You are given a review about a place. You need to provide a rating from "1 star" to "5 stars" for this place.

An invitation from a couple of friends presented the opportunity to experience the DCR first-hand after reading many great reviews. I want to share my experience because it seems significantly different than most of the other reviews I've read...

A DCR bartender came to our table and asked us what we would like to drink. A woman in my group was interested in a certain 'Japanese' cocktail on the menu which contained ginger and wasabi ingredients, and the bartender asked her, "What interests you about THAT drink, the strawberries?" She mouthed the words, "Uh, no..." And she said it was actually the description of the drink as being a "Filler" drink - one with "food qualities" according to right-hand-side 'drink guide' on the DCR cocktail menu. The bartender said, "I don't like the menu" and basically told us he didn't know or care about the 'drink guide'. He seemed eager to only make drinks that were not on the menu. This was surprising, as it seemed that the DCR put a lot of effort into creating its cocktail menu and 'drink guide'.

The bartender then suggests an off-menu strawberry-based drink to the woman in my group. This is funny and ironic. Funny because I have heard her criticize bartenders for assuming that because she is a woman, she likes sweet strawberry drinks (which she doesn't) - "8 out of 10 times when I ask a bartender to create a drink of their choice for me, it comes out sweet and strawberry. So annoying!" Ironic because from the sleek decor of the DCR, I assumed this wouldn't be one of those times.

The bartender then asked me what kind of alcohol I would like in my drink. I suggested, "Vodka," and he quickly replied, "I don't work with vodka." How pretentious! What is it about this guy that he is so confident that he will get his way and only make drinks he likes to make? The 'speakeasy' vest? Over HALF of the specialty cocktails listed on the DCR cocktail menu are made with vodka! if this bartender were a waiter at a restaurant we would have walked out by now. At this point, I was ready to believe that everything Yasmin T. said in her previous review was spot-on...

So, since vodka was out of the question, I suggested, "Bourbon." He suggested a "really good Manhattan" and the drink I ended up with was really good. He told me he used Woodford Reserve and he placed a pitted black cherry on the bottom of the martini glass. The flavor of my drink became more intense as I got to the bottom of the glass - the cherry did a good job of infusing the drink and keeping things interesting.

For being downtown, one would assume that the cocktails here cost less than those on The Strip, but apparently 'mixology' is a magic password to charge regular price, or in the case of one of the drinks on our group's DCR bill (a Sazerac), an eye-popping price: $19.00! The rest of our drinks were all between $9 and $11 each. I wonder if the old real estate adage, "Never buy the most expensive house in the neighborhood" applies to the DCR in some way. On the way to the bathroom I took a look around the DCR, and I was surprised to see that their 8PM Saturday night clientele basically fit two categories: Touristy guys with Oakleys on top of their heads and their Coach-bag-toting wives, and groups of 50-something single local men out with their girlfriends. DCR seems to be doing a good job fending off the hipster crowd? Where are the hipsters tonight?

To the DCR's credit, they have put considerable thought and money into the fixtures and furnishings. Overall the place was clean, the lighting was relaxing, and the QSC speakers throughout the room put out a quality sound. The music being played during our visit was a trance-electronica style which matched the decor well.

Overall, I had higher expectations. Now for the hard part: 3 stars means "A-OK" and 2 stars is "Meh. I've experienced better." My experience wasn't A-OK, and I've been to a lot of bars - I've traveled through 19 countries outside of North America in the past 12 months. (And no, I'm not in the military.) But in the spirit of benefit-of-the-doubt, I will give it 3 stars.

Afterwards we had a pretty good Super Gyro and falafel plate around the corner at the Kabob Corner, which should be named Kabob-Around-The-Corner because it's not actually on a corner. Then, off to a dance club down the street. The night ended well, and the company was first rate!
3 stars