In the dimly lit Ranch Room in the historic Horseshoe Cafe, paintings of weathered cowboys share space with shelves of booze, pickled eggs and a variety of promotional materials.
In one corner, six bottles of alcohol are wrapped in brown paper with numbers on them. A small chalkboard touts “$6 mystery shots” with red dice and question marks.
Bartender Rachel Souve said the Ranch Room has been offering the mysterious shots for at least five years, and what’s inside each bottle rotates on a regular basis. She said it’s what they have extra of, or what liquor distributors give them to try that they don’t normally carry. You could get a well shot, she said, but you might luck out and get something fancier.
For $6, customers roll a die, and a shot from whatever bottle number it lands on will soon appear.
On a recent Saturday, a couple who played the game ended up with a shot of ouzo and one of Bacardi rum. This spurred a bearded guy at the bar to try his luck, as well.
Souve said the mystery shots are popular among the Ranch Room’s clientele.
“People see other people doing it,” she said. “It’s a snowball effect.”
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