Post #628578 by telescopes on Tue, Mar 13, 2012 8:22 AM

I had the joy of going to the Beachcomber last night and meeting up with the TC crowd. I arrived at 4:30 and stayed to 8 so I felt I was able to really catch the vibe and see for myself if the crew was up to snuff.

When I arrived, I ordered a rum barrel from a male bartender. I requested that it be nicely made. He looked at me somewhat strange and quickly made the rum barrel. I noticed that the rums weren't premium per se, but I can report that the rum barrel tasted like a rum barrel. No complaints on the drink. It was as expected.

We spoke for awhile and I asked him about quality concerns. He seemed confused and unaware that there were problems. The conversation then went to the female bartender who seemed confused at first, but then fest up that she was indeed aware that there were some concerns about the drink quality. She reiterated the same message that Art did about how the mixes are made in the back and that it should be almost impossible to mess up the drink. That is of course, if they follow the order, which some of the new bartenders may not have done.

After an hour, I ordered the Zombie from the male bartender. I asked if he had absinthe and he said that he did. I asked specifically for absinthe and asked what brand he used. He pulled out a bottle of "Pernod" which he pronounced Per-nod. He then free poured it onto the top of my drink and proudly exclaimed, there, that looks like four drops.

I laughed and said, "Well, getting that 1/8 oz isn't always easy. A little goes a long way." To which he replied, "They have an eye dropper behind the bar that were suppose to use."

Okay, he knows the rules.

Now let me say here, the Zombie tasted like a spot on Zombie. Beachbum Berry would have enjoyed it. Hell, it tasted like a zombie.

My third drink that night was the Mai Tai. For the record, it tasted like a Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai.

All in all, the drinks were worth the 250 mile round trip.

Now, as to the food. I ordered various foods throughout the night. The pork sliders, sticky ribs, and the sweet potato fries all were very tasty and well worth the price. In fact, they were keeping with the legend that is Don the Beachcomber.

To those who are worried that there might be problems, my suggestion is to let the bar crew know that you care about drink quality. It is obvious that they have a diverse cliental and the bar crew does not serve DTB drinks to most people. As I watched what people were drinking, it became very clear that most people just went a beer or something similar to what you might find at other bars. But the vibe that is DTB, the foods offered and the drink selection is clearly a California treasure. If you are in the area, you definitely want to come by and support this place - not like you might a homeless vagrant by offering him a dollar because you feel sorry for him, but because you are going to get a quality of product wrapped in a package that you simply won't get anywhere else.

And to all the TCers last night, I enjoyed spending time with you and catching up on all of the latest. What a great way to spend a birthday.