This post was originally published on April 29, 2016.

Motorco Music Hall is an iconic bar, restaurant, and music hall hosted in an old car dealership near the Central Park district of Durham, North Carolina. During my visit to Durham, my sister and I visited Motorco twice because we fell in love with the large patio covered with strands of lights and a friendly ambiance. We didn’t make it into the venue, but the bar adjacent to the patio coined the “GarageBar” was a badass place to hangout and took us back to the 1950s. Near the outside door of the venue and filtering into the patio were lots of punk rockers, looking to get their fix inside at an all-day punk festival.

Prior to visiting Durham, I did my research on the best Bloodies in town. Motorco was at the top of the list– the establishment has even coined themselves with making the “Best Bloody Mary in Durham.” Upon our visit visit to the bar on a Saturday, they were fresh out of the Bloody Mary mix. I was rather disappointed because it was only 1PM and, of course, it was the lady standing right in front of me at the bar that got the last one! We decided to return the next day and I was not let down. The Bloody was full of flavor and those Southern vibes. Check out my full review of Motorco’s Bloody Mary below!

AT A GLANCE 18/20

Motorco’s Bloody Mary looked absolutely delicious! You could tell the Bloody was thick just by looking at it– huge chunks of spices and vegetables (and I suppose fruits as well, since tomatoes have seeds 😉 ) floated throughout. The Bloody took a bright red hue and was garnished with a lime, two pepperoncinis, pickled okra, cucumber slices, and two green olives.

GARNISH 17/20

The garnish was plentiful, though presentation wasn’t the most amazing. All of the garnish ingredients were just tossed into the Bloody Mary– no cocktail picks or anything– and some sunk to the bottom. I will note that the pickled okra was the best I have ever had (that’s the South for ya). The cucumber slices were also oddly good. I will note that, when doing my Bloody research prior to going to Motorco, websites had said the bar always served their Bloodies with bacon. There was no bacon in my Bloody on this fateful day, nor was I served celery like most others I saw drinking Bloodies that day. I don’t care much about the celery, but a girl needs her bacon!

SPICE 20/20

Motorco’s Bloody tasted amazing. There were super big chunks of spices throughout, along with drinkable chunks of cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes, and carrots. The flavors were very savory and complex, almost like a delicious soup laden with spices. The Bloody was sweet at times and spicy at others, created a depth of flavor that is unparalleled in most other Bloodies. Lastly, freshness rang throughout each sip and I was really feeling the “cucumber vibes.”

TEXTURE & ACIDITY 20/20

This Bloody was refreshing and light in essence, but thick in actuality due to all of the spices and chunks of veggies. The thickness really worked for this Bloody though… I actually really liked it. The Bloody was far from acidic and had a little kick to add some pep in your step.

UNIQUENESS 18/20

Motorco’s Bloody Mary was unique in flavor and texture. I loved the addition of vegetable chunks in the Bloody mix to bring a deep and refreshing flavor to the drinker. This is one of the only super thick Bloody Marys that I take a serious liking to. My only qualms about my Bloody experience at Motorco were a.) no bacon, and b.) the garnishes were tossed in to be left for dead. Everything else was well deserving of an A-grade score.

FINAL SCORE 93/100

Grab a Bloody on the huge patio at Motorco Music Hall or at the garage bar inside. Motorco is located at:

723 Rigsbee Ave., Durham, NC 27701