Twisted Spoke - Review

On Saturday, May 31, we visited the Twisted Spoke for some long-anticipated bloody marys. It was a beautiful day out, and we sat outside on the roof. They had large picnic tables, which was awesome. First, we tried the Road Rash - voted Chicago Magazine's "Best In The City". Cliff, the owner, came out and talked to us about the history of their bloody mary, as well as his philosophy on when to break into the garnish (eat the first item, then let the rest soak – eating bits as he drinks. Timeline: Finish the garnish with about 1/3 drink left.). We give him 10 points for fantastic-ness. Here's the breakdown:

the taste: 3
the texture: 2.8
the kick: 3.2
the sight: 4
the buck ($6.75): 4
beer back: yes, point.

The garnish was really out of control (a concept well-received by the generally over-indulgent judges). Topping off the 16 oz glass were 2 pieces of salami (too fatty for my taste), pepperchini, pearl onion and olive. Sprinkled on (and in) the dirnk was shredded parmesan – something none of us had seen before!

The group was split. Half the party thought that it was too thin, half thought it was just right. Half didn’t like the meaty overdose – the other half of the group ate everyone else’s salami. Most of us thought the parm only served to clog the straws! I don’t know, maybe it was all the hype, maybe it was the fact that it was pretty hot out and the drink didn’t really stay all that cold, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by it (you can tell which group I was in).

HOWEVER! We did try the Bloody Queen, which I thought was MUCH better. This was half vodka (lime infused no less), half gin:

the taste: 5
the texture: 3
the kick: 4
the sight: 4
the buck ($6.75): 4

I thought the this drink was fantastic, as did my fellow queen-drinkers. We only wished it were thicker! Besides that, the taste was fantastic. It was not overly spicy, which was good for the judges that tried it – a perfect amount. Garnish (shown) included a HUGE piece of celery, and 2 shrimp alternating with 2 pearl onion. Now, olives are a must for me so I was a little disappointed, and we had just finished a discussion about how we didn’t like shrimp as a garnish (fishes up the drink) – so, I passed on the shrimp (I was fearful of tainting). But, those who tried the shrimp liked it.

I would like to note that the Twisted Spoke does change up their bloody mary menu with the seasons (usually they have 4 on the menu at one time). The beer back changes as well, with Guiness being the winter brew of choice.

Danielle’s Bottom Line: Road Rash: meh. Bloody Queen = awesome.

PS - The corned beef hash & the fried egg sandwich were EXCELLENT!