I can go for one of these right now

Well it's 12pm somewhere right now, right??

So here is my first cocktail review: Hendrick's Gin Gimlet.




mmm...tart YUMMINESS!




Mr. Lex and I try to do a date night at least once every 2 months or so. With an overly active 2 yr old princess that has us serving to every one of her needs, it gets tiring. I get cranky and I revolt resulting in placing the princess in time out for at least 3-5 minutes. She once served 3 timeouts in a row - yes, she can get very feisty. So date nights for us are a total blessing.  Our date spot - the Mission District.

Yes, it's a pretentious HIPSTER heaven but if you overlook that and try not to get annoyed by their conversations of following the bacon wrapped hot dog cart updates on Twitter you can find good things to eat and drink! Also timing is key. Being old parents that we are, eating dinner anytime after 7pm is late and just so CRAAAAAZY. I know we were surprised at ourselves to be eating fancy Mac and Cheese at Grub after 7PM. We finish dinner in about an hour and we weren't ready to go home just yet. Mama still wanted a fancy cocktail because her girl at bar alter ego was begging for one. So walking back to the car we pass by this joint, Bruno's. Okay so judging from the photos you can see it's not a quiet, casual bar. Well it was about 10-11 years ago. Back then the look and vibe was more of a cozy, throw back to an early 60's lounge (think red vinyl plush booths) that the Rat Pack or Don Draper would have frequented to eat a steak dinner, toss back a few martinis and pick up a few drunken broads. You can still do the latter but the 60's lounge vibe was replaced with a Pussycat VIP lounge upstairs with stripper poles....WTF?? Back to the drink. So I noticed that there was nobody (aside from the 3 people) at the bar. This was my shot to go into Bruno's, get a seat at the bar and drink a fancy cocktail because they do serve a good fancy cocktail. It was also a little past 8pm...I guess the Frat boys were still busy ironing their striped button front shirts at the time. I only mention Frat Boys because I noticed a Jager and Patron shot dispenser side by side. If you are over the age of 25 and you like to hear what your date or friends are talking about...come to this bar before 9pm.

I MISS OLD BRUNO'S...but I digress...


Cocktail time:
Hendrick's Gin Gimlet. If you are not familiar with the Hendrick's gin in the black bottle, do yourself a favor and introduce yourself. This is purely subjective, I know but I love gin and I love cucumbers - Hendrick's is a cucumber and rose petal infused gin (match made in heaven) from Scotland. The gimlet's heyday was in the 20's (mid - 19th century for you bar geeks) consisting of nothing more thank gin, Rose's sweetened lime juice (bottled) and soda. Well today you can get that served with Vodka and fresh squeezed limes or with specialty gins like the Hendrick's. Also this can be served on the rocks or shaken, strained into a martini glass. I found this cocktail to be more tart than sweet. I LOVE TART so this cocktail is perfect for me. And also, in the land of overpriced cocktails this one went for $9 - not too bad considering I paid $12 for a pisco sour when having drinks on my husband's birthday. I think I took this down in less then 10mns? I would have drank it faster if I had more money or my goal was to get wasted that night. Maybe not a real sipping cocktail like a Manhattan or traditional Martini but it's a good one to order if you happen to see a Hendrick's bottle behind the barkeep winking and tempting you with it's evil, delicious ways!