Guess “hoo” went to the Owl Bar this week

“It says it’s here.”

“Where?”

“Here!”

“I don’t see anything,” I said, “besides the Belvedere.”

“Let’s go the other way and try again.”

We ended up wandering up and down the street three times, almost went home, turned around out of sheer bloody-mindedness and finally went into the Belvedere to do the dreaded thing: Ask for directions.

“Excuse me do you know where the Owl Bar is?” Seth asked the concierge.

“Right down that hall,” she said. We looked at each other and started laughing. Of course it was right down the hall.

Let that be your warning (I suppose): There is no sign for the Owl Bar outside of the Belvedere. You’re just supposed to know it’s there. The interior felt almost medieval with dark wood, high ceilings and a lot of very cool stained glass windows made from what looked like bottles. As one would expect in a place called the Owl Bar, several of the stained glass windows portrayed owls. There were also owl sculptures and statues throughout the bar.

Seth and I guessed that it was probably a smoking room for the hotel at one point. The Owl Bar claims on its website that it was a popular speakeasy during Prohibition. Apparently the eyes of the owls that decorate the bar were used as a code to indicate whether or not it was safe to drink.

The vibe of the place today is actually quite odd; It’s almost more like a restaurant than a bar. We only went for drinks but were seated at a table and everything. Most people seemed to have ordered food. The pizza was made in the corner of the dining room where you could watch the chef. We were on the opposite side of the room though, so I didn’t get a very clear view of exactly what was happening.

The music they played was mostly alternative from a few years ago, which interacted interestingly with surroundings that seemed to call either for some kind of live medieval band or perhaps a rearrangement of the space and a more up-to-date playlist.

Our drinks were good! Nothing crazy but we also didn’t order anything crazy. There were a lot of people drinking an electric-green cocktail, which looked like it could be fun to try. They had a list of very complicated drinks that seemed like they would either be delicious or pretty nasty. The food looked potentially worth trying — lots of pizza passed by and someone at a table near us had a very good-looking piece of some kind of chocolate cake. Everything on the menu was maybe a dollar or two more expensive than usual, which isn’t awful if you’re having one drink, but it does add up over the course of an evening (if price is a consideration for you).

My favorite part of the Owl Bar was undoubtedly the look. The historic feel of it was very cool as was the space. Nothing else really separated it from anywhere else I’ve been. It’s very much a Mt. Vernon kind of bar. Drinks and service were both decent! I would probably go back to check out their brunch, mostly because the space was so much fun to look at.