Reno – Biggest Little (Day Drinking) City in the World

Road Trip, Reno and Rod Stewart…Epic plan, right? Yeah, this was one of those “out-there” ideas we came up with, that turned into a fantastic reality.

We decided we needed to see Rod Stewart in concert before there were no more chances left.  And sure, he was playing in Seattle and Denver (near where we each live), but why would we make this an easy night to remember when we could make it an epic weekend?  Rod was playing in Reno the weekend after we had planned to do the North Cascades National Park in Northern Washington State.  So, Peggy could just come home with me, work remotely for the week, and then we could road trip right on down to Reno.  It’s only a 10-hour drive, and sister road trips are the best!

Peggy booked her flight into Seattle and out of Reno, and we were off to planning.

Downtown Reno – the grim reality

Now, downtown Reno is a bit of a pit, a lesser version of the downtown Las Vegas before the Fremont Street Experience. If you remember that far back. No cool light show cover, no street shows, but plenty of sordid souls smoking, drinking, and gambling. However, when you step out a few blocks, there are some great bars and restaurants.  There are a couple of outlying casinos that are nicer and have great restaurants and gambling that a Las Vegas lover could find solace in for a quick weekend getaway.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – we had been to Reno as kids on a rare family vacation to Lake Tahoe. I remember Circus Circus and seeing the real lion at MGM so no other frame of reference, but yikes, there are few blocks that are rough. I can’t even sugar coat it!

First Stop – Brunch

We started our first morning in Reno at a cute little breakfast spot called Two Chicks.  They only do breakfast and lunch, so yes, brunch, go with what you do best.  It’s all fresh, vegan/vegetarian friendly, with gluten free options, and local ingredients.  Their Red Chick Scramble was fantastic, and they have chilaquiles, which are always top of our list! As I looked at the menu again, I could not even believe we didn’t have the GourMelt Bene, grilled cheese benedict, YES, PLEASE!!!  Full breakfast cocktail menu, mimosas and bellinis.  It was a great way to kick off our Reno adventure.

Where we stayed

We got ourselves all checked into our hotel after breakfast.  We stayed in the Riverwalk district of downtown at the Courtyard by Marriott for reasonable rates, and a great location right across the street from the Reno Aces ballpark.  Reno has a great baseball team and a beautiful ballpark, if you are looking for a little side entertainment. 

The hotel was right on the river and just outside of the grunge, although within walking distance. And to be fair, within the few square blocks of downtown, there are some nice hotels (the Renaissance comes to mind) and some great bars and restaurants. But the walk to get there is intimidating.

Navigating Reno

Our plan was to walk to most drinking locations and Uber to the concert, which was out in Sparks. We needed to get a feel for the layout of downtown Reno and kill some time before our first Reno list bar opened, so we set out on foot.  This is when the “pit” realization set in, as we clutched our purses a little tighter and google mapped the location of a casino chain we may have heard of and wasn’t quite so sketchy.

On the way, we knew we needed a photo op, The Reno sign. We found out it was also the weekend of the Biggest Little City Wing Festival. There was about to be little more action in our weekend than we even expected, so big yay!  Plus, surprise free street concerts from Jana Kramer and Chase Bryant.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sketch walk, casino for a cocktail and a little gambling looking for that feeling of love we get from Las Vegas but failed to find in Reno.  This killed enough time until it was finally 2 pm and we headed to Midtown.

We opted for an Uber to our chosen drinking neighborhood…Midtown. This area south of downtown (where Two Chicks was) was funky and vibrant. Shops, Victorian houses, fun restaurants…definitely the vibe we wanted. Aren’t you glad you stuck around for this??

Midtown Reno

Death and Taxes

Peggy’s number one choice for this road trip, Death & Taxes, was an immediate victory.  Everything painted black with a Victorian era feel to it. Completely elegant with a bit of an ominous feel.  And as we were there at opening, we were one of only 2 duos at the bar.  Of course, this meant more time to have a chat with the bartender, get drink recommendations, learn about their concept and watch the creation of some fantastic drinks.  The Bam Bam Punch and the Dead & Lovely are our recommended order.  And we were enjoying them immensely when the wall behind the bar opened up to reveal a hidden back kitchen, super cool and unexpected.

We let the bartender, Chad, have some input into our next stop.

Which led to…

Poor Devil’s Saloon

As part of our walk down Virginia Street, we popped into Poor Devil’s Saloon. Super cool looking from the outside, nondescript on the inside, but margaritas and giblets (I don’t even know what I meant by that, but it was in my notes).  The bartender was super cool, and it really had a vibe where you assume all the local bartenders are coming in after their shift.

But One and Done, we are off to Emerson

ssn – after reviewing our end of night wrap up, I had described this place as neighborhood divey hangout but upscale cocktails. Great, friendly service and impressive whiskey wall!

Emerson

Emerson is a beautiful bar, in my wheelhouse, or what I ideally want to be my wheelhouse.  Pinks and greens and blues, little pink neon lighting up the stage for live performances, and a mural in the bathroom hallway of Snow White doing lines of cocaine.  Little punk, little princess.  They bill it as mid-century modern, but they also host Reno’s first Drag Brunch monthly, so I like a that it is a little more focus on modern.  Their cocktails seemed to fit the theme, some light, some quirky, some a little unexpected.  I know I loved the strawberries muddled in lemon and vodka in the Strawberry Fields.  It was one of my favorites of the day. 

Rum Sugar Lime

Yes, that’s their name, RSL for short. But with a name like that, we gotta go!  Of course, it’s a Tiki Bar.  But a nice, pretty Tiki Bar, not chintzy or cheap, it is wood, tropical decorated.  Their cocktail selection was amazing, but how could it not be when they specialized in rum, sugar, AND lime.  Peep the Jongo with its mango lassi inspiration with cachaca and a cardamom-mango syrup. They hit Peggy’s wheelhouse with the Saturn made with gin and passion fruit. They also make amazing Tiki Bar standards in wee bit upscaled versions like the Painkiller and Daiquiri. 

ssn – quick to note at this point that none of the bars to this point had food. So weird! RSL had olives or nuts, Emerson had a charcuterie board but not that day as their refrigerator was broken. We were definitely needing food at this point!

Chapel Tavern

A quick walk away, Chapel, was at the top of our list right behind Death and Taxes.

It’s this big room, with a long bar wrapping the entire front – all wood and metal industrial style décor.  Their point of view is Redemption through revelry, Deliverance through drink, Salvation has arrived.  And how could we not love that? They will have an extensive drink menu that feels like the owners were just drinking one night and throwing out bizzarro names like “Jerk Off” and “Daisy Duke” laughing their asses off the entire time, AND their little kitschy addition was that each drink comes with your own tarot card.  I got the Wheel of Fortune, Peggy got Justice, they seemed perfect.

Five drinks into our day, we decided it was best if we found some food and headed for…

The Brasserie Saint James

Brasserie Saint James has a very old, traditional brewery feel to it with lots of brink and dark wood.  We were thinking we were simply headed for pub food and got so much more than we bargained for with the best bone marrow I have ever had.  Definitely more upscale than we were anticipating, but oh such an amazing meal.  They had standard pub fare in the way of burgers, fries, and flatbreads, but they also have a full dinner menu with Argentine Flank Steak and Truffle Ravioli.  A great selection of their own beer, they also make incredible cocktails.  Keep this place in mind if you need a great dinner in Reno that’s not at a casino.

One last stop for the night…

Z Bar

Our last stop was at Z Bar, simply because of the name.  Bit of a dive bar, however we stumbled upon a class reunion after party, and they were FUN.  We stayed for a couple espresso martini’s, mostly because one of the construction workers at the bar had never had one, and insisted on buying a round so he could try one with us.

After a wander back we decided to catch the Jana Kramer concert down the street from our hotel. It was a great crowd, the production team could not get the audio system working but she was a trooper! She improvised by doing an acoustic set, the crowd sang along with her and it was a pretty cool thing to witness. Thus ended our evening.

We cut our night off and headed off for some sleep and to rest up for the second night of our trip and the whole purpose for us ending up in the “Biggest Little City”:  Rod Stewart Concert.

Reno Wrap-up

But we want to throw out a couple of honorable mentions for Reno drinking:

Bundox Bocce

It’s an indoor bocce ball court!  About 15 lanes for Bocce ball, full bar, snacks, bright and fun.  They also have an amazing patio with fire pit, skeeball, and a cornhole area.  They are super fun, if you are in for loud, fun, party kind of night.

The EP Listening Lounge

A super cool place to hang out and listen to vinyl, coffee by day, cocktails by night.  It’s cozy, and a great place to kick back and just hangout.  Side bonus is that they also sell the vinyl that they play.  If that’s your thing, vinyl is your style, this is the place for you in Reno.

If you stayed with us for this long, Reno really turned out to be great! The Midtown neighborhood was hip and really lively. Definitely worth the visit if you find yourself in Reno for a conference or traveling through on your way to Lake Tahoe, etc.

ssn – my honorable mention was the campfire old fashioned at the Atlantis Casino steakhouse. It is a whole performance – they toast a marshmallow tableside for the cocktail infused with chocolate. To die for!!

Others in the Day Drinking Series

• Seattle
• Dallas
• Savannah
• Kansas City
• Boise