Date Night at 1988 Cocktail Lounge

January 25, 2026

Date Night at 1988 Cocktail Lounge

The Love Spell cocktail from 1988 Cocktail Lounge in Georgetown. This unique and beautifully presented drink has Vodka, lemon, cranberry, Hibiscus Tea, and Rose Water.

This weekend my husband and I checked out 1988 Cocktail Lounge for drinks and a bite to eat. This was our first visit to this Georgetown bar, but we've eaten dinner twice before at the connected restaurant Kuma Kitchen and Bar by the same owner. We were impressed by the food there, so we knew the menu at the lounge would also be tasty. The drinks at the lounge also looked more inspired and date-night worthy, so we decided to go.

The place was hopping around 7 pm when we stopped in. The lighting was dim, and they were playing Hip Hop re-mix, something different for Georgetown, but we really liked it. The food at Kuma Kitchen and 1988 Lounge is Asian fusion. We love their wings, the Pho, and their shoestring fries.

For my cocktail, I chose the Love Note. It had such a pretty presentation and was served with a martini glass with a gorgeous rose shaped ice. The cocktail was in a love potion shaped glass and topped with a rose petal. You then pour the liquid into your martini glass. But first our server sprayed some rose water on the rose shaped ice in my glass. It all looked so cool and neat, but how was the drink? It was on the sweeter side and a little sour, and if you don't like sweet cocktails, you wouldn't enjoy this one. I like my food and drinks quite sweet, especially if I have savory items to pair it with, so I really liked this cocktail. There was also enough liquid to fill my cocktail glass up twice, which I appreciated.

For my husband's drink he ordered the Smaug, their play on an Old Fashioned. This had Brown Butter Washed Bourbon, simple syrup, and walnut bitters. They have six different Old Fashioned's to choose from at this lounge. I took a sip of his and loved the brown butter flavors! His second drink was the Weasleys which had ginger infused whiskey, and I really didn't like the flavors. He loves ginger, so he really liked this cocktail.

To eat, we shared something kind of unique, the Pho Poutine. This Asian play on the classic Canadian comfort dish had shoestring fries with Pho gravy, brisket, onions, cilantro, and a hoisin sauce. We also had cheese curds on ours, which we didn't see on the menu description. We really enjoyed this dish. The flavors all came together well, and you can't go wrong with their fries at this spot. The fries didn't get too soggy with the gravy and all of the toppings. The serving was pretty big and perfectly shareable.

We had a fun time at this Georgetown bar, from the pretty and strong drinks to the yummy flavors of the dish we tried, it was a wonderful night out!