Livery Company, a cocktail lounge in South City that The Scoop first reported on last December, opened this weekend at 3211 Cherokee St.
Upon first look, Livery Company appears to be a dive bar. A community table sits to one side and a few two-top tables line the other. The walls are sparsely adorned with posters as well as 3-D art made of paper clips by one of Livery Company’s bartenders. Ah, but what dive bar in these parts offers a Pimm’s Cup as a drink special (or even has the staff with the know-how to prepare it)?
Co-owner Emily Ebeling, also co-owner of the now-defunct Petra Cafe and Hookah Bar on South Grand, plans to specialize in serving cocktails made with small-batch American spirits. She unlocked the doors to Livery Company this past Friday, despite awaiting numerous spirits, mixers and even draft beer for the single tap handle. The bar’s current limited stock notwithstanding, those thirsty can still be satiated at the 10-person bar, hand-crafted from recycled wood by Ebeling’s father.
Ebeling hopes that her choice to make Livery’s home on Cherokee Street adds even more vibrancy to the neighborhood. Should the bar thrive, it could become one of the western anchors for the street (as Foam has done on the eastern end at Jefferson) and give people a reason to come to the neighborhood for more than just Mexican eats.
Livery Company is open daily, except Sundays, from 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The bar currently does not serve food, but that may change when Alex Carlson opens Red Guitar Bread next door; Ebeling hopes the artisan bakery will provide a few nibbles to satisfy hungry bar patrons.
This article appears in July 2012.