The Cat Is Out Of The Bag

OK, for those of you that did not already know, here is the secret that I have been hinting at lately. Underneath the new Taco Mac at The Prado is a special, separate beer bar. See photo above. The actual entrance is still being decided on, but if you are in the area and want to check it out, the managers in the restaurants upstairs will direct you. But wait! There's a catch. You have to be a Brewniversity member, and you have to have at least 13 beers on your list. Now here comes the disclaimer: We may raise the required number of beers for admission in the (possibly very near!) future. Why, you may be wondering, should you care? "Taco Mac is great!", you are thinking. "There's no reason for me to go anywhere else." Very true. Taco Mac has everything you need to have a good time drinking beer, watching the game, all of that stuff that we are known for.

The downstairs bar is a completely different animal. There are twenty draft beers, and about 40 bottled beers, plus some nice wine and high-end spirits. The beer selection looks like this:

• Draft beers have a seasonal specialty from all three of the local breweries, a Sierra Nevada seasonal, three Belgian lines, three German lines, some rare stuff and some vintage beers. We also try to represent some major beer styles with strong versions from breweries we like. You don't need to like extremely esoteric beers to enjoy coming here. We have a great amber ale, a great pilsner, etc. But if you want an '08 Victory Old Horizontal barley wine or St. Bernardus Christmas, we have those on draft too.


• Bottles beers have a few old favorites and style representatives, but this is where we stretch out a little. There are many large, cork-finished bottles of Belgian beers, plus some 500 ml and 12 oz. bottles of wacky foreign beers. Don't worry though. We also have things like Anchor Liberty if you are looking for a nice old standard (I love that beer, so it gets preferential treatment. When is the last time you had one?)
  
• The liquors are focusing on some more unique brands. We have some signature cocktails, as well as some more traditional, classic drinks. Fresh juice and premium ingredients transform old mundane drinks into something special. When is the last time you had a real whisky sour? Good stuff.
  
• Now if you are into light beer, we don't really have anything for you, and you probably wouldn't be reading this if light beer is your thing.

As you can tell from the photo, the decor is different than a Taco Mac as well. The concept that we are working on is heavy on the intimate pub thing, with quality conversation and company to match the libations. The crew is composed of some of our best employees culled from every corner of Taco Mac land. If I stole your favorite bartender from your favorite store, I'm sorry. They were not stolen, just relocated.

The rest of the story is yet to be told really. The future direction of this little thing we are doing depends a lot on your feedback and patronage. We also plan on doing some special events there in the upcoming months, so if you are not familiar with where the old Frankie's was, we are on Roswell Rd. just south of 285. If you know where 5 Seasons in sandy Springs is located, we are about three doors down. Hope to see you soon, and get to work on your Brewniversity lists!