Cork Bar

Went to the Cork bar because saw they had happy hour starting at 10pm. Downside is it ends at 11. I don’t recall seeing any draft beer, mostly bottled. But the cocktail menu was great. We tried the sidecar, blood n sand & piña coladas. All were made by the friendly bar tender who was pretty quick, unlike other bars who offer these same cocktails. All three of these cocktails were really great. How ever the piña colada was like one I’ve never had before! It blew me away and I’d prob try that again. The staff was friendly. We started at the bar, then went to patio. The waitress was great at keeping up with us, it was a group of about 10. How ever note that of you’re going to drink on patio you will need to close tab at bar and open w waitress. After this we all came inside and the waitress was still pretty quick and remembered what we ordered. I would come back here again! It’s nice and quiet. And the ambiance makes you feel very relaxed and at home.

Discovered Cork Bar while walking around the Riverwalk my first time ever, completely mesmerized at the experience.
Cork Bar is a little removed from the more lively part of the Riverwalk but we saw some folks enjoying happy hour and thought we’d do the same.
It’s quieter around there but the experience is still great. Happy hour margaritas are priced at a very reasonable $ 5 and are, in fact, pretty tasty. Also had some fried calamari which I enjoyed at the time but didn’t sit well with me afterwards.

What a great hotel. Enjoyed the cork bar our hostess, Yesenia, hope i spelled her name correctly, was terrific we just loved her. She even took the time to speak to our daughter on our iphone on new years eve. kudos to the contessa for having such great associate. Happy new year Tom and Pam, Calgary, Canada

I’d like to give Cork Bar a great review just for the ambiance of the patio. It’s located on a dark and quiet part of the river walk and is a delightful change of pace from the bright energy blocks away.
But I also have to consider that our service was only okay. The wait staff doesn’t keep as close an eye on people sitting down outside as they should, and you sometimes have to go scare up a server inside. Also, drinks are very expensive – more typical of hotel bar prices than river walk prices.
More concerning was one particular experience we had on our last visit. A friend ordered a good (although not top-​of-​the-​line) whiskey. The serving he received was no more than a couple of millimeters deep in a highball glass. It was almost laughable how little he received. He tried to order it again and was told he’d emptied the last bottle, so he got a different whiskey and received a MUCH more generous pour. It was obvious they gave him a partial serving in his first drink, which might not have been a problem had we not gotten charged $ 18 for that tiny sip of whiskey. The bar charged him full price for a tiny portion of a serving. Very disappointing, and it does not encourage me to return.

We stayed at the Contessa last weekend and came for their reverse Happy Hour after checking in. I was totally disappointed with the quality of food and drinks.
The food was not good nor bad. But after trying three different HH plates, none of them were good.
Also the Sangria was horrible. It taste like watered-​down fruit juice. That goes for both the red and the white.