Your Guide to: minibar

There’s no hiding it. I LOVE minibar. I have many friends that I hang out with there, I’ve even shot videos and make no mistake; people can have a blast there.

From what I’ve heard (from an anonymous manager), minibar has been named Best Pickup Bar in Boston. Makes sense since it’s such a great social scene and you can REALLY meet anyone at any given time.

In preparation for LoveNation’s Launch Party that I’m having there tomorrow night, I have decided to give you a guide to how to handle minibar if you go there by yourself or with friends.

Overview: minibar gets it’s name from not the size of the bar but the size of the bottles that they serve at tables. Overall, there are 6 lounge “areas” and a bar that can hold upwards of 12 people. There is also another area as you can in the picture to the left that can seat 6 people.

Positioning: I think in every place, there are “dead zones” where you’ll have almost no chance of meeting people. Here are the “dead zones” at minibar: 

The near corner of the bar (seen in the picture) 
The right lounge area in the picture (even if you’re with another person) 
The left side of the lounge area in the middle of the picture (behind a “mini” wall) 
The lounge area by the front door (facing the bar). 

If you’re in a very small group and are looking to socialize, don’t go to these areas. These areas are for people who are in larger groups and are just looking to hang out amongst themselves.

The “money” areas give you the best chance of meeting people. At minibar: 

The far corner of the bar in the picture 
The middle area of the bar. 

The most traffic will walk through there and by standing, it’ll give you the best chance to see people (no matter where they are), make eye contact and make your move. Just be sure to let the bartenders by when they have to send drinks to table areas. That area can get crowded rather quickly.

Best times to go: Happy hour (Monday-Thursday 5-7), Tuesday (DJ nights), Friday and Saturday nights; and of course, THIS TUESDAY NIGHT!

Drink of choice: If you’re a beer drinker, keep it classy with a Narragansett. If you like wine, order a cabernet. If you’d rather something a little more stiff, grab a Belvedere and tonic.

I hope you get a chance to check it out but more importantly, come to the party tomorrow night!

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Wingman Unapproved

Approach at MiniBar

Over lunch one day with Stuart and Carla, we were sharing stories of terrible attempts at talking to women and I heard a really bad one. My instinctive outburst was, “Wow, that’s ‘wingman unapproved.’” Stuart and Carla laughed, seemed to like what I said and said I should try to incorporate something in my blog that talks about “unapproved” actions that result in failed attempts to talk to women (or men for that matter).

I see them all the time and so why not talk about them? I can talk about what could have gone wrong and what he/she could have done to make things better. As a benefit, you get to read it and try to avoid these situations yourself. I will also do some “approved” posts too, if they are worth highlighting.

So let’s begin with the other night!

I was at MiniBar with my honorary wingman, Cort Johnson, and we saw three women across from us. Two of them looked like they were our age and the other one was visibly older. I had already come to the conclusion that they were two sisters with their mother but that’s not important. What’s important is what happened next. Cort and I were going to talk to them because they were by themselves and no one was trying to talk to them as if they had some type of disease. They were all attractive, even the mother and it wasn’t like the mother was giving signals like, “you better not come over here or I’ll bite your head off.” Anyway, right before Cort and I were going to break the ice with the group, a noticeably older man swoops in and starts talking to the group.

His back was turned and he was in front of the group so we couldn’t see what was going on or what he said. Within 15 seconds, he walked away. I glance over at the women and see them talking and giggling. I had a distinct feeling that his attempt went terribly.

Now out of sheer curiosity, I go over and ask them what he said to them. They told me that he left his friend, walked over to them and asked, “Can I ask you a question? Is it ok for me to smoke outside?” For a moment, I wasn’t even shocked. I was more confused. Why would he even ask that? And then, why would he leave his friend to ask them that? It just didn’t make any sense.

Listen, guys, let’s be clear here. Women are aware of everything – well, almost everything. When they are out, they know who’s close to them, who’s across the room, what you’re drinking, how much you’ve drank, what you’re wearing and how you’re acting. They know if you’re having a good time or not. They know if you’ve looked at them or not (yeah, I know). If they are making that kind of effort in hopes they may find someone to connect with and also avoid what I’ll call socially incompetent men, I think it would be fair to make the same effort to come up with a better approach.

Lesson: Don’t ask a question that doesn’t make sense. If you’re going to ask a question of relevance or better yet, something that you genuinely want to know. You’ll get a much better response than what this guy got.

While Cort and I were already over there talking with them, the guy came back, interrupted one of them and asked if they could watch his drink while he goes to the bathroom. For those who aren’t familiar with the layout of MiniBar, from where we were standing, he walked by about 4 tables and multiple surfaces before coming to where we were. Once again, women are aware of this.

Guys, if you are going to approach women, have some intent, be purposeful and don’t feel like you need an excuse. You don’t.

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Amusement Parks and Nightclubs

So last night, I was invited to go to the Absolut Boston launch party at District Lounge. I was allowed to bring a guest and so I invited follow wingman, Cort Johnson to partake in the festivities. I was pretty excited to go just because I thought it would be fun. Plus, you can’t really complain about open bar from 10-2. Anyway, we had a drink at Cleary’s before heading over there. I made it a point not to be too late because we wanted to make the best of the time there. We ended up getting in line at around 10:50. And it wasn’t long at all. As much as I hate lines, I figured it wouldn’t be bad and we’d be in there with vodka flowing like water. Then, everything went awry.

People started to cut to the front to try to get in before others and then people were standing in front of the entrance, calling whoever they could inside so they could come down and get them. People were dropping names like it’s was going out of style. It was absolutely entertaining. But then when so many people are moving around and causing a mess, you’d think that the security that’s out there would establish some sort of organization. Nope. Not only did they fail at it, what they did was make ANOTHER line of people who apparently had a "connection."

So now you have a line of people who were on the list (like me and Cort), and you have another line of people who were on “the list,” this imaginary list of people who think that they don’t have to wait in line (funny how they had to wait in line anyway). So, as I saw people who were on “the list” slowly get in, my patience was starting to wear thin. At this point, Cort and I were pretty much at the front of the line and for the next 4 minutes, we continued to see people get in before us to the point where the building was not only over capacity, but probably unsafe should an emergency were to occur. Then Cort and I made the decision to leave and go to MiniBar. We left at 11:08.

Total wait time at District: 18 minutes.

Total time it took us to walk in MiniBar and get a drink for both of us: 2 minutes.

And that doesn’t mean that MiniBar was empty. We walked in pretty much as it was about to peak. There were a really good amount of people. And then, when we sat down, we looked at each other and we were thinking the same thing.

“Why didn’t we just come here from the beginning?”

Sure it would have been fun to get into the party, but looking at the kinds of people who were going in and who were in line, it was obvious that these people weren’t our kind of people. The whole nightclub scene is just a messed up amusement park. Women just want to be seen and men just want to flex their muscles – and their collars. You go to a place like MiniBar, and you have a chance to socialize with like-minded people without having to fight through large crowds, loud music and the other fluff that comes with a typical nightclub.

It was a good reminder for me and let this be a lesson for you. If you’re looking to have a good time but primarily to meet someone, don’t go to a nightclub. Chances are, your quality mate is somewhere else.

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Review of Minibar

Address: 51 Huntington Avenue (at the Copley Square Hotel), Boston, MA 02116

Website: http://www.minibarboston.com/

Best Nights: Friday and Saturday

Who Goes There: Mostly young professionals, even ratio of men to women. Ages 25-40.

Cost: $$

Special: $2 Mini Burger – Monday – Thursday 5-7PM

BYFAD Location: Yes - Get your BYFAD card now!

I haven’t heard much about this place. Don’t think it’s been open for a long period of time, since they were doing some remodeling at the hotel but when I went there the other night, I was really impressed with what I saw.

The set up is totally designed to be a chill place. A relatively small bar with a TV and then open space filled with furniture and tables. What I thought was pretty cool was that the seats can be moved around pretty easily to accommodate to any size party. Long couch, separate seats, small two-seater, very easy and very cool. There is a small outdoor patio where people can chill but based on the location, there really isn’t a great view or opportunity to people watch.

Although, I was there on a Wednesday night, it was still relatively quiet. It’s not really the best location for this place but in my opinion, the fact that not many people know about this could be a great thing – not necessarily for their business but for people who want to have a very chill atmosphere that they can enjoy with friends and not feel so crowded.

This place has some serious potential to be killer spot. Could be a great place to go and have a few drinks after work or right before going to Saint, which is right around the corner.

Here’s the update:

I got a chance to check it out on two other nights: Monday and Saturday. Monday was a quiet and chill place, which is perfect if you want to go to a place for a quick drink and conversation. The bartenders are awesome and always wanting to talk and hang for a bit, which is nice. Like I said, the perfect spot for people who don’t like large crowds but likes to still be in a fun atmosphere.

Saturday was a different experience simply because there was more people. Still not enough for me to say it was crowded (I was able to get to the bathroom with ease), but enough people to enhance the chill vibe that I’ve been talking about this whole time. Being able to sit out on the patio and have a few drinks with people – regardless of the not-so-great view – makes it such a prime spot for late-evening activities. I would even consider Minibar a good place to meet people just because of the social vibe. I’d go give it a look.

My official rating for this place after second review is a B+ (88).


Pros
Great atmosphere
Outdoor patio
Good music
Cool setup/furniture
Never crowded

Cons
Not enough people
Location

If you have any questions about the place, feel free to check out their site:

http://www.minibarboston.com/

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