The Whiskey — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

Ever watch those TV shows that go into the kitchens of restaurants? Where the chef whips up some heavenly crazy good taste teasing cuisine? You know, where you want to jump in the car and head out, even though it's midnight! Sinful thoughts about sinfully good food?

Well, The Whiskey is THAT kind of place! Each item on their menu is a thoughtfully crafted blend of ingredients designed to put the Wow into the Pow-er of Food!

My Fab Fiancée, that Rockin' Hottie, rolled in with me, sitting where we could see Jack Nicholson blowin' smoke from a fat stogie!(Read that like a line from a Led Zep tune!) Jack's posted pose, on the walls to see, along with other singers and celebrities! Then notice the real whiskey barrels high and low, even where the washroom sink waters flow.

I'd use the term 'Eclectic Electric' to describe the mood and the food. Lots of good vibes and energy. That's the first emotion we felt when we met Katie R, our lead singer, er, bar/server. She carries herself like a lead singer carries the band.

What would you order at a place like this, to start the meal off right? How about an order of Fried Pickles? We did, and we liked them! They were sliced real thin, like little potato chips, lightly breaded and perfectly fried. You get a hefty mound of them, more than enough for two, with some dipping sauce, all for $8.50!

Rockin' Hottie ordered The Whiskey Dip, which was slow roasted roast beef, provolone cheese, whiskey onions, garlic aioli and herb au jus, for $14.50. I tried it, and I gotta say it was delicious and curiously 'soft', which is to say it had just the right bite to it. Dip it into that warm au jus and you have one Rippin' Dip!

I chose to be 'good', I ordered The Whisky Cobb salad, for $13.00. This masterpiece consists of: grilled chicken, chopped bourbon bacon, tomatoes, Gorgonzola crumbles, sunny side up egg, house pickled cucumbers drizzled with a lemon balsamic vinaigrette. I was AMAZED at the intimate tuning of each flavor note! The balance of sweet to tart, bold and spicy, cool and warm was doing a tasty tango on my tongue! This salad was really, really good!

Let me say this was our second trip to The Whiskey. On our first visit, we both tried one of their Voted Best Gourmet Burgers. We give them four thumbs up! I enjoyed The Shroom n' Swiss burger, which took me to a new level of hamburger heaven!!!! And if you want 100 proof, where else can you get a Bison, Wagyu or Elk burger??

Go to The Whiskey for the atmosphere, the energy, the great staff and just happen to order something off of the cooking show worthy menu! Gives new meaning to the term, TV...

Went in for a night cap and got a whole dang experience!

Listen, I'm 34 and have worked in the food service industry for almost 20 years which means you'll rarely find me at a bar on a Saturday night. I'm probably mixing up cocktails in the comfort of my own home and binge watching some trash reality show on Netflix, happily avoiding the crowds.

But I digress. I was in the Dr. Phillips area last night and decided hey, let's have a cocktail to end the night. I've been into the Whiskey once before during the week and it was a total ghost town. Silly me. I forgot it was a Saturday.

Walking in, it was a pretty straight forward bar atmosphere. We grabbed two seats at the bar which I was happy to find and were quickly greater by the bartender, Katie. She was an absolute gem. In all honesty, all the bartenders were stupendous.

There was a performer who started shortly after we got there and he was out of this world. Not what you would expect from a whiskey bar on a Saturday night, this was a sing along with him kinda guy and not a scream over the music in an attempt to have a conversation with someone kinda act.

The big bonus points of the evening go to the positive bartenders. They sang along with the music, meshed well with one another, helped each other, and they all kept an eye on everyone at the bar. There was never an empty drink near us. They're the real MVPs of the evening.

I know there are so many service industry employees getting pummeled with tough to handle customers right now and these folks were having a great time while delivering an equally great experience. Thanks ya'll!

I can't comment much on the food because in the two times I've been in I've only gotten their fried pickles....although I guess that says a lot about the quality of those. Highly recommend. And for those of you saying that all fried pickles are created equally....you're wrong.

The cocktails were 👌🏻👌🏻 made with love and not too rough on your wallet considering the area. The atmosphere was bar on a Saturday level loud which is to be expected and the crowd was a solid mix of ages. If you're a little older (like not looking for a club on a saturday age) hen this is a safe place to head to.

I'm glad we popped in, I think we decided we will be making this spot somewhere we pop into much...

We were looking for a non-chain burger joint nearby our hotel in Orlando and found The Whiskey via Yelp app. We checked out the pics online and the burgers looked very enticing. This place seemed like a cross between a cocktail lounge and pub but as we walked inside, a live rock band was playing. What, a music venue too? Jackpot!

Started with the Bangin Shrimp app. These morsels were crunchy with semi spicy kick from the sriracha aioli. As for the burgers, I got the Dos Amigos (house patty, carnitas, pepper jack cheese, pico and chimichurri ranch). This burger was a beast! Meat piled high with gooey pepper jack melting on top. My buddy Carlos G. was brave enough to try The Camel Burger. Yup! It's ground camel with hummus and Manchango cheese. I had a bite and it was actually pretty dam good and juicy as well.

As usual, we also ordered quite a few cocktails. Why not? We're on vaca :) First, I tried the Elderberry which is made with Stoli, Elderflower, muddled blackberries & strawberries, cran juice, and sparkling wine. It was a bit rich and on the sweeter side. My next drink was the Brown Derby made with Old Forester 100, honey and grapefruit. I liked this potent drink so I stuck with it for the rest of the night. My buddy tried several cocktails as well including Mountain Dram, Sailor Jerry, and Whiskey Wonder plus he also got this hard to find bourbon called Widow Jane. Of course, served neat :) He's been searching for a bar in Miami that offers this bourbon and of all places, The Whiskey has it. Needless to say, he was a happy camper.

We enjoyed getting our rock on with the live band. They played a variety of 80s and 90s hits and had the crowd on their feet. Awesome! The bartenders / servers were very friendly and attentive as well. One of the side dishes was wrong but they immediately made us fresh truffle fries, on the house. That's good service! The best unexpected part of our visit was the bill. Everything was half off. I'm guessing that they have a late happy hour special because we got there around 9pm.

Orlando has an abundance of touristy restaurants and this is indeed one of the better ones. Their great food and well-crafted cocktail selections plus good live music stood out...