The Orbit Room, the charming and beloved Upper Market bar which reopened under new owners Courtney Ross and Nic DeLillo last fall after a brief closure, now has a revamped cocktail menu and a new food menu to go with it. Reflecting the creativity and use of fresh fruit and herbs from the former Orbit Room, the new cocktail selection also has a distinct sense of humor and several drinks that can be ordered with your choice of spirit. The new tagline: A creative cocktail spot with a dive bar soul.
Ross, who spent years working at Bloodhound, says, "We didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, because the concept wasn’t broken, we just wanted to bring our years of experience and sensibilities to the space and build upon the already solid rep of Orbit Room."
One example from the new menu is Shut the Front Door, a create-your-own mule variation with hibiscus or hellfire bitters. Says DeLillo of the name, "San Francisco isn’t known for its warm weather. Often people will come in the bar and the door sticks behind them it can feel like a meat locker in here. This was our funny reminder since we find ourselves saying it numerous times every service."
Highlights from the new food offerings include totchos (tater tot nachos); a Hawaiian pizza with Canadian bacon, pineapple, and jalapenos; and a monster-sounding sandwich called the Dagwood with salami, smoked ham, roast beef, peppered turkey, bacon, tomato, tossed mixed greens, Swiss, Havarti, pickles, and olives. Also, on the weekends, there is a breakfast pizza that comes topped with eggs, bacon, cheese, and tater tots.
Below, the complete new cocktail list.
Cocktails
Shut the Front Door
Vodka or gin or pisco or bourbon or rye or rum or tequila with lime, ginger beer, hibiscus or hellfire
Debonairre
Vodka or gin or pisco with grapefruit, agave, house made curaçao and pastis spritz
Tart Nouveau (not Deco)
Vodka or gin or pisco, blackberry cardamom peppercorn shrub, lemon, soda and blackberries
Mestizo
Mezcal and tequila, cherry sweet vermouth, and OJ mezcal spritz
Pelirroja
Tequila agua fresca, ancho reyes soda, house molé bitters salt and chili flake rim
Bourbon in Bed
Bacon washed bourbon, maple syrup, barrel aged bitters and an orange peel
Kansas Manhattan
Un-aged Dickel white whiskey, sweet vermouth, dry vermouth, ginger liquor, Dickel 8 year and an orange peel
Ask Me Again
Rye or bourbon, hibiscus, lemon, basil simple syrup, and a basil leaf
Red Beard
Light rum, gold rum, dark rum Agave Lime Orange juice House Tiki Bitters
The Orbit Room - 1900 Market Street at Laguna - Open weekdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; and 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.