{"id":341015,"date":"2026-06-01T05:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T05:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/341015\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T05:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T05:50:29","slug":"day-tripper-a-new-midtown-bar-serving-vacation-cocktails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/341015\/","title":{"rendered":"Day Tripper: a new midtown bar serving vacation cocktails"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer is upon us, but travel is more expensive than ever. Thanks to a new spot in midtown, you can take a tiny vacation for less than a twenty spot.<\/p>\n

The bar, Day Tripper<\/a>, is designed to transport you to a tropical destination from the minute you pass through the door.<\/p>\n

The entry, a tight hallway lined with real stone and flickering candles in niches, gives Indiana Jones vibes before it opens into the airy bar full of live plants (plus some artificial Bougainvillea) and a massive fountain.<\/p>\n

Frank Lloyd Wright called this compression and release. The act of traversing through a constrained space into an expansive one gives the visitor a sense of freedom and relief.<\/p>\n

\"Frosted Frosted windows shield direct light at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com \"Stone Stone walls with burning candles greet customers at the entrance to Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

In this way, entering into Day Tripper feels fully transportive. When you pass through that stone hallway, you leave the outside world behind. The front windows are corrugated, so you can\u2019t even see the street. A jaguar head with glowing red eyes hovers over the back bar. You\u2019ve entered a third space.<\/p>\n

The bar is the latest venture by Irish Hospitality, the same group that runs The Snug<\/a>, The Butterscotch Den<\/a> and Ro Sham Beaux<\/a>. Co-owners Russell Martin and Trevor Easter, working with designer Tina Ross of Soda Back<\/a>, took inspiration from their travels exploring boutique spirit brands.<\/p>\n

The decor is a composite of countless tropical vacations and excursions, stitched together into a singular fantasy. Even the bathroom is a trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted you to feel like you had landed in Sayulita, or you landed somewhere in Brazil, or you were in Belize City, and you checked into your hotel, you dropped your bag, and you were at the courtyard lobby bar,\u201d Easter said.<\/p>\n

They brought more than just visual cues from their travels. They brought their stories.<\/p>\n

\"The The shelves behind the bar at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, feature an array of different types of liquor. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com \"Live Live plants surround the seating area at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were ending up in these really special places where, like, organic sugar cane was being harvested, not burned, cultivated the old school way, without harming the land. In Oaxaca we got to make mezcal for 10 days and hang out with the Zapotec people. We wanted to be that last chain link in and say, we\u2019ll show you what it\u2019s like if you haven\u2019t been privileged enough to go see it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Easter, each of the 33 cocktails on the menu leverages a bottle with a story behind it, and the staff is prepared to regale you with their histories.<\/p>\n

To drive home the holiday destination motif, Day Tripper\u2019s menu is centered on vacation drinks \u2014 but elevated, not the usual tourist trap slop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think originally these drinks were probably very, very good. So we have things as common as a pina colada or a Bahama Mama ($12), which is one of our best-selling drinks, which is nine times out of 10 gonna be the worst drink you\u2019ve ever had somewhere, but it\u2019s absolutely killer here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

They do their own versions of classics like the caipirinha ($12) and pisco sour ($12), and of course various margaritas. There\u2019s also an entire section of the team\u2019s original concoctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually brought back a couple drinks that we had done before, one of them being the Que Rico ($12), which is kind of like a Firing Squad with apple brandy and a touch of mezcal and a little bit of mole bitters. We did a nice little white Negroni riff (tequila Negroni thing, $14) infused with coconut,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n

\"Khalia Khalia Petty, a bartender and server, checks in with patrons at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com \"The The Day Tripper, which contains tequila, lime, absinthe, pineapple, ginger and angostura is served at Day Tripper, a bar in Sacramento, on on Wednesday, May 26, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Each ingredient was meticulously considered. For their house margarita ($9), they sampled more than a dozen orange liqueurs, and ultimately decided the right path was to create their own blend of three of them. The tequila is infused with makrut lime leaf to add extra dimension to the lime flavor.<\/p>\n

One of the more unusual concoctions is their dirty margarita ($11), which starts out as a classic Tommy\u2019s margarita, but then they blend in nopales and jalapeno pepper brines.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s mildly spicy, it\u2019s extra salty, and it looks disgusting, because it\u2019s just like this really weird color, like a dirty martini. But it turned out to be one of those things that shocks every time I drop it. People are floored. I have heard a minimum of 10 times, not only is that the best drink of this place, but that it\u2019s the best drink they\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Easter said.<\/p>\n

With an endorsement like that, I had to order one. Hand to heart, it may in fact be the best cocktail I\u2019ve ever had. It won\u2019t win any awards on looks, but on the palate it is nicely balanced, citrus and spice and umami notes all dancing in harmony. What\u2019s perhaps most remarkable is that you can actively taste the nopales.<\/p>\n

\"A A dirty margarita, made with tequila, lime and St. George chili vodka with nopales and chili brine is served at Day Tripper at 1820 17th St. in midtown on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. Sean Timberlake stimberlake@sacbee.com \"A A variety of spirits on display at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Development of the bar\u2019s recipes took well over a year, and involved more than a few late nights. Sometimes that\u2019s when inspiration would strike. One night, Easter had the idea to riff on the pickleback, a shot of pickle brine served alongside a shot, by draining off the liquid from pico de gallo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now sourcing pico de gallo water from all the local Mexican markets, and at any restaurant who\u2019s willing to give it to us, and we are flat out pouring a shot of tequila and a little side of pico de gallo water, and it is a smash hit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Not everything is so high concept. When considering domestic destinations for the menu, Martin tested the old-school Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned ($10), with cherries and orange muddled into the cocktail. It may not be trendy, but it is tasty. (\u201cOf course we bought nice cherries, not the stupid neon red ones,\u201d Easter said.)<\/p>\n

For non-cocktailers, the bar offers poolside-friendly wines like Txakolina and crisp beers, and they have a zero-ABV program in partnership with sober bartender Michi Peneyra, who crafted the zero-ABV program at Butterscotch Den.<\/p>\n

\"The The outdoor patio at Day Tripper in midtown Sacramento on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Day Tripper is strictly a bar, and does not serve any food. However, the bar is smack in the middle of one of the densest clusters of quality restaurants in the entire city. Chu Mai, Hook & Ladder, Bambina\u2019s and Good Neighbor are all within a half block. The bar also encourages guests to bring in their own food if they like.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the bar is approachable economically. Most of the cocktails clock in at or under $12.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think cocktails need to be for the affluent. I think they should be for everyone. And who would we be if we were trying to honor the incredible laborers and workers of these beautiful things?\u201d Easter said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 6:00 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Sean Timberlake<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Sean Timberlake is the food and dining reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He has been writing professionally about food for over 20 years.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer is upon us, but travel is more expensive than ever. Thanks to a new spot in midtown,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-341015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}