What Happens When You Order a Martini at The Raven?

I never noticed that The Raven Grill's neon sign clearly spells out the word "cocktails," with a little drawing of a cocktail. That lifted my hopes, but deep down I knew that getting a cocktail here was unlikely.

It was 7:45 on a Wednesday night. There were about 10 people in The Raven, and I grabbed a seat at the bar. When I asked the bartender for a martini, she very politely and kindly said, "Well, I don't have vermouth, I don't have olives," rattling off all the ingredients she didn't have, and basically said she could offer me a chilled shot of gin instead.

Hmm... "What else do you recommend?" I asked. It felt like too much of a bait and switch to settle with a Natty Boh, although at $2 that was tempting. The bartender named the mixers they did have (grapefruit juice, ginger ale, coke) and I bailed out with a $5 Jack and Coke.