This past Saturday, as I searched yet again for another good Bloody Mary in Denver, I was brought to The Lobby in the Five Points neighborhood. The Lobby is located in the historic Paris Hotel, a landmark that was constructed in Denver in the late 1800s. The Lobby is located on part of the first floor and basement of the building. We sat on the first floor in the bar area, where brick walls and floor to ceiling windows surrounded us. The decor inside was classy and hip. We could smell aromas wafting in from the kitchen, as many Saturday brunchers laughed and conversed at high volumes. Definitely a brunch place.
Although I am focusing on The Lobby’s House-Infused Bloody Mary in my review here, I must make mention of the giant tubes of mimosas that were present upon many of the tables. They were a sight to see. I would say 5-6 people could share a tube and would get some good drinking in. Share it with only one other person and you would probably be just as drunk as you were the night before. I definitely want to come back and devour one of these tubes sometime.
For brunch, I had a Cuban benedict, which was seriously lacking in flavor. It just wasn’t good. The best part of the actual meal (which should have been the benedict and hollandaise sauce) was the half breakfast potato/half tater tot things. I’m not a food critic, but if I were to return to The Lobby, it would be solely to have a drink.
So, back to The Lobby’s House-Infused Bloody Mary. I had two Bloody Mary’s here– the first I ordered without knowledge that there was an array of infusions to choose from. I am going to focus on the second Bloody Mary I had, which was made with house-infused cucumber dill Svedka.
AT A GLANCE 16/20
The Lobby’s Bloody Mary, made with house-infused cucumber dill Svedka, looked very good when it arrived at our table. Although the garnish was lacking (made up of only a dark green pepper and an olive), the perfect red color and abundance of spices were quite attractive. I love being able to see spices floating around throughout the drink, as you can usually generate a preconception of a spicy taste. You could clearly see a lot of pepper and celery seed, which made my mouth salivate prior to the first sip. The Bloody Mary had a clean appearance and was ready for consumption.
GARNISH 14/20
The garnish was simple, but attractive, as both garnishes were a nice green color. Both the dark green pepper (still can’t figure out what kind of pepper it was!) and olive were tasty. The garnish was lacking in creativity points, though. Like I mentioned in the Annie’s Bloody Mary Review last week, relying solely on two or three garnish ingredients just doesn’t cut it anymore. C’mon, have you seen (or better yet, drank!) any of those crazy Bloody Marys that are always circulating the internet? For example, the one with an entire fried chicken as the garnish or the one with a complete charcuterie plate on a cocktail pick? Places can do better. It’s simple as that. Step up your game, differentiate yourself from the traditional Bloody Mary market– I know I would pay a couple extra dollars for a more inventive garnish.
SPICE 20/20
I’m not going to lie– the taste of The Lobby Bloody Mary made with house-infused cucumber dill Svedka was spiced pretty damn well. The spice of the drink was probably one of my favorite spice combinations I have tasted in the past month or so. You could really experience the complexity of all of the spices used, most noticeably the black pepper and celery seed. The Lobby Bloody Mary got deep– very deep– into a beautiful, seasoned taste.
TEXTURE & ACIDITY 20/20
The texture of the house-infused Lobby Bloody Mary was on point. It was just perfect in terms of balancing the thicker and lighter materials used in the mix. It was not acidic at all (potentially because I did not order this one spicy like the first one I had here) and I drank it like a champ quickly, to say the least.
UNIQUENESS 15/20
The Lobby’s Bloody Mary made with house-infused cucumber dill Svedka was creative in its use of infused vodka created in-house and with its depth of spices and flavor. If I were to compare these aspects to other Bloody Marys, I would have to say this one was pretty unique. In terms of the garnish, the Lobby’s Bloody Mary was severely lacking creativity. Therefore, I’m going to have to give it a 15/20, since it did excel in all other portions of the uniqueness factor sans the garnish.
FINAL SCORE 85/100
Check out The Lobby here. The Lobby is located at:
2191 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO 80205