Bar Sazerac — Restaurant in Hamilton

I'm positive the bartender on Friday's Art Crawl erased the Buck-A-Shuck menu for the evening as we arrived at quarter to seven this past Friday. He's been giving us Buck-A-Shuck every other Art Crawl so why change it now?

Maybe it's because his back up didn't show up at six pm for his shift and he was working solo for the evening.

Maybe it's because in his line of business his attitude is supposed to match the complexity and 'flavours' of the cocktails being served; it evolves in your mouth or something. I have to add I have never been given a pleasant conversation directly by the bartenders here. It's like they don't want you to be in their venue at all.

Fortunately for my wallet it will have to sneer for the last time in this establishment at the service and it's prices for underwhelming Pickles, and Oysters served with a) no description of the type of oyster and b) nothing more than a lemon and Sriracha for your mouth to enjoy. If you ask for horseradish or mignonette, god forbid, you may get a lovely glance from the time pressed server on the side with your half shells.

You're cute Sazerac but you should talk to your customers whom sit an arm's length away from you all night. All night? Yep - because it'll take a while to daze and awe you with their cocktail mixing skills - it's showy but keep in mind everyone else waiting for attention/food/drinks is there watching your act too. Take one trip to Toronto or anyplace older than a millennial in town and you'll encounter what we call in the industry Hospitality. You're missing it by the way.

I will not be coming back despite it being so close to my home. And I recommend anyone who steps indoors tries to hold a conversation with the owner or his staff because they absolutely love eye contact, conversations about the neighbourhood and who you are as a customer. Watch them smile and talk wildly about how great a business they...

Had really high hopes for this place after seeing it on instagram, but was very disappointed. Firstly the interior looks cheap and does not have the speak easy, cocktail bar vibe that they were going for. The music was not loud enough and though there were not a lot of people in the bar we could hear their conversations. Me and two others had a standing table at the back that was connected to the wall and it was very wobbly, we were afraid it might actually come off the wall. The place was empty when we got there on a Friday night except for one couple. The service was pretty good, the bartender was friendly. The drinks were good too, tried a few cocktails and had a Kona Beer which I have not had in forever. The reason for this review is that when I go out for a drink I want it to feel different then having a drink at my house and this place did not make me feel this.It is a cool concept but very badly done. It is EXTREMELY poorly designed and looks very very cheap. I've been to plently of cocktail bars and I know when the aesthetic is meant to look rustic/vintage/bohemian but this place looks like the owners spent a thousand dollars on cheap laminate flooring and kept all the existing fittings. Laminate floors, lighting is not brilliant, tables are wobbly/falling apart. They need to invest some money in better fixtures and fittings and hire an...

Party of three.. Walked into a dimly lit, very, very tiny bar. The overwhelming smell of burning cinnamon instantly burnt my eyes and wasn't my favourite atmosphere to breathe in. Menu is set out differently, requiring alot of reading. Lighting was to poor, especially trying to read the fancy font and with burning eyes at this point. First two drinks looked amazing but tasted terribly awful... $29, I then left due to the overwhelming cinnamon and hit James st by myself and let the ladies enjoy. Returning, the cinnamon smell was gone so I joined the ladies, the waiter spent his time chatting up the female patrons and never came back to our stand up table. I don't think I saw the waitress or mixologist smile once. We asked to be seated when we arrived when available- never happened. Standing table. The Playlist was good, five stars. Two more cinnamon cocktails got made and lit, that was it for me and the ladies at that point....out. The drinks are very fancy and cool to watch. Cocktail pricing, around $15. I hated it. The girls enjoyed. Yes - I would recommend this place for the pretentious. Personally my senses were offended. We left and hit up a real Hamilton bar and had a much better experience in a much more...