Killer Queen has long been a favorite of visitors at The Banks, thanks to its extensive food menu and its status as one of the only craft cocktail bars in the area. On Thursday night, CityBeat joined various other media members and influencers at the business at 180 E. Freedom Way, to try out their latest menu. Here’s what we tried, including what we liked the most.
Drinks:
Blooming Heir
Hibiscus-infused Bombay dry gin, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, simple syrup, lime juice, club soda
Gin and elderflower is a well-known combo, but the hibiscus-infused Bombay adds an elegant touch to what would otherwise be a pretty simple cocktail. As somebody that doesn’t care much for overly sugary drinks, this was basically everything I’d want in a decent cocktail and I’ll likely be ordering one or three of these next time I find myself at The Banks. Personally, this was my favorite drink of the night.
Imperial Sip
Rey Supremo reposado, sage simple syrup, blood orange juice, egg white, lime juice
As a former bartender, I always detested cocktails with blood orange. In my opinion, the tangy flavor tends to be overpowering and — to be honest — is often used to cover up cheap ingredients. So it’s a testament to Killer Queen’s bar staff that they managed to pull off a blood orange-based cocktail I didn’t hate. The egg white and sage flavor goes a long way in balancing out the tart flavor of the blood orange, and opting for reposado tequila over blanco here feels like a smart choice given the mild flavor profile.
Girl in the Bubble
Bubblegum-infused Tito’s, lemon juice, grenadine, egg whites
As I mentioned above, I’m not one for extremely sugary drinks or cocktails with overpowering flavors. So it’s no surprise I didn’t care for this drink, which tasted like shoving 80 pieces of Dubble Bubble into my mouth all at once. Having worked at a bar where basically every cocktail we made was some sort of sweet, pink concoction, I know there’s a market for this and I know plenty of customers are going to love this. If you like overly sweet drinks, this is probably great — personally, I would like to see more egg whites in cocktails around the city, so I appreciate how much they’re all over Killer Queen’s menu — but this was very much not for me.
Lavender Luxury
Empress gin, lemon juice, lavender simple syrup, triple sec, club soda, egg white, crushed ice
This riff on a Tom Collins was my biggest surprise of the night. I enjoyed how —pardon the pun — crushable this was, as I’m not often a big fan of lavender. Plus, combining four different florals and dumping it over tiny pieces of crushed ice could be easy to mess up or dilute if one ingredient was under — or over-used. Not so here. On a hot summer day, there aren’t too many cocktails you’ll find at The Banks that cool you down effectively with a flavor as good as this one.
Food:
Various dips
New at Killer Queen were various combinations of chips and dips. Nobody came over to tell us specifically what was in each, but the two I tried — one that was cheesy, another more akin to a corn salsa — were both above average for your usual bar fare.
Mini corndogs
Killer Queen fancies itself a high-end cocktail bar, and a large portion of the food I eat for my job here at CityBeat is rather high-brow. So it’s funny that the dish I’ve most enjoyed eating all month was the mini corndogs at Killer Queen. The batter surrounding the corndog was a well-balanced mix of sweet and salty, and the dogs inside were cooked exactly how you’d want them without burning your mouth off. I felt like a madman for enjoying these the most out of anything on the menu, until I looked up and noticed that everyone around me had also finished their portion in about 5 seconds flat. Upon witnessing this, someone came over and said “Should we bring you guys some more corndogs?” The response was swift and universal: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Sometimes executing the simple stuff correctly can go a long way.
“Bombs” and pizzas
While not new, Killer Queen’s menu has long had “bombs” (essentially baked dough balls with various fillings) and pizzas. I’d never tried any of them, but they were presented in front of me at the event, so I gave it all a go. The bombs were good, especially the buffalo chicken variant. The pizzas, less so. There was nothing wrong with any of them, to be clear, but they were just regular, okay pizzas — which made them the least interesting items I tried all night. I’d eat 10 of everything else on the menu before getting one of these pizzas. Speaking of…
Flatbreads
The final new menu item of the night, these flatbreads knocked Killer Queen’s pizzas out of the water despite their general similarities. If you’re looking at a cheese or pepperoni pizza at this bar, and you’re not with a large group, opt for one of these instead. Trust me: you’ll be glad you did.
