The high-end cocktail bar The Punch Room is making its triumphant return to the fifteenth floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, in Uptown, located at 201 E Trade St.
The 5-star hotel’s fancy casual bar closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to reopen. Now, mixologist Kel Minton, who previously helped with Heirloom, Soul Gastrolounge, and, most recently, The Royal Tot, has stepped in to reopen the cocktail bar, according to Unpretentious Palate. There is no exact opening date, but a representative from the hotel tells What Now Charlotte that the bar is expected to reopen sometime next month.
“Getting here has been about a year-long process since Soul closed down,” Minton tells Unpretentious Plate. “A good friend in the industry contacted me about this position to see if I was interested, then some people from Marriott reached out, and here I am.”
Minton doesn’t expect to implement too many changes, hoping to keep the bar elegant and focused on service. One key difference customers may notice is the signature The Punch Room chef jackets worn by past bartenders will no longer be seen. Minton will also introduce locally sourced ingredients into his cocktails. A weekly cocktail menu featuring weekly rotational hyper-seasonal drinks is also in the works.
“We will still have a punch menu and a regular cocktail menu, but there will be more of a combination of things I’ve learned over my past 15 years of the Charlotte bar scene — starting from what I learned at Heirloom and going into what I learned in Soul and Royal Tot,” Minton says “It’ll all show up.”
While the cocktail program will be a big focus for the reopening, Minton will also offer an extensive alcohol-free cocktail menu using non-alcoholic versions of mainstream spirits. The Punch Room will also offer about 10-12 food items created by Chef Saravanan Appadurai. When it opens, the cocktail bar will only be open from Thursday to Saturday, giving Minton a day to plan the weekly menu and prep everything for the week.
