The owner of one of New York’s favorite beer bars is currently gearing up to launch a fabulous new concept in Midtown West.
Cocktail is owner Jacqueline Munson’s latest bar. Formerly the owner of Paloma Rocket, Jacqueline ran a popular bar known for its impressive beer selection and exciting events with pizza, live music, and cocktails. Uniquely, Jacqueline allowed guests to serve themselves their own beer, which only made her bar that much more popular thanks to the respect she gave to her customers.
While Paloma Rocket had been struggling in recent years, Jacqueline is now planning on launching an entirely new experience called Cocktail. Moving into the space at 568 Ninth Avenue, Cocktail is an exciting new bar that promises to offer dazzling in-person entertainment all night long.
With a background in drag and performance, Jacqueline hopes to bring a diverse variety of entertainers to delight her many guests. Hoping to offer the entire gamut of New York entertainment options, Cocktail is looking to host evenings like Gay Chorus, karaoke, drag bingo, barber shop quartets, spoken word nights, contortionists, puppet shows, and anything else this wild city can pull out of its imagination. For Cocktail, creativity is the name of the game.
By far, Cocktail’s most exciting concept is the “Hors D’Oeuverie Salon”, a second floor room specifically hosted by drag hosts serving over the top cocktails and hors d’oeuvres reminiscent of 60’s suburbia. Think Deviled Ham Salad and Ants on a Log, maybe even an aspic or two – just the right amount of weird for a New York bar.
Cocktail will be replacing Empire Coffee, a New York coffee staple that operated on ninth avenue for over a century. Sadly, as the city’s coffee industry has undergone massive changes, Empire had to close down its original ninth avenue location. Thankfully, other locations can be found online, where you can also order the coffee in bulk.
Munson is proposing operating hours of 6PM – 4AM for Cocktail, and is aggressively soundproofing the location to ensure that the community is undisturbed by the new project. As Covid continues to keep theatres and bars on edge, new performance venues are desperately needed, and Cocktail is sure to be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
