Cuisine very social atmosphere,” said Coats. “When you’re here, you often run into people you know or meet new people that you normally wouldn’t in a typical restaurant environment.” He added that since they don’t have designated reservations, tables tend to move quickly, so customers can come in any time they want and have a beer; before long, a table will open up. Their award winning cocktail menu is the brainchild of beverage director Bill Whitlow, who developed the beverage program at their Over The Rhine and Mainstrasse locations in Cincinnati. “Bill came here to get our beverage program rolling and really introduce Lexington to the craft cocktail scene,” said Coats. “There are a few craft cocktail bars here, but nothing like we are doing.” Bar manager Mike Abbott is on-site at Goodfellas Distillery and is passionate about creating exciting cocktails made with locally sourced ingredients. A hands-down customer favorite, he said, is the Mexican Shakedown. “It’s a play on a traditional fizz, using small batch tequila instead of gin and our house-made rosemary simple syrup.” He explained that since our senses of smell and taste are so closely related, they use a spring of fresh rosemary, which is torched and placed in the drink as a garnish. “Once we light one, we know we’re about to make eight more,” he said. When asked what excites him most in the food and beverage world, Abbott said, “I love the movement where people are doing fresh, simple food, but with perfect execution. It might just be mashed potatoes and buttermilk fried chicken, but if it’s executed perfectly, there is no need to doctor it up. So we always look for minimally processed ingredients, and we try to buy local as much as we can.” Coats added, “It can be challenging with the volume of ingredients we use, but we have a great food purveyor who knows about quality ingredients.” After myriad lessons learned over eleven years in business, Coats and Boggs knew the time was right to take their restaurant group to the next level. Coats explained how the idea of the Wiseguy Lounge evolved. “When we first decided to branch out of Lexington, we
Goodfellas Distillery 1228 Manchester Street, Lexington (859) 523-5280 Hours: Sunday - Wednesday: 11am–12am Thursday - Saturday: 11am–2:30am
opened a multi-story location in Covington, Kentucky. It featured craft cocktails, 400 bourbons, and prohibition style drinks. It has a back staircase, so we decided to put a speakeasy on the second floor. We called it the Wiseguy Lounge but we didn’t market it: people would just stumble across it, and many didn’t know it was there. But over time, the popularity grew.” Two years later, they opened the same concept in Over The Rhine. Wiseguy Lounge has been rated one of the Top 50 Bourbon Bars in America for the past three years by Four Roses and The Bourbon Review Magazine, in addition to many other awards. With the new location and more on the way, Coats and Boggs are showing no signs of slowing down. They give plenty of credit to their team, including general manager Tony Arthur and Director of Operations, Matt Falco, for helping them operate successfully day after day. “We are both Lexingtonians,” said Coats, “We love our great state of Kentucky, but my mother’s family is from Long Island, so we also have family ties to New York and to New York pizza. That’s why we decided to do a New York style pizzeria with a bourbon bar concept.” Boggs added, “We have known each other since high school, and our parents taught us from a very young age, if you’re going to do something, do the best you can.”
Goodfellas Distillery Old Fashioned 2 oz. Old Forester 86 bourbon 2 oz. Angostura bitters Splash of simple syrup Flamed orange peel Quick stir then served over ice with orange peel and black cherry garnish.
TOPS Magazine | April 2017
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