Despite his nickname, Chris “Salty” Reed (who co-owns The Grocery Cocktail & Social with his wife, Cindy) isn’t a cranky old sea dog. Salty isn’t very salty; in fact, he’s a sweet guy who is obsessed with Washington spirits. He got his nickname from a tattoo on his arm that reads, “Salty as the sea,” based on a quote from Thomas Keller about how to properly salt water for cooking vegetables. He went to culinary school and worked at some of the best restaurants in Portland, but discovered a love for cocktails as general manager at Screen Door from 2011 to 2014.
The Grocery Cocktail & Social serves impeccable cocktails in a shadowy, old-timey, speakeasy-ish setting. This historic vibe is created by being located in a space that was a Buick dealership in the early 1900s. There are no televisions and no Wi-Fi. People get annoyed at the lack of modern amenities, but Reed told me, “The disappointment wears off pretty quickly. It warms my soul that we have so many people who come in here and end up meeting people because they don’t tune out. They actually tune in to the people around them.”
Reed isn’t living in an F. Scott Fitzgerald-inspired fantasy land. He recognizes that Vancouver is a beer town and always has five taps of local beer available. The beer menu includes The Grocery’s collaboration beer with Mt. Tabor Brewing Co. called Grocery IPA. Fortside, Old Ivy, Loowit, Trap Door, Victor 23, Brother Ass, Brothers Cascadia and Heathen are also available on a rotating basis.
I met with Reed to talk about The Grocery’s new cocktail menu, and he described The Grocery’s process for creating it: “All of my staff went in on getting this menu together. So there’s something from everybody. They really put a lot of energy into making some really special cocktails. This is the first time that we have had at least one local spirit in each cocktail on the menu, and that’s really exciting for me. I love supporting these local distilleries. It is our goal to someday officially say that we serve more Washington state spirits than any other bar in the entire state.”
