Imperial

A red neon sign under an old glass sconce reads COCKTAIL BAR UPSTAIRS, lit even at midday, at 48 College Street. It has pointed the way since December 9, 2012. That day, Imperial opened above the restaurant Table as The Imperial Life, its bar counter cut from a bowling lane.

Downstairs is the newer half. Imperial Street Food, the kitchen, only soft-opened in October 2025, and it skips table service. A framed sign by the door reads PLEASE SEE BAR FOR SERVICE — the whole floor plan in five words. The kitchen smokes its own trout for taquitos, rolled by hand, finished with hibiscus onions and salsa macha. The same kitchen turns Hickory Nut Gap pork into a pig-ear chilaquiles under a fried egg.

Upstairs is where the night happens. It works as a dance floor with a full bar attached. DJs Mad Mike, ragga_massive and jamesnasty rotate through it. Sundays close on Service Industry Sunday: a free meal for the people who worked every other night that week.

Mezcal turns up throughout the list, not only in the section built for it. The Brave — room temperature, by design — sets espadin mezcal against blanco tequila and Averna. The “Pechuga” Old-Fashioned borrows its name from a technique for distilling mezcal over raw meat and fruit. What lands in the glass is espadin, agave nectar, corn cob and a burnt-orange oil. The Imperial G&T is stranger still: a gin carbonated against ten botanicals, calamus and cassia among them. Jungle Bird, Martinez, Rosita hold the classics section down without any of that.

Climb the stairs for the drinks and the DJs. Stay at street level if the taquitos are the whole reason you came.