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[title]History Bar DeVille is a throwback to Ukie Village’s wilder days, a corner pub–cum–hipster club owned by Matt Eisler (Angels & Kings, Empire Liquors), designed by Kevin Heisner (Nightwood, Bangers & Lace) and powered by the cocktails of GM Brad Bolt, who helped open the bar in 2008. Warning: It’s cash only.
Decor A deluxe vintage dive boasting a front bar area with inviting booths, a middle room dominated by a pool table and a DJ-driven back room that feels like a club without the bottle service
Crowd This club has everything: suspender-clad hipsters, pincurled pool sharks, Ed Hardy deal closers, Sandy Warhols and more.
Noise Soul and R&B jams with some hip-hop grooves. Loudest in the back dance lounge.
Minutes to get a seat on a weekend night 45
Minutes to order/receive first drink 30/5
Friendliness of bartenders/servers on a scale of 1 (rude) to 10 (your best friend) 9 (except the guy in the back-room bar, who merits a 3)
Quality The Bar DeVille cocktail, a potent elixir of rye, Campari, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, bitters, simple syrup and egg white, is a frothy delight. A request to whip up something on the fly combining bourbon and citrus is met with a deliciously slushy Kentucky greyhound, a riff on the classic grapefruit-and-vodka drink.
Value Handcrafted drinks made with high-quality spirits are worth the $8–$12 each.
Final evaluation At first, the Saturday-night crowd is daunting, but soon the deceptively large space absorbs enough late-twenties hipsters into its nooks and crannies to make ordering cocktails a snap. Strangers are quick to strike up friendly conversations and pockets of pretension are shockingly few in this good-looking, fun-loving crowd.
Still iconic? YES