Best of Cleveland 2015: New Orleans Cocktail

Finally, there's a surefire way to get lucky at the bar. The secret is a plastic baby frozen into the ice served in Bourbon Street Barrel Room's King Cake Cocktail ($8). "Whoever gets it is supposed to have good luck," says owner Justin Clemens, who researched New Orleans' food and culture to build his authentic NOLA eatery in Tremont. To make the classic cocktail, named after the colorful king cakes popular during Mardi Gras, Clemens infuses local Portside Distillery white rum with pralines and then adds a house-made cinnamon syrup and chicory bitters. The result is lightly sweet, slightly nutty and heavy on the booze — in true Fat Tuesday style. "We just went off the traditional king cake cocktail recipe that we were given down there in New Orleans," Clemens says. "For lack of a better word, we stole it." 2393 Professor Ave., Cleveland, 216-298-4400, bourbonstreetbarrelroom.com