515 Kitchen & Cocktails

THE BUZZ ON 515 KITCHEN & COCKTAILS

Specialty drinks $4.00 - $6.00

Highlighted Beers $3.00 - $5.00

Food Specials $4.00 - $9.00

Added Bonus: Small Plate items served 4pm - midnight 
                      $3.00 - $11.00

515 Kitchen & Cocktails Website

For me 515 is all about the couches.  As you will find out reading this blog, getting a good  seat is important to me, preferably a seat at the bar or in a comfy chair.  And yes I have had some memorable times on the couches of 515.  But good luck getting a couch or bar seat during happy hour at 515!  This is a popular place and for good reason.

They have great hours for the happy.... Seven days a week 4-7. They get a  five shot rating in the hours category, for sure. Unfortunately (at least in my book) many people know of these hours and it is extremely popular, especially with the 20 something crowd.

515 is located in a two story house on Cedar street (can you guess the address?) there is a bar downstairs, and a bar, dining room and deck upstairs. The dining area has both sit down tables and an arrangement of couches and comfortable chairs.  The deck has a fire pit and a plexiglass windscreen.

 





I arrived before Jo  a little before 6:00 on a Wednesday night and every seat at the bar, all the couches and tables were full.  Our only option was to sit on the patio.  I generally like sitting outside, but this was a particularly windy day and even with the wind screens it was cold up there. They should have lit up the fire pit!

Since it was Wednesday the Farmer's Market was in full swing.  515 is kitty-corner to the market and you have a nice view from the balcony. Josephine arrived and we studied the menus.  One thing I must say about 515 is they have excellent service. Our waiter Ethan was prompt,  knowledgeable about the menu and immediately brought us water ( always important) which was often refilled. Considering how busy they were, we were well taken care of.  I give the service 5 shots - friendly, attentive and thoughtful.

The happy hour drink specialties include four cocktails - le  pamplemousse,  (autocorrect changed that to pimple mousse), champagne cocktail, the gambit and the cocktail of the moment. In addition you have a $5 stout, $3 lager, $5 Chardonnay and a $6 cab.

I chose El  Pamplemousse and  I joked that this was the type of bar where you don't know the meaning of the names of the drinks.  They have quite a selection of cleverly named drinks that are quite exotic and not cheap, but are unique and delicious.  For the record, Pamplemousse means grapefruit in French, can also mean Fatso, and is the name of a racehorse who was a contender for the 2009 Kentucky Derby. ( can you say google?)

515's Le Pamplemousse drink is Finlandia grapefruit vodka, Aperol, orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemon juice. Since I was fighting a cold it was just what the doctor ordered.   Jo chose the "cocktail of the hour" which was a Cucumber Aperol Cooler made with cucumber vodka, orange juice and seltzer water. They both came promptly and were both delicious. Josephine was particularly happy with the size of her glass!

The happy hour food  menu is not extensive - half salads,  white bean hummus and flat bread,  crab cakes and truffle pomme frites and they were out of the hummus!!!!! A quarter of our choices taken away right there!  Fortunately they also have a large selection of small plates ranging from $ 3 - $11.

Since happy hours are taking a toll on our waistlines, we ordered two half salads, an order of crab cakes and prosciutto wrapped asparagus with  balsamic reduction. It was really nice to see a healthy option on a happy hour menu.

 There are four half salads on the happy hour menu- hearts of romaine, baby greens, red leaf and wild arugula. I assumed the salads were all the same, just with different types of greens. Not the case. When the salads arrived my baby greens salad had red onions and tomato with a balsamic dressing, while Jo's hearts of romaine had cashews and artichoke hearts.  They were both good sized, but I had to request extra dressing for mine. (Which came very promptly).

The asparagus wrapped prosciutto was delicious.  The prosciutto was nicely crisped and was served with an artistic swirl of balsamic reduction that was delicious - but I would have liked more sauce, aesthetics aside. (I see a pattern here).

The crab cakes were good, but they were $9 on the happy hour menu.  There should never be a $9 item on a happy hour menu!!! Normally, the crab cakes are $11, but give me half off for happy hour and then we will be talking value.

It was getting pretty cold on the patio so we told Ethan to let us know when a table opened up.  He shortly came and told us a table was open , so we quickly moved to a single table sandwiched between two other tables. it was too close quarters for my taste, but at least we were inside.

Jo was still nursing her large glassed cocktail, but at  this point I was ready to sample The Gambit. I thought it was a bridge term, especially with the subtitle under the drink "you gotta know when to hold 'me, know when to fold 'em" but master google reminds me that it is a chess opening where a pawn is sacrificed for the sake of some compensating advantage or an opening remark involving some risk that is calculated to gain advantage. I guess it's been too long since I've played chess.

Anyway, a 515 Gambit is kraken dark spiced rum, house-made ginger syrup, lime juice and seltzer. I like rum and ginger, but this wasn't my favorite drink. I liked Le Pamplemousse much better and probably could have used another dose of vitamin C.

At this point a couch opened up and without even consulting Ethan we made a dive for it.  We took our glasses with us, but while Jo was retrieving our water glasses, one of the waiters took the remains of Jo's drink, mistaking it for glassware from the previous party.

When asked,  he tried to retrieve it, but was too late. He offered to have the bartender make Jo half of another. Fair enough! Josephine was raised too well to refuse a free drink. This was the second time that bus-persons, had try to take our plates or glasses before we were quite through. I appreciate promptness, but a little more attention to detail is called for. This waiter made it all better which gives them extra credit in the service department.

I am much more enamored with the couches than Josephine.  She thought they smelled like furniture from a thrift store. Fortunately, I don't have a good sense of smell and stretched out in luxury.

In general Jo thought the ambiance was a bit smelly and dumpy, I on the other hand felt right at home with funky cool chic of the place. I liked the music they were playing, I liked the furniture and the feel of the place. We had a good view of the bar now. Which was a constant game of musical chairs with the young folk coming and going. The only down side was a cold breeze shooting up the stairs and onto my neck.

The happy hour buzz descended with the comfort of the soft cushion, good drinks, a satisfied palate and most important the company of a good friend. It was a little after 7:00 and the place was clearing out. Happy hour had come to an end.

Ethan brought our check inside a book filled with hilarious photos of angry kitties. It was quite entertaining. I headed downstairs to use the facilities and found one door with W and one door with Wand M. Potty parity!   These are the small touches at 515 that I appreciate.

In sum, the service and the hours are great. I appreciate the ambiance and the food and drinks, the prices could be a bit lower, and the popularity is a bit of a downfall in my book, but a very enjoyable time was had.  It reminded me of what I liked about this place. Next time I will get a seat at the bar!

Julie's rating:  4 Shots

______________________________________________________________________

The 515 Kitchen, located downtown on Cedar street right where Cathcart ends, is a quaint little place that serves up some very tasty drinks and appetizers for happy hour. We got there just as the farmer's market was winding down, how convenient to just pick up your fresh produce and then reward yourself with a tall cold one. 

The place has 2 floors so we went upstairs where they have a lovely little deck with seating to enjoy.  They have little lights hanging and a fire pit in the middle that would have been nice if it was on that day.  It was quite windy and cool at that time of day so we stayed on the deck for a little while but had to venture inside after a while.  The place itself is a little funky. They have a small upstairs bar with couches and chairs in one row going back to the deck and tables on the side with both bench and chair seating.  It’s a little dark on the inside, nice for those intimate occasions or if you just feel like lounging around and chatting.  I personally prefer something a bit lighter but Julie was quite comfortable and relaxed in the place.  I think the carpeting could use a good cleaning. 

 For drinks Julie ordered up a le pamplemousse which is finlandia grapefruit vodka, aperol, lemon juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice. It was served in a martini glass and was light and tart.  I had the “Cocktail of the Moment” which they refer to on the menu as “what are they dreaming up now?” It was a mixture of cucumber infused vodka with some other juices and something a little bubbly in it and the best part was it came in a pint size glass.  Talk about a tall cold one.  This drink was light, refreshing and there was plenty of it, just what I like in a mixed drink.

Usually you find lots of yummy fried food on the menu for happy hour because really that’s what people want, but for those calorie counters I was happily surprised that they had ½ salads on the appetizer menu.  I ordered up a romaine salad and Julie had the mixed greens. Both came with fresh grated cheese, I had artichokes and cashews in mine. I’m not sure what came with Julie’s salad. We shared the Spanish smoked paprika crab cakes with chili aioli and Prosciutto wrapped asparagus with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction.



The asparagus is actually on the small plate menu which is served all night, a nice addition to the happy hour menu, both price and size wise.  Nice to know you can get those prices well into the evening.   The crab cakes were crispy and the chili aioli had a nice little kick to it.  The asparagus had just the right amount of crunch to it and the prosciutto was actually cooked so it was crunchy like bacon, very yummy. The vinaigrette reduction was very flavorful too.

It was pretty funny when they brought the check and it was in a book called "Bad Cat"  A bunch of cat pictures with funny phrases.  We laughed for a while at this. A nice touch. They had a very unusual floral arrangement next to the couch I was on.  Indeed the place has many interesting things to look at.  Some old antique looking furniture and the bar and chairs had that old Gatsby feel to them. I admit the couches and carpeting may not be to my liking but it does have it's own type of charm to it.

 
All in all I enjoyed happy hour at 515.  The drinks were light and refreshing, the food very tasty and the ambiance probably works for most people and since Julie kept me bouncing around to different seating all the time it was at least entertaining.

Jo's rating:  4 shots