Thursday night, after seeing the Houston Symphony cover Queen and then running to Warehouse Live to bathe in Ratt, Rocks Off went to the opening night of Brad Moore's new bar in Montrose, Grand Prize.
Formerly Ernie's On Banks, GP was hopping from 9 p.m., when the first drink was poured, until sometime after last call. Imagine if Moore's other bars, Big Star and the first incarnation of Pearl Bar, had a baby that was two stories tall and loved whiskey.
The bar also has an all-star cast of bartenders from your other favorite watering holes like the Mink and Catbird's. They are all pros and the pours are not for the weak of liver or heart. Did we mention it has two full bars? Yeah...
You can tell a lot about a place by its jukebox, and from what we spied inside GP's machine, it's going to be seeing us quite a bit. We saw Goldfrapp, Jay-Z, Motley Crue, Gary Stewart, ZZ Top, Turbonegro and George Jones, just to name a few.
The bar has two smoking patios, one on the roof and one in the front. The set-up hasn't changed much from Ernie's, but it does look like there is still more of the bar that needs to be opened. It is in the middle of a neighborhood (still), so parking may get a little squirrelly at the busiest times, but don't let that discourage you.
