The Ranstead Room

Down a deep dark alley way in Philadelphia lies something, waiting, calm and collected, and as Leann and I started walking down Ranstead Street, I noticed her inching closer to me along with a feeling of uncertainty as to what exactly we were walking into.  We were searching for the Ranstead Room, a Philadelphia bar serving honest, good drinks, made be the honest hardworking man.  Someone had told us we were looking for a door, and that it would be hard to find, I glanced to our left and there was a door with a simple logo with two letters on it, and we found our destination. 

The first thing I noticed about Ranstead Room was how it looked, like it was out of a movie from the 1930’s, candles were everywhere, being about the only form of light, making the room seem alive.  Old-fashioned pictures hung on the wall, with two gentlemen behind the bar and a slew of ingredients lined in front of them, ready to put a drink together from scratch.  Leann and I loved this place before we even sat down to make our drink selection.  The menu is not to large and at first I was going to go with the bartender’s choice, but being a fan of bourbon, the Champ caught my eye. 

Leann ordered the bartenders choice and the two questions were what type of spirit, and if the drink were to be dry or sweet.  She chose vodka and sweet, and we watched him make both drinks right in front of us.  About ten minutes of crushing, pouring, mixing, shaking, and a taste test by the tender, led to two ridiculously good looking drinks.

After tasting my drink, I had to try Leann’s, which was called the Waterlily, and was just as delicious, it was mixed and put together perfectly.  The Ranstead Room has a full bar with wine, beer, and spirits, and also a few appetizers which actually come from the El Rey, which is the restaurant that Ranstead is behind, and was highly recommended by the staff.  If you are looking for a drink at your local pub, then go get it, but if you are looking to be transported back in time and order a damn good drink, then please go to Ranstead because you will not be disappointed, and you will possibly have the best drink of your life.