Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on July 15, 2024.
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If you've frequented Market Square in recent years, you may be familiar with the Wine Bar at Market Street Grocery. This little hangout spot tucked away in the back of the small grocery store offered an assortment of Italian wines in a relaxing ambiance.
In 2024, the Wine Bar underwent a rebranding and expansion to become The Aperitivo Club. While still offering a stellar selection of wines, this one added on an impressive collection of cocktails featuring Italian amaro, spirits, and more, small bites, and more!
Naturally, we had to check out the cocktail side of this bar shortly after opening.
Italian Flavors at The Aperitivo Club
The cocktail menu at The Aperitivo Club was broken up into four sections during our visit- Prima, Dopo, Ogni Volta, and Shooters. These roughly translate to Before, After, Every Time, and (no translation really needed for the last one), Shots.
The mix of cocktails here really can be enjoyed no matter how you're visiting the bar, and most guests will recognize house twists off classics with interesting Italian ingredients on all menus.
The Market St. Spritz, for example, is a riff off of the classic Aperol Spritz but is instead made with strawberry infused Bordiga Aperitivo, apricot liqueur, rose Prosecco, orange bitters, and seltzer. The same light bitterness of an Aperol Spritz here is balanced with an increase in fruit notes from the strawberry and apricot flavors.
The Negroni Wash was another example that used a mix of Italian gin, Cocchi Vermouth, and Campari as the base but was amplified with a milk wash and pineapple juice added for clarification. An upfront bitter hit from the Vermouth and Campari that was balanced beautifully with a residual flavor of creamy pineapple on the finish.
If there is any cocktail that would be a must have on every visit, it would be this one- the Negroni Wash hit all the right notes for us!
The final cocktail we tried was the Limoncello Last Word, a play off one of my all-time favorite cocktails. This one was made with Limoncello, Strega, Italicus (bergamot and citrus flavored), and lemon. For Limoncello lovers, this one hits with a lemon intensity and some nice herbal notes on the backend, but for a play on The Last Word I have to admit I think it could've used a cherry (or other equivalent red fruit) note somehow to tie it altogether.
While we did not get a chance to try anything from the Shooters side of the menu on this particular visit, the shots here did look quite interesting as most seemed to be mixes of an amaro and a spirit. Think combinations like mezcal and Meletti or Cynar and sherry. For those that like amaro, this one can get interesting in a hurry.
Of course, cocktails and shots are only one part of the menu here, and The Aperitivo Club also stocks a decent number of Italian wines from all over the country. We are looking forward to trying some of these and their small plates menu on our next visit into the expanded space!
The Aperitivo Club is located in the back of Market Street Grocery at 435 Market Street near Market Square.
