Tipping back hooch can make anybody a little googly eyed, but Minneapolitans celebrated the inaugural day of Yelp Drinks with the real thing—that's right, actual googly eyes.
Around twenty be-googled (a new term coined by Eric S.) yelpers crawled through Northeast Minneapolis on Monday to hit to three participating neighborhood bars and try their cocktails at 50% off. Each establishment also generously surprised the silly hoppers with delicious bites so they could get a little taste of what they are cooking up in the kitchen too!
First up, the Red Stag Supperclub, which featured their classic Old Fashioned, Lemon-Ginger Rum-Tini and Cherry Collins. Munching on salty-sweet kettle corn with truffle oil and espresso cream puffs, the evening started strong (that includes the Stag's Old Fashioned… it'll getcha!). If Cookie Monster would have been there, he would've given up his cookies for that popcorn.
Next, everyone strolled over to Ginger Hop, which had readied a comfy lounge area for us and served their Hendricks Mojito, Ginger Martini and Tuk-Tuk to this thirsty mini-mass of yelpers. Servers spoiled everyone with tuna tartare crostinis and cream cheese and caramelized onion wontons, which Ellen R. called "pockets of love" in her review of the event. In between sips and bites, the googly crew played a fast-paced cocktail trivia matching game where they not only learned each other's names, but they also learned that tequila is related to the lily and that NASCAR has origins in Prohibition bootleggers. Who knew? Actually, Josiah O. did… what a know-it-all.
The cozy Aster Café was the third and final destination of the night, mixing up their Five-Pepper Bloody Mary, Jalopy and French Mocha. The kitchen sent out a delicious round of flatbreads and cheese puffs as well. Stephanie R noted, "The group went Jalopy-crazy and played a round of googly-eyed catch phrase that also got hysterically competitive." And now we know without a doubt that chopsticks, "creepy pictures of Scooby Doo," velociraptors and crow's feet would look so much better with googly eyes. Don't believe us? Google it.
Lucky crawlers went home with prizes like gift certificates to the Red Stag and Ginger Hop, Yelp Drinks T-shirts (the only ones in Minneapolis), alcoholic whipped cream, gourmet Bloody Mary mix and Y-E-L-P L-I-F-E fingerless gloves. Can't beat that for a magnificent Monday night!
Thanks to the Red Stag, Ginger Hop and Aster Café for inviting us to kick-off Yelp Drinks right. And a big thank you also goes to Cadence Cornelius—and Eli, of course—for being our shutterbugs for the evening. Check out the rest of the crazy-beautiful photos and the reviews of the event!
Yelp Drinks runs until April 10th and features 50% off select cocktails at nine amazing Minneapolis bars and restaurants: Aster Café, Barbette, Bryant Lake Bowl, D'Amico Kitchen, Ginger Hop, moto-i, Red Stag, The Depot Tavern and The Sample Room
Cheers to the rest of this wild week!
Annie D.
Twin Cities Yelp Community Manager
