The Early Word on Todd Thrasher's New TNT Bar

Mixologist Todd Thrasher ventured further into the suburbs with TNT Bar, a rock-themed joint inside the new Arlington location of Dublin chipper Eamonn's. Since its soft opening a couple weeks ago, TNT's sparked plenty of interest with its lyrically-named Thrasher cocktails, and a list of drinks with recipes borrowed from his renowned bartender friends. Some questions remained — whether a bar serving cocktails nearing $20 a pop made sense for the neighborhood — but so far, the drinks are getting great reviews. Let's take a look at what the early drinkers are saying:

The Great News: A Yelper deemed TNT his new go-to bar in Arlington, and really dug the infamous sorghum pine cone water-flavored "Metal Surrenders When Oak Trees Meet Fenders" cocktail: "The pine cone I think gave the drink somewhat of a cinnamon taste and brought out the bourbon flavor of the drink without overpowering it." [Yelp]

The Bar Critic News: The Washington Post's Fritz Hahn files an early report that's approving of the cocktail list: "The bulk of the menu, though, is a 'Road Trip' list of cocktails created and popularized by bartenders from around the country. ... Former PX/Restaurant Eve bartender Evan Zimmerman sent a cocktail from Portland, where he's the beverage director at the Woodsman Tavern. Love Makes You Ten Feet Tall is a snappy mix of gin, bitter Aperol, pisco, grapefruit and salt water that works as an aperitif or a palette cleanser. Other drinks, which will rotate seasonally, include selections from such well-known drinking dens as New York's PDT and Death and Co., making this the next best thing to a cocktail vacation." [WaPo]

The Ed Hardy Comparison Bad News: Another Yelper raved about the drinks, but thought the decor was a miss: "The decor / atmosphere I did find a bit, I dunno, kitschy and overdone maybe. It reminded me sort of how an old divey rock bar should be, minus the obligatory grunginess. It's too sterile and pretty rock, like something you might find on an Ed Hardy t-shirt." [Yelp]

The "Wow Is This Expensive" News: Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema wrote a mysterious tweet on August 25: "This suburban cocktail is awesome... and $17. Guess where the mezcal-fueled libation is served?" Hmm... TNT's "Naked & Famous" cocktail is $17 and includes Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and fresh lime juice. And that marble bar looks an awful lot like TNT's. [Twitter]

The Fellow Mixologist Two Thumbs Up News: Adam Bernbach, bar manager at Proof and Estadio, stopped by and tweeted his regards: "'Thymes Like These' & 'It Doesn't Remind Me of Anything" @Bar_TNT were amazing! Congrats to Todd Thrasher & crew on another great place!" [Twitter]

The Rock and Roll News: TNT's rock theme lured an actual rock concert photographer, Kyle Gustafson, who tweeted: "Drinks at Eamonn's / TNT. @ TNT Rock & Roll Bar" with an Instagram of his bright blue drink. [Twitter]

The Haters Gonna Hate News: After 82 contentious comments on an ARLnow thread about whether Columbia Pike is ready for $15 drinks, one commenter writes: "Y'all are nuts or jealous. Place has been packed. Great service, food and pubbish atmosphere, w/o being over the top Clarendonized. A nice neighborhood addition. And the drinks kick ass." [ARLnow]

—Adele Chapin