After/Glow

The DJ booth is a sphere. A company that supplies circuses fabricated the giant metal globe, and it hangs above the counter at After/Glow, a few steps down from the lobby of The Radical. Mornings, the espresso machine runs underneath it.

Jacob Sessoms opened it in January 2024 as the café and cocktail bar of his Perfectly Ad Hoc Hospitality Group, with Counter Culture coffee by day. The seating splits two ways. A stepped concrete lounge of leather banquettes and small round tables is where the laptops are open. Outside, the terrace sits under red umbrellas and string lights, and in warm weather the windows are opened wide to join the two. Fridays bring live music. Saturdays bring local DJs, no cover.

The people behind the bar are part of what the room does. For the RADA Sip & Shop in April 2026, the crew stepped out from behind the bar and the kitchen to sell their own art at tables in the roundabout. In September, Bar Manager Anderson walked through the late-summer menu on camera. Later that month the bar put out a call to other bartenders for a competition: three rounds, each with a mystery spirit and a mystery glass, and a prize for the best cocktail of every round. Syrups, infusions and mix-ins are made in the kitchen, so the bartenders are working from their own pantry.

The Radical Hotel Bar took second place for Drinks in Best of WNC in 2026, and the coffee side carries into the glass. The Carajillo is espresso, orange and vanilla. The Espresso Martini uses cold brew with vodka and coffee liqueur.

The fall cocktails go out under the name Not So Old Fashioned and leave with the season. Come in for a coffee in the afternoon and stay until a DJ climbs into the globe.