The Takeout Guide: Go Big, Then Go Home

Context is crucial for cocktails. No matter how well you make a martini at home, it’s not going to be better than the one you’d have, say, at Sperry’s. There it would have been made by a bartender who’s got twice your life experience and triple your skill, and there’s no substitute for either. 

We go out to drink and dine for a reason, and it’s not just because we’re too lazy to stock our own bars. Cocktails are communal, and the best ones give you a sense of place — whether it’s where you are, or where you want to be. As the city begins to reopen, we’ll get that back, piece by piece. But there’s no reason we have to wait around empty-handed.

Two months ago, to-go cocktails didn’t exist in Nashville. Today I’d put ours up against any in the country. Bartenders are turning it out with celery bitters and sesame-infused tequila and a bunch of other odd, awesome stuff you’d never have the time, skill or inclination to make yourself. Plus, there’s just something that feels illicit and contemplative about sharing a scotch slushy on your porch and discussing how the hell anyone makes that work. Enjoy it while you can.

Attaboy at Lakeside Lounge

The current iteration of Attaboy is a 180 from its no-menu premise. The cocktail menu they’re serving out of Lakeside Lounge is currently available Fridays and Saturdays from 2 to 8 p.m., takeout or delivery. It includes a murderers’ row of classics (Negroni, Old Fashioned, gimlet) along with stranger stuff that is just very, very Attaboy. A good example is the Second Serve, made with sherry, lime soda and Amaro Montenegro — an Italian spirit distilled from roughly a billion botanicals including vanilla, orange and eucalyptus. It was first made in Bologna in 1885 and it’s named after a princess (Elena of Montenegro), so you know that shit is fancy. They pair that with crisp white fino sherry, and you finish it at home with a splash of lime soda, an orange garnish and an oversized ice cube, all of which are provided. All fizzed up, it’s got the brightness of a Porto tonico and the herbaceousness of an Aperol spritz, and you will want to drink 10. (Don’t. No one is taking you to the hospital right now.)  

Then there are the slushies. The beauty of booze is that it doesn’t fully freeze, so these will stay slushy in your freezer for a while. The Spicy Canary — tequila, lime, mango puree — is the consummate fruity frozen margarita, but the Penichillin is the real dark horse. It’s made with scotch, lemon, honey and ginger, and I ordered it out of morbid curiosity, partially expecting it to make me puke. It was fantastic — sweet, sour and strong, like a Dark and Stormy that has seen a few things. All I had to do was stir and add a tiny umbrella (also provided), and I was mentally beach-bound. Bonus: You can email the bartenders and customize your order if you’re a real pain in the ass and none of the 14 cocktails online suits you.

The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club

When it comes to carryout cocktails, always order one of something you can’t make at home. The Fox’s $9 happy hour is a good place to start pairing things you know (rum, sparkling wine) with things you don’t (citric acid, mint gomme). Those four ingredients make up The Fox’s Fancy Mojito on Tap — something that’s at once familiar and new. Another stunner is the Amber Wave, made with tequila, sparkling wine, Aperol and prickly pear liqueur. To that they add lemon stock, black-pepper tincture and cucumber bitters, which creates a spritz-meets-margarita vibe with a peppery bite. 

Freshness is fundamental at The Fox, so my favorite cocktail of quarantine is already gone. The April 2020 — gin, rum, amaro, lemon stock, celery bitters and beet juice — was a blood-red, earthy suckerpunch, and I miss it dearly. Luckily, May 2020 is made with some of the same stuff, plus Pimm’s, gin, strawberry and ginger beer, and there’s no way that’s bad. 

Mother’s Ruin

Before quarantine, brunch at Mother’s Ruin taught me two things: 1) Old Bay waffle fries are this generation’s bar nuts; and 2) bloody marys always taste better when someone else makes them. A house mix with 37 ingredients — none of which you had to squeeze, grate or shake yourself — is a different kind of satisfying, especially when you can’t put your finger on the “secret ingredient.” At Mother’s Ruin, it could be anything: juice (tomato, pickle, lemon, lime), sauce (Worcestershire, Cholula, Sriracha, horseradish) or seasoning (Old Bay, celery salt, sugar, black pepper), all of which are in the recipe. But I like to believe the bloody mary’s power comes from the weirdest ingredient my bartender told me about: red wine. Whatever its composition, this stuff is so savory and loaded with umami that the taste buds on the back of your tongue will prick up thinking about it later, and that’s the Pavlovian response all bloodys should inspire. 

On the sweet side, try the Run It Through the Garden, made with vodka, citrus, parsnip, kale and beet. Yes, those ingredients sound more smoothie than cocktail, but the weirder a drink sounds, the better it’s likely to be — and that’s the case here. The acidity makes it bright, while the vegetables make it full-bodied in a way that typically comes together only in savory drinks. Mother’s Ruin is currently open for takeout every day from noon to 9 p.m.

Old Glory

This Edgehill bar was early to the takeout party, and a few of the drinks they launched with are iconic enough to bear repeating. Old Glory serves the Green Thumb, made with gin, citrus, arugula, snap peas and yellow Chartreuse (a milder, sweeter version of its green sibling). Zingy and verdant, the cocktail tastes like a sprawling English garden in a glass. There’s also the Stoner Fruit Fizz, made with tequila, apricot, citrus and Vietnamese preserved plum, which gives the cocktail a sour-salty undertone.

The most interesting drink from Old Glory is the Proper Martini. Made with Fords Gin, everything-bagel seasoning and cream-cheese-washed vermouth, it’s a collaboration with (the finally reopened!) Proper Bagel. Think of the best gin martini you’ve had, but more robust, and with blue cheese flavor infused throughout. The caperberry garnish is provided, so all you have to do is chill and pour for an instant hit of the martini-fueled civility we’ve all been missing.