December 5th, Repeal Day, honors the rich traditions of imbibing and the legitimacy of our beloved bartenders. There is no better way to celebrate than at San Diego’s oldest taverns or with era-themed parties and classic drinks that give a nod to the last 83 years of drinking legally. So gather some friends and observe our constitutional rights at these local San Diego watering holes!
Join a hotsy-totsy crowd over at ginger’s to celebrate Repeal Day on December 5th. Flappers and live entertainment will heat things up, so don your best fringy dress and slouch hat and join the party. Woodford Reserve and Old Forester will be the featured spirit, while Executive Chef Kevin Templeton dishes out prohibition-inspired bites. The underground cocktail lounge will set the mood for a boozy night celebrating the 85th anniversary of Repeal Day. Things kick off at 9 p.m. and will wrap up by 11. Ginger’s is located below barleymash in The Gaslamp Quarter at 600 5th Avenue.
Prohibition will celebrate the end of America’s dry spell with a Repeal Day party on Wednesday, Dec. 5. The award-winning speakeasy will treat patrons to live entertainment and toast the occasion with Prohibition-era cocktails. Lead bartender Ryan Andrews will mix up his signature Old Fashioned recipe, made with rye whiskey, house-made demerara sugar, R&D Bitters Aromatic #7 and R&D cherry apple bitters, available for $1 from 8 to 9 p.m. Prohibition will also offer complimentary entry to its Wednesday Blues Jam, featuring blues, soul and more by the Lafayette Blues Band.
GBOD Hospitality Group will also offer guests a “passport” in which they may receive a stamp upon visiting each of the following four venues: Monkey King, located at 467 Fifth Ave.; El Chingon, located at 560 Fifth Ave.; and Havana 1920, located at 548 Fifth Ave.; in addition to Prohibition. Full “passports” with stamps from each location will be entered into a raffle to win a single barrel reserve of bourbon, valued at $300.
Transport back to a time when travelers would pack their belongings in wardrobe trunks for extended journeys and America was celebrating the end of prohibition. The Bellhop Bar at Loews Coronado Bay Resort is a retrofitted steamer trunk packed with bespoke beverages stored in antique apothecary-style bottles. Celebrate the Golden Age of cocktails with local, pre-batched libations as well as domestically-produced wine, to be poured, mixed and served on demand. The handcrafted featured cocktails are Sage Advice – Hangar One Vodka, St.-Germain Elderflower Liqueur and sage leaves and the Bay Fashioned – Angel’s Envy Rye, homemade orange syrup, Fee Bros Aztec Chocolate Bitters and orange peel. The Bellhop Bar is available in Cays Lounge from 5-7pm daily through mid-January.
BANKERS HILL BAR + Restaurant will celebrate the anniversary of prohibition’s end with Low-Flying Planes, a rum-based cocktail reminiscent of 1920s alcohol smugglers. Created by bar manager Colin Berger, Low-Flying Planes is made with dark rum, rye whiskey, apple brandy, lemon juice and house-made grenadine. The cocktail’s name was inspired by prohibition-era rum-runners, and will be available exclusively on Dec. 5.
Bleu Bohème will say “au revoir” to the era of prohibition with a specialty Repeal Day cocktail, Forge et Fils, available exclusively on Wednesday, Dec. 5. A tribute to one of America’s first cocktails, the Sazerac, Bleu Bohème’s Forge et Fils is named after the classic cocktail’s main ingredient – Sazerac Forge et Fils cognac – and is made with cognac brandy, sugar cube and a dash of orange bitters served on the rocks over a swirl of absinthe, a twist of lemon and a sprig of mint. The celebratory cocktail will be available for $14.
