Encore Turns Classic Cocktails Into a Theatrical Experience in Playhouse Square

At Encore, small details make a huge impact. 

Opened in December in Playhouse Square’s Lumen Building, the space’s vintage decor nods to the cocktail bar’s theatrical neighbors. Maroon-red walls and ceilings echo the coats worn by theater ushers, while a 1920s candelabra once used to illuminate the Playhouse’s Connor Palace now enchants the bar. A wall of brassy mirrors and picture frames isn’t just decorative; it offers clues to the spectacle ahead — like a silhouette of the Wicked Witch signifying the mezcal cocktail Elphie’s Exile ($18).

The drama isn’t all show. Encore’s cocktails are some of the most delicious and technically impressive in the city.

The bar is the first venture from Encore Hospitality Group, led by general manager Anthony D’Agostino, with Logan Neisel overseeing small bites and Marion Siperstein shaping the beverage program. Neisel heads up North Coast Culinary, a local company for private events and pop-up dinners. He specializes in immersive culinary experiences with his Prologue Dinner Series — most recently, showcasing a six-course Japanese- Italian fusion dinner at Bartleby. D’Agostino previously worked in Chicago with Boka Restaurant Group, the company behind Top Chef-winner Stephanie Izard’s The Girl and the Goat.

He works with Siperstein on developing the small details — like whimsical salt air and decadent whipped blue cheese stuffed olives — that help this bar stand apart from others in the city. Siperstein is a nurse by trade but developed a deep love for mixology while living in Los Angeles and turned her interest into a consulting gig. She describes her style of mixology as “a modern call back to the Prohibition era, where the art of the craft and elegance defined the glass.”

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“Cleveland has been a shot-and-a-beer town for a long time,” D’Agostino says. “We felt there was a real need in this spot near Playhouse Square.”

That philosophy shows up in drinks like Alert the Press ($18), an elevated take on a dirty martini. Vodka is washed with olive oil for a smoother mouthfeel, then mixed with herbaceous Rockwell Vermouth, peppercorn, champagne vinegar and olive brine. This salty and savory blend is topped with Castelvetrano olives stuffed in-house with whipped blue cheese, cornichons, tobacco and caper brine — so indulgent they alone justify the price. Pair it with the Charcuterie Martini ($9), a glass with a rotating selection of cured meats, cheeses and accountrements.

Food is intentionally limited — this is a cocktail bar first — but each dish is carefully paired and rooted in Cleveland’s Gilded Era, when haute cuisine met opulent Art Deco aesthetics. On New Year’s Eve, Neisel even served a one-night-only panna cotta molded in the shape of a woman’s head.

Regular menu standouts include What the Duck ($14), a duck rillette with duck butter and herbes de Provence, paired with Elphie’s Exile, a mezcal and reposado tequila cocktail accented with amaro, honey, lime and orange blossom. The citrus and honey balance the smokiness from the mezcal, a spirit many often shy away from. That would be a shame because the drink is a spectacle. Pale yellow like the yellow brick road, it arrives topped with a pink flower representing Glinda and a pointy rosemary sprig lit tableside — like the Wicked Witch herself vanishing amidst a puff of smoke.

Dessert comes in the form of Close But No Cigar ($10), a peanut butter–miso-filled dark chocolate shaped like its namesake, paired with the Man Without Willpower ($18), a cherrywood smoked Old Fashioned with banana- and cinnamon-infused bourbon finished with nutty tobacco bitters. The opening menu focuses on elevating the classics, designed to feel fresh but familiar to a broad audience, while a rotating slate of upcoming cocktails will stretch boundaries further.

“People walk in and are shocked that we have real drinks here,” D’Agostino says.

As much as one can wax poetic about ingredients and technique, Encore is equally about the experience. Yes, the hospitality is polished, and the drinks are exceptional. But when you see, floating toward you, the bright pink Mine to Lose ($18) — a twist on a spicy margarita topped with magical salt air — and learn that it’s a personification of Taylor Swift’s lyrics (about salt air) from her song “August,” you realize every sip deserves a standing ovation.

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