Texas Bar Cocktails to Make at Home While You’re Stuck Social Distancing — Top Spots Share Their ‘Secret’ Recipes

Texas restaurant dining rooms and bars are largely officially off limits in the state’s biggest cities for at least several weeks, thanks to coronavirus. While we are all sheltering in place and “flattening the curve” ― it’s easy to feel like we’ve been thrown a curve.

A few Texas bar favorites are sharing how to make some of their best cocktails with PaperCity — all to make your social isolation a little more palatable. One is even non-alcoholic for those in search of a sophisticated alternative.

Now, you can relax with an elegant glass and raise a toast to the Lone Star State’s beloved restaurant and bar world, full of people who are scrambling to adjust and providing new dining options including takeout, delivery and curbside pickup service on the fly. Many thanks to those who helped me compile these. We know you are overwhelmed as serving your customers has become a moving target.

Fort Worth’s Grace Restaurant recently introduced a new cocktail dubbed Flesh and Blood in honor of the new exhibit at the Kimball Art Museum, Flesh and Blood, Italian Masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum. Though you cannot enjoy the extraordinary art exhibit, or Grace’s luxurious dining room and patio this moment, the refreshing Flesh and Blood cocktail deserves an audience.

Flesh and Blood Cocktail

2 ounces Prosecco

3/4 ounce St. Germaine

1/2 ounce grapefruit juice

1/4 ounce Aperol

2 dashes orange bitters

Garnish: orange wedge

Directions: Combine all ingredients one by one, directly into a flute glass, adding the prosecco last. The drink mixes itself when you add the prosecco. Garnish with an orange wedge.

Tim Love opened Atico, his Spanish tapas bar and restaurant, atop the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Fort Worth’s Northside. The lush cocktail lounge has killer views from its glass-wrapped balcony. The food menu embodies the flavors of Spain, as does its cocktail menu. The Madrid is one of Chef Love’s personal favorites.

The Madrid

1 ounce Lustau ‘East of India’ Solera Sherry

2 ounces Torres 5 year Spanish Brandy

2 dashes orange bitters

Garnish: orange twist

Glassware: coupe glass

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir 40 rotations or until proper dilution and taste is achieved. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Mi Dia From Scratch has locations in Grapevine, Flower Mound and Plano. Their Tex Mex entrees are perked up by a vast array of margaritas, many of which use lemon instead of lime juice, but here’s one mixed with lime. The Paraíso del Aguacate is an upgrade from your “house margarita.”

This delicious take gives you something different, utilizing avocado and mezcal. Here is how to make it at home:

Paraíso del Aguacate

2 ounces Ilegal Joven Mezcal

3/4 ounce St. Germaine

1 ounce pineapple juice

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/4 ounce agave nectar

2 avocado slices

Directions: Mix ingredients in a shaker glass and shake thoroughly. Salt the rim of your glass if you wish by using a fresh lime and dipping your glass into salt. Double strain over fresh ice in a tall glass. If you want to garnish the drink, do so with a pineapple leaf.

When marketing guru Beth Hutson made a lifestyle change last year ― dropping alcohol from her personal equation, she became a local “mocktail” hero for championing the idea that you can still be social and enjoy a well-mixed drink, without the booze. Her Elevated Elixir has taken off, and it proves alcohol does not necessarily need to be a key ingredient in the perfect libation. The Mindful Mule is her update on the timeless classic.

The Mindful Mule

1 can of Q Ginger Beer

2 ounces lime juice

1 fresh lime

3 cups pebble ice

50 ML Tiki Biosciences Narrow Spectrum CBD oil (optional)

Directions: Fill a mule mug halfway full with a cup of pebble ice. In a shaker, combine one cup of pebble ice and two ounces of lime juice. Strain lime juice over pebble ice into mule mug, and pour ginger beer over lime juice. Add 50 ML of CBD oil if desired. Stir, top with ice, and garnish with a lime wheel.