The Punch Room

Visited the Punch Room Saturday night. Really inviting interior on what turned out to be a cold night in Charlotte. The bar has nice, quiet atmosphere for having good conversation. Drinks we had were quite good, there are a number on the menu to try. Overall, a nice «chill» evening out on a Saturday night.

This was my first stop in my first visit to Charlotte with my fiancé. What an incredible, swanky, throw-​back experience. The lounge bar is dim, ‘classic’ with a «Mad Men» 1960s library room lounge type of feel. It appeared like a high class speakeasy. Though it was a little hard to get seated upon getting off the elevator at the 15^th floor, once we were escorted into the bar lounge, everything worked out great. Peter was a super friendly and knowledgable bartender/​server and Bob was an awesome mixologist, who came out to pour us drinks personally. We treated ourselves to some amazing gritty hummus blend with garlic-​y pita bread slices and also tried some complimentary punch drinks. My fiancé ordered the JAM beer but accidentally got a different NODA beer so Peter kindly gave us, on the house, a dish of kettle chips with a great dipping sauce; he offered the beer on the house as well. The server was top notch, the drinks were on the strong «spirited» side, and the experience sitting in front of an amazing cityscape couldn’t be beat. To top it off, the duo gave us a strong recommendation of dive bars we might enjoy in the area. Definitely an amazing experience.

I’ve been to the Punch room a few times now, and while the first visit was pretty terrific (all thanks to Bob Peters), the next few visits got progressively bad.
To make a long story short, if you want to feel like you’re in NYC or LA trying to get in to a tough-​to-​get-​into club, the Punch Room on a Saturday night is just the place!
While the bar tender, the drinks and the ambiance deserve 5 stars, the hostess and overall experience before even walking in to the bar is terrible — almost negative stars worthy.
Granted the bar is at the Ritz Carlton, but that hardly justifies telling your guests that the bar has a 37 person capacity and is at 35 people, when in reality there aren’t more than 10 people in there.
I can understand if the hostess was driving away a rowdy, inappropriate or oversized group, but that wasn’t even the case here.
I hope something changes in the way this place is run, because I really am a fan of the concept, the style and the drinks here and I would like to return and even recommend this place to my friends in the future!

THOROUGHLY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. But first the good, because I try to be fair. The lounge is beautiful and peaceful, and the drinks are tasty. We enjoyed the sample of the punch du jour so much we ordered a full punch bowl of it. Now on to the unpleasantness…
The highly uppity environment was an immediate turn off. We arrived at 10:30 on a Friday evening, and we were met by a hostess who tried her best to put on airs. Unfortunately she was so young, I could barely take her seriously. There is VERY LIMITED SEATING and they are very particular about who gets seated when and how. There is a locked door which only the hostess can open if/​when she decides to allow you in. We were fortunate to get a 4 person seating area without any wait, but the couple who arrived before my party was left in the hallway. Upon being seated, I informed the hostess that we had a few more people meeting us here, so we would like to be able to either pull up additional chairs or move to a larger seating area when they arrived. She was non-​committal, but nothing made me think that a larger party would not be welcome.
We settled in to enjoy our drinks and conversation. And it was nice for a few minutes. It’s fairly quiet, as the Punch Room has cultivated a calm relaxing atmosphere. I get what they’re trying to do and I appreciate it, but more on that in a moment.
Fifteen minutes later, the remainder of our party arrived. Four more people rather than the additional two I was expecting, but still… not a rave or anything. I received a text from our party saying that the hostess would not allow them in, and that it was going to be an hour wait before they could get in. I looked around in disbelief. The entire sofa seating area was empty — two long sofas and 4 arm chairs. Behind me was an empty 4 person seating area. And to my left was another area with open spaces. There were literally only about 8 other patrons in the place besides my group. I went to the hallway to discuss with the hostess how we could accommodate the additional people who had arrived, but she was very aggravated and high strung. She kept saying «I did not confirm or deny that we could add chairs to your area!!» OKAYYYYYY.
Bottom line:
(1) They do not want anyone standing in the lounge. FINE, I understand.
(2) They do not want any seats moved around within the lounge. OK, not ideal, but again I guess I can understand.
(3) They do not allow a party to move to a bigger area because they have other guests on a list that might be waiting for that area! THIS… this I do not understand. I am in your bar, ordering a lot of drinks, behaving nicely and enjoying the scene. I am willing to continue spending money on outrageously priced drinks because they taste good and I like the company I’m with. But you would rather text someone on a list who may or may not show up (for the 4 open seating areas you currently have), rather than allowing a patron who is already there and spending money to stay there and keep spending money. This makes no business sense to me.
I will not be back, and I would not recommend this place to my friends.

This is my first time back since they changed the venue. There’s now a hostess outside of the space on the 15^th floor of the Ritz, where she took our cell # and quoted a 30 minute wait. She actually got us in sooner than that (she may taken pity on us as we were hungry and the kitchen was closing soon). Service was attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. We had the duck sliders and hummus. The duck was earthy, sweet, fatty with a hint of something minty and a mild tangerine marmalade. I liked the hummus too but the duck was the winner. My drink was the Fig Deal a bourbon base which was excellent. We were given a sample of the Punch du Jour which tasted liked a ginger beer. It was ok, just not the flavor palate I was interested in.
The décor wasn’t changed too much. The «view» is now hidden behind beads, some book shelves section the space off so it feels more intimate, but it’s still pretty much the same space. I mention the «view» because that used to be a selling point with the last venue, which isn’t really anything spectacular but still a nice feature I wish they didn’t hide so much with the beads. Music was subdued so conversation was easy. Not too dark like a club lounge. Still a single unisex bathroom, always clean and fully stocked.
It was a great ambiance, food and service. I will definitely be back and likely plan ahead next time.

As a bourbon enthusiast I have to say that Bob Peters makes the best Old Fashion’s I’ve ever had in my life. I can honestly say that the Punch Room is my favorite place to take my wife on a date. Don’t forget to order some Appetizers because everything on the menu is superb!

Looking for the perfect date night in the city for young professions? Definitely check this place out. Seeing the other reviews I am not sure if we beat the crowd or came after. We arrived around 7:30 and we were promptly seated.
After riding the elevator up to the 15^th floor we were greeted by the hostess and led through a heavy door and transported back in time. The bar had the feel of a swanky speakeasy. There were high back black chairs across from tables along the long golden couch where we sat. The couch was cozy and the table appropriately spaced away from it.
Almost as soon as we were seated the waitress greeted us with a sample of the punch of the day. I cannot image a better way to welcome patrons to a bar than a free drink! We decided to split the Top of the Hill punch and an order of the house made jerky.
The punch came in a beautiful bowl and two cute punch glasses. The punch was delicious and the bowl was large enough for several glasses between the two of us. The jerky was a bit of a disappointment it was super sticky, thin and the marinade overpowered the steak flavor.
Overall we had an excellent experience and will definitely return to try another one of their bowls.

Ever since we left the Punch Room on Saturday night I have been thinking back to that experience. And yes, I use the word experience because this isn’t just a bar or just a restaurant. The Punch Room is an experience. I left feeling like I learned so much, yet I didn’t learn enough.
The Punch Room is located on the 15^th floor of the Ritz. We arrived right when they opened on Saturday (6:00) and thus, did not have to wait for a spot. My husband and I grabbed two of the four seats at the bar, simply because we are bar people. However, we didnt realize that those two seats at the bar were basically our tickets to a show all night. The atmosphere inside is very nice looking with couches and lighting everywherer
We received tasting of the punch of the day and Bob introduced himself. He is the head (and only) mixologist here and he had a big list of other places he has worked at. Soul and Pisces were two that came to mind.
As for drinks, my husband and I each had two different drinks. Honestly, i have zero clue what they were called because we didnt exactly order off the menu. We were chatting with Bob and he just made us drinks based on what we were telling him we liked. All our drinks were absolutely over the top amazing and looked like pieces of art at the same time. No detail is left unturned.
It was an absolute pleasure to sit at the bar and watch Bob work. Just watching him carefully stirring and mixing ingredients. You can tell that this is his passion and he puts everything he has into it. It was almost a running joke because the waitresses couldnt ever tell when we was done making a drink or not! He was very receptive to all our questions and even gave us small tastes of beverages that we were questioning. Absolutely created that «experience» feel.
I definitely appreciated the fact that this place really staggers people in here. It only holds 37 people but Bob told us typically they like to keep it around 30 so that a) it keeps the feel of the place more enjoyable and b) he is able to spend enough time on each drink to really make it special. The even have a no standing policy at the bar. This is something that I really apprecaite cause, like I said earlier, we are bar people. However, the worst part about sitting at the bar is having someone reach around you, in front of you, in between you to order their drink. If I am drinking something that tastes so delicious and looks like pure art, I defintiely dont want to be interrupted by arms throughout. Great call.
We did try the Hummus. Holy smokes. I have never tasted hummus this good in my entire life. It didnt even taste like hummus… something that is hard to explain. That was the only food item we tried. However, based on this one item, I am sure their menu is top notch.
It was truly an honor being able to visit this place on Saturday.

I found this gem on a «what to do» site and i am glad I went. It’s fun, chic and makes you feel like 007! I don’t want to give too much away but I say go for it!

Cool bar on the 15^th floor of the Ritz. The drinks where about $ 15 – 20 and we had to wait about 45 min to even get in. They ended up sending a text message when the space was ready. So be prepared to either call ahead or wait a bit for a seat. Inside the place was nice and not crowded. I was expecting a bit more of a speakeasy feel inside, but instead it was a Ritz lounge style. The drinks were good, not the best I have ever had though, but still worth trying out. They will also make you anything you want, not what is just on the menu. The service was good, but it takes time for them to mix up the drinks. If you are in town it was worth trying, not a place I would go every night though.

The Queen City needed a spot like this! It opened this past Valentine’s Day, and I can’t wait to go again! Amazing view of the city, beautiful décor, and the drinks… Out of this world. The punch du jour was phenomenal and my carbonated aviator was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. If you are having a snazzy night on the town and want to feel like your life is together, go to the punch room!

Bob is really getting it right here. His creative creations and knowledge of the standards really makes it a special cocktail destination.
The atmosphere is swank and sophisticated with a nice view of uptown. Great place to hang out.

Like others had said best drinks in Charlotte period. Yes it will take 20 minutes to get a piece of drinkable Art. If your looking to pound down drinks may I suggest the epicenter across the street. The Ritz did this place up right and the décor and view are great. Small plates were very good as well.

I never give one star reviews, and it’s hard for me to come down to this level, but the service, quality, and overall take back from the punch room, was downright just bad. the bartender, who is really the only staff member I have any quarrels with, couldn’t have been nice if someone paid him to be. From his initial demeanor, to the way he speaks, I found him completely rude and uncalled for. There was no talking to the man, just taking orders from him, when he’s the one who’s making the drinks. And the drinks! It took him 20 minutes to make a drink that looks like a kindergartener trying to put play dough into a round Cup. Maybe it’s the fact that I think mixology is as useful as hipsters, but a drink is a drink, just because it comes in a different glassware with the ice, doesn’t make it not so. I recommend this place to people who have way too much money to spend and want something that is just average at best, and if they have enough time to sit there and watch each ounce of each drink be slowly poured and stirred into a cup. I understand this isn’t a «sports bar», but geez.

By far the best drinks you’ll find anywhere within driving distance of Charlotte. Tell Bob what you like to drink and he’ll provide with something you’ll forever love.

Bob Peters. He’s the best at what he does in this city. He takes the art of craft cocktails to another level.
Who is Bob? Well, you may remember him from Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge. Wanna go way back? Two words: Alley Cat. He’s now taken the reigns as the head mixologist of The Punch Room.
The Punch Room is the old Urban Sip in the Ritz. You’ll find it on the 15^th floor. There are only 37 seats here, so be prepared for a wait. No worries, once you put your name in you can drink in the downstairs lobby. Or, eat macaroons at Bar Cocoa.
The décor is very roaring 20s. I think Kieran M nailed it by saying, «think Great Gatsby.» It’s absolutely gorgeous. There are three seating areas here. I have to do the bar. I love sitting and talking to Bob. You are greeted with a glass of whatever the punch of the day is.
Drinks: Punches, craft cocktails, local brews and wines. I always put all of my drinking decisions into Bob’s hands. During my girls’ night out with Sarah and Lauren, we tried several different creations. My favorite was one he called a Tito’s Vodka Boiler Mule. It’s made with is a special made 4.4% ginger beer from Lenny Boy Brewing Company, appropriately named Ginger Ritz. We also did a Buffalo Trace cocktail made with sassafras bitters and garnished with a local grown pansy. Another was made with a bourbon he smoked there in front of us. Yes, he smokes drinks. You can’t go wrong with anything.
Eats: the house-​made NY Strip beef jerky is a must get. The duck sliders are amazing. We also tried the Quail Scotch eggs (delicious, but note you only get three), charcuterie, and the yellowfin tuna carpaccio. It was all really good. I want to try the oysters the next time I go. They have a collard green kimchee purée and sweet potato pearls.
Huge congrats to Bob and this new adventure. I can’t wait to see everything you have in store for Charlotte. Cheers!

We checked out Bob’s new place on opening night, because we were already huge fans. When you get to the Ritz, make sure to put your name on the list with the gentleman by the elevators and be prepared to wait a little bit.
When you get to go up to the 15^th floor the hostess will take you to one of the lounge tables. The décor has a 1920s modern feel to it. (Think Great Gatsby and Restoration Hardware)
For drinks, we got the Top of the Hill punch to share and a sweet potato and sage cocktail. Both were smooth and tastes great.
For food, you get the ‘bar beans’ which are crunchy and salted and taste great. We also ordered the NY Strip jerky, which tasted amazing.
Overall, the place is great for great drinks and going on a nice date. I look forward to all of the new drinks Bob will create in the future.