Crawling Through a Cocktail Boom in Worcester
Photos by Michael Piazza
Nobody would dare accuse Worcester of not knowing how to drink. The city has a rich history of imbibing, supported by a bar scene dotted with legendary dives and neighborhood haunts. Nightcaps in Hotel Vernon’s famous Ship Room are part of many fuzzy memories. Plenty of weathered watering holes still exist, with their interesting smells and local charm. But the Woo’s problem has always been recognizing the distinction between knowing how to drink and drinking well.
Thankfully, Worcester has seen an explosion of new bar openings feeding an increasingly vibrant nightlife; they do not merely peddle a shot and a beer, but offer destinations for a time rife with well-crafted cocktails served alongside live music, comedy, even an e-sports tournament.
THE STANDARD
Wispy smoke rises from a chilled rocks glass, the result of a bartender carefully toasting a sprig of thyme. The strong herbaceousness of the slightly charred thyme has now been captured in the glass, the first step to preparing a Ricardo, one of several cocktails available this past summer at Steel & Wire Cocktail Lounge (124 Millbury St.). Next comes fresh grapefruit and lime juices mixed with gin and agave syrup, creating a smokey, sweet refresher.
When the show behind the bar is nearly as captivating as the drink itself, you know you’ve stepped inside a true cocktail bar. Steel & Wire, founded last year by Frank and Mara Inangelo, emerged with a handful of other bars to fill a particular gap in the city’s nightlife.
“We always would say, ‘After dinner where do you go for a drink?’ If you’re not getting a meal, there isn’t really an option,’” says Mara Inangelo. “There are plenty of sports bars and neighborhood bars and all of those, but they’re really only focused on beer. When we were talking about opening up our own place, we thought that was a missing piece.”
Steel & Wire occupies a centuries-old building that has been a bar of some kind since 1910. When the Inangelos took over, it housed Nick’s Bar & Restaurant, a popular jazz lounge, so they felt a certain level of pressure knowing they planned to replace one of those institutional Worcester barrooms.
“In Worcester, people have a really long memory,” she says. “There are certain places people view as sacred cows.”
Their fear proved unfounded, though: They never intended to open something too highbrow for Worcester and were slowly embraced by Nick’s former regulars.
“We wanted to focus on cocktails while still recognizing where we are in the country and where we are in Massachusetts,” she says. “We’re not Boston or New York. We still wanted to make this feel accessible and like a neighborhood bar. Someone won’t make you feel bad for not knowing how a certain drink should be made.”
Frank Inangelo, who has been bartending in the city for over two decades, wanted his bar to serve elevated, yet approachable cocktails. When it comes to his bartending style, he leans on classic cocktails while scouring every source he can for new ideas.
The menu changes frequently and often mentions the name of the bartender—or in the case of the Ricardo, even the customer—who created or inspired it. Over the summer, the list included Kentucky Buck, a zippy bourbon and ginger cocktail with lemon juice, strawberries and bitters.
Most weeks Steel & Wire has live music, but Frank Inangelo, a musician himself, has become more selective with the bands he chooses. He didn’t want to open a bar where the music was the star attraction.
“I want the bartenders to be the primary focus,” he says. “They should have top billing.”
THE NICHE
A drab brick building off Shrewsbury Street hides a room inspired by a Japanese anime about a futuristic bar.
In one corner, soft purple and red lights illuminate an “Energy Bar” equipped with a shiny espresso machine. In the center, a slew of computer monitors glow below desktops stacked on hexagonal tables. One door leads you to a full production studio, another to a crypto mine and still another to a kitchen with a brick conveyor-style pizza oven imported from Italy.
All Systems Go assaults the senses—in a good way. The e-sports bar and venue, at first glance, would appear to be tailored to a very specific audience. But hang out for a while, sipping on a creamy cocktail adorned with a watermelon wedge between bites of pizza and you’ll find a bar that’s not just for gamers.
“We appeal to everyone, but yet we’re a niche place,” says co-founder Devin LaPlume.
LaPlume, who opened All Systems Go in 2021 with business partner Amber Beck, says his espresso martini rivals any in the city; he even phoned Valentinos nearby to challenge the venerable bar to an espresso martini showdown.
All Systems Go’s success lies in this level of broad appeal. Other gaming bars, notably those with arcade games, make more money, LaPlume says. However, the trick for him has been having the two bars—one with coffee and energy-drink-fueled concoctions, another with cocktails—bring in just enough people to both support and advertise a thriving e-sports company and venue that hosts large gaming tournaments and fosters new athletes.
“It’s a balance,” LaPlume says, “but that’s what I think we’ve done so well. We’re able to have the kind of environment for people who want to come here and get the gaming experience. And we’re still able to hit the mark on a Friday or Saturday night, when we get good crowds in to enjoy the nightlife aspect of our bar that’s not focused on competitive, hardcore gaming.”
THE FUTURE
“I usually ask people how weird they want to get before they order,” says local bartender Braden Pfahl, explaining his philosophy on serving crazy cocktails, like one garnished with a freeze-dried grasshopper.
Pfahl, who cut his teeth in the city’s bar scene, will soon fulfill a career goal of managing a bar. Set to open on Green Street this fall, 1885 will boast a cocktail program that pushes the boundaries in bartending unlike any bar in the city, he says.
“I’m probably not going to start off putting crickets in my cocktails,” Pfahl jokes, “but I might do something fun like that once we get our reputation for being whimsical. I also want to have well-balanced, delicious cocktails where you have one and you want to have three more.”
This year, he has demonstrated his exploratory, offbeat bartending style through World’s End, a cocktail pop-up he created. He whipped together wild beverages, from his own burnt-bread and tomato liquid for a riff on a Bloody Mary, to an avocado and mezcal infusion for a guacamole-inspired margarita.
Of World’s End, he says, “It taught me that people wanted what I was making: more fun, well-made cocktails with interesting ingredients. They don’t have to be super scary and pretentious.”
At 1885 (50 Green St.), Pfahl says his cocktails will play with aromas and tastes and alter our understanding of presentation, incorporating unexpected garnishes and quirky vessels, like ceramic seashells. And he has plans for theatrics, including using dry ice to simulate smoke or surrounding a drink with flowers.
Worcester, unlike any other time in its drinking history, can handle a bar like 1885, Pfahl says, thanks to this recent renaissance of new bars and bartenders.
“They’re definitely introducing Worcester to—I don’t know a nice way of saying it—a better side of drinking, and they’re being creative and having great times,” he says. “I want to continue pushing those limits and keep moving the city’s cocktail game further and further ahead.”
allsystemsgoma.com
steelandwirebar.com
1885 // coming soon
This story appeared in the Fall 2023 issue.
