Post #447441 by TorchGuy on Thu, Apr 16, 2009 7:49 AM

So what, exactly, constitute Disco drinks and Fern Bar drinks? Anyone have guesses on cliches for ordering in these sorts of places, for the sake of being cliche?

Tinkers' Damn (sorta-kinda gay bar in San Jose) definately counts as a disco, and the Billy McHale's chain here in the Seattle area definately classify as fern bars (with a bit of that "crazy crap on the walls" thing - they're all log-built buildings stuffed with Victorian lamps full of multicolored bulbs, antiques and neon signs, Western stuff and, yes, ferns). Maxi's, a bar atop the Doubletree (ex-Red Lion) by the airport, atop the main tower and reachable by glass capsule elevators, is, or at least was, a disco - now it's the local meet market, where the touted "top 40 DJ" plays top 40 circa 1991 - but the view is great, so I wanna drink there.

Anyone know the popular/trendy cocktails circa late 70s-early 80s that weren't "classics" (i.e. martinis and manhattans)? I visit all three of these places, and yeah, I'd like to order something completely cliche, just to feel truly at-home - and to see the tender's expression.