Bloody Mary’s at the Hard Rock are original on weekends with consumers making them. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE – The beauty of the bottomless bloody Mary bar at Fire Break inside Hard Rock Lake Tahoe is that if you don’t like the first one, the second can be totally different. And if the first was delicious, go make another one.

The Stateline eatery recently started the bottomless mimosa and bloody Mary bar on the weekends from 10am-3pm.

While every bloody Mary has the same basic ingredients, they don’t all have to taste the same.

What’s fun about this bar is the imbiber is in control of what the final drink tastes like. It can be a bit daunting, even dangerous (at least to the digestive system) with all of those choices.

On this particular Sunday Joey B. was the bartender. He is responsible for rimming the glasses with one of four salts (Sriracha is the most popular), adding ice and the Tahoe Blue Vodka (regular, bacon or jalapeno), and then the juice – one of which is green. (Stick with the red ones.)

“We make our mix here so it’s fresh,” manager Olivia Van Heusen told Lake Tahoe News. “The vegetables are cut fresh each morning for the bar.”

Once Joey is done, it’s up to the consumer to finish the drink.

It’s time to choose which hot sauces to add, as well as Worcestershire sauce. And the vegetables – it’s not quite like being at a farmers’ market, but the choices are better than any bar I’ve to. There’s cheese and Slim Jim’s, too. Who knew those were bloody Mary fixings?

The goal for the Hard Rock was to provide something different to consumers; there is no other bloody Mary bar on the South Shore, and to have something new to complement the revised brunch menu. (Not a drop of the burrito or carnivore skillet was left on LTN’s plates.)

The cost of the bottomless bar is $15. A single bloody Mary is $10, so it’s a bargain for the imbibers. Van Heusen said some people have stayed for the entire five hours the special is going on. Sitting outside, well, it’s hard to want to move even if you can.