When Dana Rodriguez’s grandchildren come over, she has one steadfast rule: Phones get checked at the door so family time stays screen-free. But at her restaurants, she needed a gentler nudge to coax diners away from their digital companions.
Enter the gleaming gold martini cart that sashays around her 1970s-inspired RiNo steakhouse Carne — a shiny distraction that engages diners with tableside cocktail service.
Every server at Carne is trained in the art of crafting martinis. When the cart is summoned, it arrives with perfectly chilled bottles ready for custom pours. Tanqueray gin or Tito’s vodka? Dirty or dry? Shaken or stirred? Want to try the housemade brine? The martini cart invites guests to indulge with its array of accoutrements, too: Blue cheese-stuffed olives, Castelvetrano olives, lemon rinds and delicate sprigs of dill, all neatly arranged on elegant crystal plates and dishes.
Rodriguez noticed an opportunity for tableside presentations: “Everybody’s in their own world on the phone,” Rodriguez said. “And I’m like, ‘This is so stupid. We need to help people to get back to enjoying life.’ ”
And so the martini trolley became a built-in conversation starter at Carne. It’s dressed with a vintage phone, a stack of throwback Playboy magazines, a mirrored top, and an orange ’70s shag rug on the second tier. If phones come out around it, it’s only to take pictures.
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“With martinis, you either love them or hate them,” Rodriguez says. “They’re pure alcohol.”
So in addition to the cocktails wheeled around the restaurant for the martini purists, there are some more approachable ones served from the bar, like a creamy nitro espresso martini.
The steakhouse’s bartenders also craft seasonal martinis, with hits like a clarified heirloom martini for those who like a savory sip or summertime strawberry martinis.
While the martini cart gets guests talking, dishes like the Can Can Pork keep the tables buzzing. Groups can build their al pastor tacos in warm tortillas with shaved pineapple and salsa verde.
Carne’s tableside martini service is $20 per person, and $10 for subsequent rounds.
Here are five more Colorado restaurants with bart carts wheeling and dealing drinks:
- At Quality Italian’s weekend brunch in Cherry Creek, a roaming cart keeps glasses full with bottomless pours of grapefruit-pomegranate, cucumber-lime, and classic white peach bellinis. 241 Columbine St.; qualityitaliandenver.com
- In Boulder, gin and tonics are poured tableside from Corrida’s cart that’s well-stocked with garnishes: bushels of herbs, lemon and lime wheels, thinly sliced cucumbers, berries, and anything else you’d need. 1023 Walnut St., Boulder; corridaboulder.com
- Classic spritzes and riffs are served tableside to accompany pizzas and handmade pastas in LoDo at Jovanina’s Broken Italian. Or, simply order a digestif from the cherry-red cart. 1520 Blake St.; jovanina.com
- Michelin-starred Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder wheels its custom-made digestif cart through the dining room, offering a collection of amari, grappa and Chartreuse. The curated collection includes staples like Nonino and Montenegro alongside rare bottles dating back to the 1970s. 1738 Pearl St., Boulder; frascafoodandwine.com
- Order caviar and champagne from Tavernetta’s cart, which pops into action Thursdays through Saturdays. At its sister restaurant in the high country, Tavernetta Vail’s cart serves tableside mimosas in the mornings and vintage Negronis at night. Tavernetta Denver: 1889 16th St. Mall; tavernettadenver.com and Tavernetta Vail (in the Four Seasons Resort): 1 Vail Road; tavernettavail.com