None of the Above — Restaurant in St. Louis

Gerard Craft's success speaks for itself. He often takes the best ideas from other markets and executes them well in St. Louis. Like many others, I was excited for NOTA to open because, after visiting Aviary, Violet Hour, and Attaboy, I felt St. Louis needed more cocktail-focused establishments.

On my first visit to NOTA, I found the atmosphere beautiful. Although open, the seating is arranged to create an intimate feel. The menu cocktails I tried were inventive twists on classics, with well-balanced and fresh ingredients.

However, the service and the cheesy paper chits for custom cocktails left me disappointed. I usually sit at the bar because I enjoy interacting with a skilled mixologist, but instead, I had a server who wasn't well-versed in cocktails or spirits. Any simple question resulted in them having to leave us to consult the bartender and return with an answer. I appreciate when someone asks rather than pretends to know, but I would have expected a more knowledgeable staff member to accompany the server for subsequent questions.

When it came time to test the bartenders, I couldn't simply convey my preferences to the server. Instead, I was directed to a paper slip, similar to ordering sushi, to write down my preferences. This may be helpful for cocktail newcomers, but relying on this rather than the server communicating directly with the bartender is what sets NOTA apart from other renowned cocktail establishments. Unfortunately, the prices are comparable to these other bars despite the inferior service.

Custom cocktails, ordered via the paper slips, come with an automatic charge of $20, effectively upcharging customers for requesting something off-menu. While I welcome NOTA and will likely return because I enjoy cocktails and underground settings, some aspects felt a bit pretentious given the level of...

Went here for the first time on Saturday with my husband, his brother, and his wife. Initially, it gave me LA vibes, but trade the snobbiness for the STL kindness. And, speaking of STL - I haven’t seen mixology on this passionate of a level since the early days of maybe Sanctuaria (sorry-not-sorry). We all opted to use the cute scan-tron cards to get our own customized drinks and none of them disappointed. If anything, it got us to try (and even ENJOY, holy moly!) flavors and spirits we wouldn’t had before. My husband and I vowed to return during the colder months since it was so cozy.

Major props to our server, Emma. For being so young, she was so sage and informative when it came to everything. Management - please take note - this girl is going places. What’s more, she was actually great at telling us how much time we had before we had to leave but in the most subtle way without us feeling rushed. Speaking of youth - we were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few Gen-Z & young millennials chilling at such a high end place. Please note that if you go here, your cell signal will probably not exist since it’s within a tunnel under a ton of concrete. I thought this was fabulous, it got us talking way more and interacting.

One tiny idea? Maybe on a less-busy night (or by appointment/extra fee) it would be fun to speak with the mixologists about their backgrounds and why they chose this art. It could also be interesting for them to do a mini “interview” (someone’s clothes, what their job is etc) with their customers and base their martini off that - if they’re feeling daring and want to try something unexpected. Like a caricature but with alcohol. I’m...

This place is a fun concept and it's really neat venue inside.

With that being said, be extra careful if you have ANY type of allergies. No matter how unlikely it would seem that it would be an ingredient used in cocktails or food.

I went here for my birthday party last night and decided to order the 'none of the above' cocktail where you fill out the form with drink preferences and they craft a custom cocktail. The problem is they make it and have you try it and guess what's in it, without telling you any ingredients they used. The literal ONLY thing I'm very allergic to in the world is eucalyptus and the unbeknownst to me cocktail had eucalyptus and i had a really bad allergic reaction. Who uses eucalyptus in drinks??? Seriously? It tastes awful. I never imagined that Eucalyptus would be used as an ingredient at a bar/restaurant (now I know apparently). I had an awful and miserable night and this ruined my birthday and the rest of my weekend and I'm still not feeling well after the experience.

Maybe they need to change their policies about not telling any ingredients of their surprise cocktail before you drink it. It's hazardous that they used an item not traditionally in food or drinks without any warning. If I had known it was an ingredient I wouldn't have even touched it. My entire birthday was completely miserable and ruined.

Also, I just felt like there was a lack of concern from the staff after literally almost...