/lounge of the evening. HAVANA. A Cuban eden tucked away amidst down town Corpus Christi. Located behind the 500 Club (dining area) on Water Street. At first, thanks to construction, you think you're headed to a back alley where gangsters are sure to be lurking but then behind palm trees so lush you see the glow of bright lights and are drawn in like a moth to the posh promise land. A friend in the group knows one of the bartenders and tells us to walk in like we own the place. I take the lead, sperry's on toe, and make my way to the bar. The place is filled with floor palms and a wall with a waterfall water installation. The surrounding walls are tiled and deep purple, blue and red lights set the mood. To the right of the large oblong shaped, gritty slab bar, there is a stage brightly lit with red and yellow top lights and a DJ spinning modern salsa music with a bit of dub step. Innovative. Booths line the walls, and classy men in suits and sexy women in tight party dresses are cuddled under their arms. This is Corpus' finest getting away from the city for the evening. The bartender graciously makes my Belvedere martini and it is a stiff drink of perfection, the best I've tasted in Corpus thus far. Finally I feel I belong. There are even back rooms specifically for wine drinkers and cigar smokers! By the end of the night we were dancing on stage with other latina beauties, people were smoking cigarettes and we were ordering the best Mojitos in town. (Literally they are known for their superb Mojitos) The place even stays open a bit past 2 but it's our time to leave. Sober rides home and the night ends with birthday banter and stories that will last a life time. 


The next day another particularly fabulous friend was having another birthday, and this time we decided to hit somewhere close to home and swanky enough for adult fun with a trendy vibe. We arrive at Bombay around 11 pm and make our way to the bar for some dragon bombs (haha haven't drank a bomb I didn't like yet) I order my usual (Martini straight up, 3 olives) and we grab a table with some friends. To the right of us, a live DJ is spinning basically whatever is played on the radio but club mode but apparently another birthday has reserved a few tables in the DJ room. The bar goers here aren't as awesome but the vibe is still up beat and the place begs you to party. I order bottle service for $75, talk about mega affordable (but the bottle of vodka was being promoted) The wait staff was so attentive it was outrageous. By the end of the night we were all dancing under party lights and feeling like ballers with bottle service.