Botanica Art & Cocktail Bar

I’ve been here quite a few times, both on weekdays and weekends, and it’s easily my favorite cocktail bar in North Park. On my most recent visit, I ended up third-wheeling my friends’ date night 😅 after they invited me along. Since it was a weekday, the place was surprisingly quiet. I’m so used to seeing long waits and packed crowds here that it almost felt like a different bar. We started with a few shots and then moved on to cocktails. The Misa Misa was okay, and the Spirited Away was good, but my absolute favorite was the Heads Will Roll. It was delicious and probably one of the better cocktails I’ve had here. One thing I really appreciate about this place is how much thought goes into their signature drinks. The presentation, the flavors, even the glassware all feel intentional and unique. This was also the first time I tried their food. The truffle fries were absolutely delicious and paired perfectly with the drinks. We also ordered the vegetable gyoza, which was pretty good. My friends got the disco fries and seemed to really enjoy them. The only miss for us was the yakitori both the vegetable and New York strip skewers were both way too salty and ended up being our least favorite dishes of the night. Overall, I’d still give this place a solid 5/5 for cocktails and around a 4/5 for food. The drinks alone keep me coming back.

Immediately fell in love with this quaint and chicly decorated speakeasy lounge. The staff was incredibly personable and helpful. The vibe was relaxed and unassuming. When I made the reservation, it was noted that there is a 1.5 hour limit on the table. Thankfully, Botanica isn’t incredibly stringent about this rule as it gave us more time to eat, drink and be merry. My friend and I split the bill and I paid $87.49 with tip included. Here’s what we had: Blistered shishito peppers - mild spice but flavorful New York strip yakitori - ordered two of these because they were that good! The steak was tender and the sauce rendered an umami flavor Botanika roll - tasted fine, but it ate one note. You can taste the citrusy parts but not much else. Mochi dessert - you can only get dessert if you order the pre fixe chef menu, but since our waitress didn’t know this, she put the order in and gave it to us! We were incredibly grateful because it was the perfect end to a good meal For cocktails we ordered Spirited Away, Dragon of the West, Kyoko Sakura & Heads will Roll. All of the cocktails were beautifully presented and quite tasty.

My partner and I came here for dinner the other night. Their decor is very cute though the tables are a bit small to have multiple tapas plates. If youre looking for cocktails and snacks for a date or 2 friends this place would be perfect. We were mostly disappointed that when we arrived they only served a limited holiday menu (even after christmas) and couldnt have the things we looked up on their menu online. It would have been nice to write on their website (or anywhere on the reservation page that requires a credit card for cancellations) that they were only serving a limited holiday menu. Initial disappointment aside, we had a nice time. The cocktails were strong and pretty sweet. My favorite dish was the crispy rice with spicy tuna on top. The avocado sauce it sat on was unique and tasty. We also had the truffle fries which was delicious and the greek fries which were very good but I didnt taste any harissa as it said on the menu. The new york strip was good with some veggies on a skewer and a sweet marinade. The beef bits were on the smaller side. Parking was difficult to come by with the closest lot costing $20 for a day with no hourly options. There is no parking on the street the restaurant is on so we spent some time looking down side streets. They also charge an extra fee to use credit cards which was unexpected. We dont carry cash so we had no other option.

Botanico is always a lovely experience! Starting from the warm welcome to the ambiance, and tying it all together with the delicious crafted cocktails, which I always love seeing what glass each drink is served in because they’re works of art in itself, and the incredible food that sparks your every taste bud. I highly recommend this place for a girls night or a cute date!

So this was our first time going to Botanica and SURPRISE it was all decked out for Christmas 🎄 which would have been great, but the menu was limited and my partner and I were really looking forward to their menu we looked up on their website ahead of making our reservation. We were a little disappointed to know we couldn't order the food we had strategically chosen ahead of time as I have celiac disease and need to eat gluten free (and their main menu has so many great options, so I will come back after the holidays to give it another go). Anyhow, the holiday decor was tranpsortive and the holiday cocktails and menu were very cute and creative. A fun holiday treat and visit, though the music was a bit too loud, so having any kind of conversation was nearly impossible. Our server, after taking our drink order,, never stopped by again to ask if we wanted to order any food, so the service was sub-par at best. We literally had to tap her shoulder at one point to get her attention because waving her down wasn't working just to get the check and even after we got the check it took another 10 minutes for her to come back to take our payment.