As a new again mommy I don't get much of an opportunity to go out sans baby, especially with the hubby, so when an opportunity for date night, free of children, came around we snagged it.
   Recently somebody told me about a place in town called the Snugbar. Living in the small, college town of Corvallis, I thought I had heard of everyplace around here, but, alas, no I hadn't. Snugbar is not your typical college town bar, as a matter of fact it purposely strives to be the complete opposite of that. It's next door neighbor is the Peacock, and to keep that crowd out and to keep them from ordering PBR or using the bathroom they developed a little system. Curious? Keep reading on.
   Cloaked in the entrance of Magenta on 3rd street, hides a concealed staircase, at the bottom of that staircase is an obscure door and nothing else. If tried to open, the door is locked. To the unknowing patron this door may seem to lead to a storage room in the bowels of the building, but to the knowing it leads to an enchanted place; a bona fide, 1920's style speak easy. The secret to getting in, a particular knock and that nights secret password. For us it was "ninja science". The key to getting that nights password is to "like" them on facebook. You can like them here. You're welcome in advance.
  After our charade with the door and password we were greeted by our garcon for the evening. A dapper young man by the name of either Andrew or Robbie, I'm not sure which. We were granted our pick of the place, as we were the first people there, and a choice it was. We could choose to sit in one of the many plush, swanky couches, at the bar counter were we could watch the "tender" perform, or at an intimate table for two with cozy chairs and a candlelite. Seeing as how it was our first date in a loooonnnggg time, we opted for the latter.
   We were then presented with one of the most vast, all-encompassing cocktail menus I have ever seen.   There were sections in this menu for pre-prohibition drinks, post-prohibition drinks, signature drinks, seasonal drinks, featured drinks, and then pricey drinks, and of course the liquor list. It was almost overwhelming, almost.
   Confession: I am quite the novice when it comes to cocktails, typically limiting myself to lemondrops, mojitos, or a cosmo (none of which were on the cocktail menu). So I had to drill the waiter and the tender for what was 1. not too strong and 2. good. I think those are pretty easy rules. After much deliberation, my wishy washy self came up with a choice. A shot in the heart. Yep, that's the name of the martini.

It was a mix of some kind of brandy (don't judge, I don't know the name), grenadine and a cherry flavored liquor. It was a wee bit strong in the brandy department for me, but like I mentioned I am a weenie. It was shaken so hard it was slushy like. 

  

    Joe's first drink was titled a Rugger, and it was delicious. I know it had ginger beer (which is pretty much just ginger ale) as it's mixer, beyond that I am completely at a loss for what was in it. But it was pretty, so here is a picture. 

   After getting our drinks, we took a peek at their tapas menu, which is fare from Magenta. There are only about 10 things on the tapas menu, but that really is plenty. We started out with; cheese and shrimp wontons, shrimp lettuce rolls in a peanut sauce, and yukon fries with a sesame sauce. It was all delicious and the best part is....every tapas on the menu is only $4. What a steal. 

   After eating up all that and literally licking our fingers we decided to go for round 2 on drinks. This time I took the tenders advice and ordered a Moscow Mule. It is ginger beer, vodka and lime juice served in a copper mug. So cute. So refreshing. So good. 

After further inspection I notice the mug tells you what the drink is, just in case you forget. (Sorry about the flash, hopefully you get the gyst of it though. 

Joe decided to just stick with water this round since he was driving us home. Instead he focused on round 2 of tapas. This time opting for a bacon wrapped pork bao and a gluten free pork egg roll.  Again tasty tasty. A couple other things on the menu that we did not try were a steamed rice bao, coconut prawns, and a yellowfin tare tare, and a few other things. Seriously though, everything is SO good. 

The last drink of the night, which we agreed to spit, was something I have never tried, but always wanted too; absinthe. Before you judge I will spill the facts, as notated by our waiter, Andrew/Robbie, 1. the prohibition on absinthe was lifted in the US a few years back because 2. there are only minute trace amounts of wormwood in absinthe. (For those of you who don't know, worm wood when concentrated is not only a hallucinogen, but also toxic, yikes) Snugbar has Oregon's largest selection of absinthe ranging from a California made one (cost about $12) to one made in the Absinthe region of France (cost about $16). Supposedly the cheaper you pay the stronger the anise (black licorice-like) flavor and the more spendy the more of an herbal flavor. We were living large so we went with the legit one, and I think it still tasted a whole lot like anise. Now that I can say I've tried it, I never really want to again, not because it was gross or anything, just because I don't really care for black licorice.

Now that I've touched on the food and drink aspect of this vintage speak easy, I have to fill you in on the ambiance. The music playing was 1920's jazz, Andrew/ Robbie was adorned in a waistcoat and tie and the lighting was subtle and romantic. It time warped me back to an era where this little date of mine would have put us in the slammer, where moonshine was a delicacy, where guys called gals "dames and sweethearts". It was all very "Great Gatspy". I loved it. 

There was no shortage on attention to detail here. The tender was literally hand carving ice blocks for the whisky and every drink had a dazzling glass. The variety of bottles behind the bar was so exclusive, I could have stared for hours.  This place carries everything from mid shelf to top top shelf inebriants. Drinks range from $7-$120, but have no fear you can try a quarter of a shot of anything for a quarter of the price (so $30 for some crazy expensive stuff) . Heres a picture of our water pitcher, every table had a different, detailed one on it. 

This place was superb! The staff was friendly, the food & drink spectacular, the atmosphere was antique with a modern flare. All in all I was impressed! I will be back....often,  and I encourage you to give it a try too.