Tender Mercy - Dayton

This place was recommended by a native and we took it on us to check it. it is underground and the atmosphere was so unique. chelsea an der forgiveness bar has created a Bourbon potion for me and it has become my favorite! the service was excellent.

Stopped in to meet a new friend for a drink. The vibe here makes it seem like if you glanced at a back table you might see the Italian mob having a meeting, well if they were young and hip. The subway style entrance adds to the ambiance, although I am unsure if they do have accessible access for those who need it. The staff was amazing, personable, attentive, and knowledgeable about the drinks. I ordered the Ego Death and it was quite tasty, although for 12, I would hope so. The drinks are quite pricey but you are paying for service, atmosphere, and general ambiance. I do really wish they had their own parking lot since parking downtown is always ... well a mess but you can't have it all. My general assessment is that it is a great place to meet someone for one drink perhaps before or after dinner unless you are splurging on a night out or you are down to drop at 15 a pop.

We stopped here to relax before we went upstairs for dinner. What a great place! I had a Byzantine Erotica drink. The bourbon came through with a nice background of Sherry. I really liked it. My SO had a Boy Trouble. Delicious, reminded me a bit of a Mai Tai from years ago. It was great. We will be back, it's worthy!

Tender Mercy's subway style entrance revealing a chic and intimate basement cocktail bar is SO awesome and welcome in Dayton. Vibe and visuals alone, I'm so impressed with this place. 10 STARS for that! My wife and I came around 8PM on a Wednesday. Not super busy, plenty of seating. We sat at the main bar and were greeted with cocktail menus. We made our choices and then proceeded to sit for a solid fifteen plus minutes while our bartender helped another table, talking forever with them. I had to ask a bar back if he could take our order, to which he said he couldn't and that he'd get our bartender. Upon his return we get a are you ready to order? To which I replied we were ready fifteen minutes ago letting him know I was annoyed. He apologized and later comped our first two drinks which I told him he didn't need to do. But I appreciated the acknowledgment and correction. My first Tender Mercy experience was back on track! After being dazzled by the cocktails list with names like My First Cigarette , I went with the top of the list, Ghost Story. My wife ordered something blue. Wait, did he just pour my cocktail from a tap? Damn. Was expecting some Tom Cruise in Cocktails style stuff in this cocktail centric place. Huh. At least for the blue drink he actually appeared to make it. At first, my Ghost Story's tiny glass and quick tap pour didn't do much for me. It tasted weird and not great. But the more I drank, it grew on me. And realized they give you a small glass because it's super strong. Then I became thankful that I was drinking something I'd never tried before. I will say the bartender never explained the fact that this cocktail is meticulously crafted hours before in batches, then served from a tap had to read that in Yelp review responses from Tender Mercy. The bartenders should explain this. The blue cocktail was okay for both of us. It literally tasted like candy in a glass. Which perhaps if you order a blue cocktail, that's what you're going for. So I can't knock Tender Mercy for this. Overall, small bumps aside, we loved Tender Mercy, are glad a place like this is in Dayton, and can't wait to try the rest of the menu.

Wow what a cool place! I don't know where to start. I guess I'll start with ambiance. The place is dark and cool. Cool in terms of temperature and decor. The art is weird and unique. I loved the candles. I loved the incense. The bathrooms were a little stinky and gross but they're gender neutral so that's a plus. There aren't many tables, but the place is huge with lots of seating. I'm blanking on the words but you just have to check it out lol I am sober and they have a good mocktail list! I'm so bummed I didn't get a picture of the mocktail cocktail menu. They have a sort of surprise mocktail where the bartender makes something up so I obviously ordered that! The server asked for a little direction so I said lavender and a little weird. The bartender herself brought it out and told me that the lavender had a very low percentage of alcohol because it was lavender bitters. She told me that she would remake it if that was something that I couldn't have and I thought that was so respectful and thoughtful! I didn't care and it was so delicious. It was a little pricy but it's a neat place and I'd definitely check it out! I had a great time!