Yes!
As OYFF wound down, my friend and I had the great idea that we should keep hanging out. We decided that 1859 Cider Co should be our destination, but the only problem was, they don't serve food and we needed to eat. I remembered that they allow patrons to bring food in, so then my friend had an even better idea - that we should call and order food to go from Ventis so that by the time the raffle at OYFF was done our food would be ready. Brilliant!
We checked out Ventis' downtown menu online and called and placed our order as raffle numbers rang out through the air.
Soon we were headed out to the rest of our night, despite the fact that we were both in our sweaty running clothes (reminder, this was a 100-ish degree night in Salem). I walked about a block over to Ventis while my friend moved her car. When I got there they told me they'd been busy and didn't have our food ready. They were nice about it and asked if I wanted a cup for water while I waited (maybe I looked dehydrated!) and it was a pretty pleasant wait, as far as waits go. I sat at the bar stools by the window and took a few moments to observe the construction that is going on to expand the upstairs dining area. It was my first glimpse at their new look. I'll be interested to see it when it's complete.
They also have a basement bar, which has a cool vibe that is super different than the upstairs. I will have to visit and blog about it some other time. Here's a little peek at the stairs that lead down there.
Since it was a nice night, the waiters and waitresses were constantly in and out the door delivering food to the people eating out on the sidewalk (I've had that experience before and recommend it!). I also enjoyed the music that they had playing. I recognized The Shins but couldn't think of the song so SoundHounded it. Overall, it was pretty peaceful even though I was waiting.
Soon I had our food in hand and headed over to 1859 Cider Co.
1859 is actually in the same building as my apartments (it's a mixed use building), so I made a quick stop at my place to pick up some stuff I needed. Then I went out the back way (shortcut!), into the side alley, and just around the corner into the main alley to the home of 1859 Cider Co.
I like the rolltop garage style doors on the units back here. Kinda hip :)
Since I live just upstairs, I've smiled to myself at the thought of coming down here wearing slippers to get my growler filled, or bringing my homemade dinner down to eat with a glass of cider :). I haven't actually done either yet.
The seating area inside is fairly compact and has a trendy vibe about it. They also have a large open space that houses their brewing vats, and which I assume they also use for their Sunday night salsa dancing sessions.
The seating inside wasn't super comfortable. I ended up on a bench that rolled, which was a little awkward given that there was a lady sitting at the other end of it and I sent her rolling. We decided to move to the tables outside instead. I started in on my garlic sesame tofu (one of my usual orders from Ventis - it's good) while my friend enjoyed her Thai chicken peanut rice dish.
Then our drinks arrived. My friend tried out a sampler of each of their varieties. Since I'd already done the sampler on the grand opening night, I knew that I enjoyed their "Statehood" cider and ordered a glass of that. I really enjoyed mine. Sometimes ciders can seem overly sweet to me, but this one wasn't and had a nice flavor. If it's your first time visiting them, I would recommend the sampler of all six because it's a fun experience to taste the differences.
It was a great temperature out in the alley and a nice night to sit outside. And, being in the alley did afford us some interesting experiences. A drunk guy wandered by and couldn't quite grasp the concept of what alcoholic cider was and said he preferred rum. A little bit later a couple motorcycles drove through the alley. Mostly it was quiet back there with a limited amount of regular city activity.
As the night got later and darker, another one of our friends joined up with us. We enjoyed some conversation then plotted our next move.
Originally we thought we'd walk down the street for some froyo dessert. But as we got to the end of the alley and crossed Court Street, we could see Victory Club's crowd in the next alley and decided to do a "drive by" to see what it's like. It's a pretty new establishment as well and I'd been wanting to check it out, especially because it's in an alley, and I appreciate that new trend. As we approached it, my friend and I got a little hesitant because we were still in our running clothes. Our third member (in normal clothes) went in to check it out for us and told us we'd be fine. We threw caution to the wind and went inside.
The vibe was hard to put my finger on, and I'm still not quite sure how to describe it. I like the interior design of the place. The multicolored wood walls in the main bar area and the mural in the side room (one big open room that appeared to probably be intended for music shows as well as regular seating) made it feel Oregonian.
There was also a cool brick wall that I appreciated behind the tap.
We ordered our drinks (I got "two thorns raspberry/rose petal" cider by Two Towns) and grabbed a booth. My cider was great, BTW.
As we sat, I observed the surroundings. It seemed to be a pretty young crowd overall, and the place was fairly packed but not too overcrowded. It wasn't really a hipster vibe, and was maybe more like the typical bar crowd of a mix of local people. (We even saw the Gallaghers there who had hosted On Your Feet Friday earlier that night.) It kind of felt like a bar-ish taphouse. (Their facebook page says they serve spirits too, but I only noticed all the taps.) It was *loud*, and my friends and I have reached an age where we don't really appreciate that. Our hypothesis was that the wood siding made the sound reverberate. We enjoyed that the bar was playing Olympic coverage so we could catch some glimpses of what was going on. There was also a photo booth in the corner that piqued my interest, but there was no price listed and I wasn't totally in a photo boothy mood. Perhaps some other time :)
I also thought it was pretty cool that the candle holder on our table was made from a cut beer bottle!
One other thing to note is the fact that they served actual food. We didn't get any so I can't say how it was, but I still found it impressive since most taphouses choose not to serve food.
As we left, we saw a good amount of people enjoying the outside patio on that warm night.
What a jam packed Friday night we had in downtown Salem! I'd recommend both new Salem alley locations. They didn't disappoint.
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