The corner of South and Delaware just got a whole lot more festive with the arrival of Miracle on South Street, a holiday pop-up bar hosted by Plat 99 at The Alexander. Decked to the nines in kitschy, nostalgic Christmas decor, Miracle is located at the hotel’s CityWay Gallery off of South Street and will be open through December 24. Throughout the month, Miracle on South Street will be serving up specialty cocktails, dishing out holiday bites, and hosting holiday events.
I sat down with Eli Laidlaw, The Alexander’s executive chef, and Kirstie Eller, the sales and events coordinator, so they could tell PATTERN all about the best holiday pop-up bar in Indy.
Katie Freeman: So, what makes Miracle on South Street the best pop-up bar in town?
Eli Laidlaw: The sheer fact that we put so much time into decorating it and incorporating all the fine details down to how your drink looks. The experience from the time you walk in the door until you leave is over-the-top Christmas. It’s fun, cozy, and exciting. That’s what separates us from most!
KF: What hours will the bar be open?
EL: We’re open 5:00-11:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Sundays and Mondays are reserved for holiday buyouts. So if companies want to have holiday parties or your friends want to get together, we have packages for that!
KF: Oh, fun! Tell me about the Miracle on South Street holiday party package.
EL: You get the entirety of Miracle to yourself for a set amount of time, which can be two to five hours. The packages run from $3,000-$5,000.
To book Miracle on South Street for a private event, call 317-624-8276 or email keller@thealexander.com.
KF: And there’s a special holiday-themed suite available to book at The Alexander, too?
EL: Yes! You can call the hotel directly to book the Miracle guest room. When you get here, you will have a Jingle Bell Nog amenity. That will be two mugs, a batch cocktail, the Jingle Bell Nog in your fridge, and then a recipe for that as well. So if you love that cocktail, you actually get to go home and make that for your friends and family when you leave. The entire room is decorated as Christmas and as Miracle as possible. We have a lot of fun like that! We’re excited to make it smell a little bit more like a gingerbread factory, and we want it to be very comfy, cozy, homey. So, when you come down to Miracle, have those cocktails, and you come in the room, you get the entire Christmas experience all the way through.
To book the Miracle on South Street room package, call 317-624-8202.
KF: Walk me through your cocktail menu—what specialty holiday drinks will be offered at the pop-up bar?
EL: There will be a total of twelve different cocktails, two shots, and simple wine and beer options. One of the cocktails is a Christmapolitan. We’re doing that with a house-made syrup made from jellied cranberry sauce and various spices, and our house prosecco to top it off. Then we have a Christmas Cricket, which is a green minty drink. We’ll have Naughty and Nice Shots, which will be a cinnamon-flavored shot and a peppermint-flavored shot. We also have a Jingle Bell Nog, a Holiday Spiked Chai, and Hot Buttered Rum, which is a new one this year. We’re taking Jamaican overproof rum, keeping it warm, and adding oat milk. Then, we use a little hand frother and mix in butter so you get this frothy, creamy, thick buttered rum drink. I’m excited for that one!
KF: If I could only order one drink, which should I get?
EL: That’s a hard question—I’m a chai person, so I think the Holiday Spiked Chai will go over well, but the Snowball Old Fashioned is a good choice, too. It’s a gingerbread-spiced Snowball Old Fashioned, so we’ll be shaving ice, shaping it into individual snowballs, and pouring the old fashioned on top into a Miracle cocktail double-rocks glass. You can’t really beat that one.
KF: You mentioned special glasses. Will there be glassware available for purchase?
EL: Yep! Every cocktail has its own glass assigned to it. If you really love that glass, you can come up and buy it from us. My personal favorite is the mistletoe shot. It’s a missile as a toe. It’s cheeky, it’s stupid, it’s funny. I absolutely love it. We went on FOX59, and that was a big hit for everybody.
KF: Will there be snacks, too?
EL: There are snacks! There’s going to be puppy chow. We’ll have a Thanksgiving leftovers slider, which is probably my favorite slider. It’s Hawaiian rolls, turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing all on there. We’ve got sliders with brie and cranberry sauce on there as well. So we’ve got light menu items to nibble on.
KF: What kind of special events will be happening at Miracle on South Street?
Kirstie Eller: On November 30, we have a wreath-making class. That is going to be a package deal for the class, the materials, and a Miracle cocktail. We’re working with George Thomas Florist on that. That is our only ticketed event. Everything else is first-come, first-serve. We have a drag bingo planned for December 10. We are also planning on hosting a holiday trivia night—stay tuned for the official date.
KF: For all the planners out there, where is the best place for Miracle on South Street visitors to park?
EL: My best recommendation is to use our parking garage. We have an onsite parking garage that attaches to the hotel. So once you’re in the garage, you don’t ever have to go back outside. You can come directly into the hotel through a skywalk. There’s also a lot of paid street parking, but I highly recommend going for the garage just for the sheer fact that it’s so much simpler.
KF: Anything else we should know about Miracle on South Street?
EL: At the end of the day, we just want you to have fun. We’re excited for people to have a place to gather, a place to go to, and a place to bring their friends and family for a holiday gathering. We are open to the public. No reservations are required. If you’re not coming to Miracle, Plat 99 will also be decorated for the holidays, so you get the best of both worlds.
For updates on The Alexander’s Miracle on South Street pop-up bar, follow Miracle on Instagram and Facebook.
