Clearly most of the crowd there in those super-busy windows does not understand what the place is about. But I’m not sure I’d instruct Drink in this economy to turn those folks away. We’re not Manhattan, with the sheer numbers of connoisseur drinkers to support multiple craft bars with headcount limits. There’s still plenty of Boston consumer evangelizing and educating on craft cocktails to do.

At their best, I’d put what the bartenders in our elite establishments are doing up against the top tier nationwide (based on my experiences in NY, LA and SF; I haven’t been to DC’s finer places yet). But as everywhere, intelligent drinkers have to pick their spots: avoid Drink at peak weekend hours, Eastern Standard an hour before a game at Fenway, etc. This isn’t that hard; I’d estimate those crush periods represent maybe 10% of the time they’re open. With any luck, enough folks here will catch on that our craft cocktail bars will have the luxury of turning people away.

I hear the NYC institutions set limits, and I know the DC establishments certainly enforce such rules.

This board and others holds Drink up to be the equal if not better than other institutions, but until I know that I cannot show up on a night that four deep is possible in a place where the idea is interaction with the bartender/mixologist, then I think Drink will never enter the top tier of national cocktail establishments.

If “four deep” is even possible, how can it compete with a similar establishment in another city where they make their own bitters; craft original drinks along the lines of traditional recipes; but allow only a crowd which permits easy communication with those behind the bar?