Best Frozen Cocktails In The Bay Area

Pied Piper Bar & Grill
Palace Hotel
2 New Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 546-5089
www.sfpalace.com

The Pied Piper Bar & Grill is a cool, classy and legendary tavern tucked into San Francisco's elegant Palace Hotel. The bar is a popular spot and has strong drawing power for its loyal regulars and everyone else who stops by for the comfortable atmosphere, excellent lunch and dinner fare and extensive drink menu. A new and icy cocktail here is Summer in the City ($12), a luscious blend of fresh watermelon, Pisco, Grand Marnier and fresh-cracked black pepper. The Pied Piper says, "This isn't your average sticky, sweet, frozen slushy concoction. This Pied Piper cocktail blends fresh, sweet and peppery into the perfect chilled summer beverage."

Nola is a bit of New Orleans in Palo Alto. Opened in 1996, Nola is known as a party place and is as lively as a walk down Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter. The food, the drinks and the art create the atmosphere and party vibe of that Mardi Gras city. While Southern cocktail favorites include Nola's Original Hurricane or a Ginger Julep, Nola also has several icy-cold cocktails that satisfy, with a just-right blend of sweet-tart flavor depending on the taste you're craving. To ignite a Mexican fantasy, try these two beauties. First is the Milagros Margarita, a combo of herradura silver tequila, lime and agave shaken icy cold and served on the rocks, glass ($9) pitcher of five ($37). There's also the Where There's Smoke which blends Espolon Reposado tequila, Del Maguey Vida mezcal, muddled tangerine, lime and Serrano-infused agave shaken icy cold and served on the rocks, glass ($9) pitcher of three ($25).

Three Restaurant & Bar
50 E. 3rd Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 344-9444
www.threesanmateo.com

Three, as in "meals a day," is the name reference here and a place where food is understood as a great unifier. It is a way to celebrate cultures, make or seal friendships and add to the memories – all around food. The cuisine focus at Three is "Regional Crafted California Fare." The essence of its menu is a broad celebration of Bay Area ethnic diversity with everything made from scratch. Three is equally committed to its drinks menu, and creates excellent, handcrafted cocktails using "ingredients thoughtfully produced in house," including in-house-grown herbs and house-made Worcestershire for its 100-percent-completely-from-scratch "World's best Bloody Mary." For summer, Three includes several icy drinks to try, including Dame Beso ($10) with basil strawberry-infused Espalon tequila with Three strawberry shrub (fresh strawberries, sugar, vinegar and ice), and Lemon Twist ($10) with Three's house-infused citrus Skyy vodka, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, triple sec and limoncello sorbet. Are you thirsty yet?

Melanie Graysmith is a writer, artist and educator based in San Francisco. She writes on adult education, art and lifestyle topics, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry. She is also a member of an independent filmmaking group. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.