Bourbon Steak is going to become your new favorite bar and a place to enjoy happy hour. Walking into the restaurant for the first time, your visual senses are instantly satisfied; with a warm ambience, fantastic food, and creatively delicious cocktails inspired by the season, you have all the makings of an excellent time.
Lead bartender Rayland Fuentes, who is the head of the bar program for the restaurant, is a man excited by nuances and complexities of flavor, and has applied this passion and experience to devising an appetizing drink menu to celebrate summer and cool off from the heat.
It´s Hot Out There For A Pimm´s is a shining example of Rayland´s touch of bartending finesse. This refreshing beverage is highlighted by his very own ginger beer that is shipped down from San Francisco, giving you a spicy earthy punch to the menagerie of Pimm´s, passion fruit, and cucumber juice. It feels like a tropical paradise on an exotic Eastern island.
Beety Rizzo is another great heat breaker that´s a Grease-y take on another cocktail, the Pink Lady, with the addition of apple brandy, apple, and beet, topped with pistachio streusel and a rhubarb brush emitting a floral fragrance upon a frothy head. This pretty magenta-pink drink is fruity and easy, without much citrus and a refreshing boost and gentle bitterness, much like its namesake.
Snow Resurrected is one for TV fans of an HBO hit series (we don´t want to spoil which one!), and a hopeful fan theory. It´s a tandem twist on the Zombie, a veritable witch´s brew of three rums, Licor 43, orgeat, pineapple and orange juice, formed in a bucket with two straws for sharing and topped with tropical fruit stems and a flaming lime to keep the walking dead at bay! In a nutshell, a Caribbean flavor that will chill you out in summer and pull you from the winter cold to come.
Rhumroni is a Caribbean twist on the Negroni, employing Rum instead of Gin, and the Campari is infused with strawberry, glued together with Punt E Mes vermouth. It´s a great escape from fruitier cocktails, and harkens to those who crave the warmth of rum with the kick of a stiff drink.
Mi Casa Es Su Casa is a sophisticated take on the traditional Margarita, adding non-traditional elements such as Campari, grapefruit juice, and strawberry syrup as a sweetener. The flavor is less party and more kickback, with the grapefruit piercing the citrus and the strawberry highlighting the sweetness.
Finally, The Forbidden Magical Mushroom is a fun experiment of Rayland´s to give a less tropical and more provincial approach to cooling off in Summer. Mushroom-infused rye whiskey, dry vermouth, amaro, bitters, and the sweet garnish of a truffle-infused cherry mix together to conjure up a magical forest fantasy land, charming you with a sharp, earthy aroma, and transporting you to a flavor of caramelized mustiness that brings forth images of underground dank caves filled with gnomes, fairies, bright lights and a fun sense of adventure.
Currently on Bourbon Steak´s Cocktails menu, these drinks are a welcome addition to the repertoire that will pair well with the Lounge´s Happy Hour $12 burgers and half-off appetizer Snacks like the Trio of Duck Fat Fries, Hummus With Everything, Ice-Cold Oysters, and Ahi Tuna Tartare Poppers created by Chef Kyle Johnson that are available in the bar lounge, or any of the many entrees in the Dining area. If summer cocktails aren´t your thing, they run a full bar armed with knowledgeable staff, or you can turn to their great selection of Japanese whiskeys like our favorite, Akashi White Oak on the rocks. Bourbon Steak is located on 237 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale CA 91204 at the Americana On Brand, right on the corner of South Brand Blvd and East Colorado St.
Their Happy Hour runs from 4pm to 7pm everyday. You can call for info and reservations at (818) 839-4130, or visit their website.