Alyson Malone, head bartender and manager at RooBar, is a favorite of customers and staff alike.
“She's the best bartender on the Cape,” says waitress Pat O'Connell. “She's so personable. Friendly, outgoing, sweet. This place would be lost without her. She's creative.”
That last trait finds ample expression in Alyson's constant experimentation behind the bar. With the help of research, staff and customer feedback, and her own creativity, she's always working on new and unique beverages.
“I like making up drinks,” she says. “I like making the drinks fun. It's not just a drink, it's an experience.”
That philosophy has spawned a constantly changing drinks list—fully updated every six months—which currently offers such treats as the Cape Cod Crush, the Twilight Blush, and the the Mesmertini.
Alyson says drinks made with herbs are hot at the moment, leading to such concoctions as the Basil Martini and the Lost in Thyme.
But Alyson's personal favorite creation is the Roo-Doo Voo-Doo, a 17-ounce cocktail made from a shelf's worth of flavored rums, plus pineapple, orange, and cranberry juice, and served with a complimentary glowstick bracelet. “It kicks people's [butts],” she says.
And those people keep coming back for more, unwilling to miss the next experiment from the mad scientist of mixology.
“I think they like the funky drinks,” Alyson says. “It's like a game.”
When she's not crafting her next creation, Alyson spends much of her time with her two rescue dogs, Snoopy and Austie, plus an ever-changing menagerie of small animals in need. Her husband, an arborist, brings home squirrels and other critters, and she cares for them.
“I take in orphaned animals,” she says. “I'm sort of like an animal rescuer.”