Out of Bounds

When we first arrived at Out of Bounds a bartender approached us immediately, introduced himself as Nathan and then informed us he was going to be like a ghost and be there one minute then disappear. He dropped off our menus for us, then true to his word, he was gone. I guess I believe in ghosts now. After Nathan disappeared, we were left as orphans sitting at the bar. Now, for those of you who have been to Out of Bounds before, you know they tend to be very crowded. This was not the case. In fact, I had even commented to Brian how empty is was in there. He attributed it to the fact there is construction happening on Folsom Blvd which made it a bit challenging to get to there, and he could be right. Regardless, there were only 7 people sitting at the bar, and there were 4 bartenders behind the bar. We ended up being the ghosts, because not a single one of them acknowledged us for a good 10 minutes. Brian was on the verge of having us leave until Sei came and saved the day. He asked us what we’d like to drink, so we told him that and what food we’d like to get at the same time, not wanting to risk the invisibility cloak being thrown over us again.

I was excited to see on their cocktail menu they had a drink called “Island of Fire”. It had been quite a while (since our first few Shake and Dates) that I had had an opportunity to order a spicy cocktail. It did not disappoint. The drink was fantastic! Brian went with the Tennessee Tea, which he enjoyed as well. As customary, we each took a sip of each other’s drink, and as usual, I was reminded I’m not a fan of whisky. But if you are, apparently that drink was a good one.  For our appetizers, we decided we’d splurge and order three this time. Their Happy Hour food is half sized potions anyways, so we figured we’d be okay. We chose the Chips & Queso, the Wings and the Bruschetta. Sadly, they were out of Bruschetta, so splurging didn’t end up happening. That’s probably a good thing though, since the two we did get filled us up just fine. For the wings sauce we chose the habanero. The bartender warned us it was spicy. I wonder if maybe we misheard him and he said “tasty” instead, because they were definitely tasty…but spicy they were not (my drink was spicier). The chips & queso were also very good. And after being ignored before initially taking our order, our drinks and food arrived in record breaking time.

For those who haven’t been to Out of Bounds, the décor of the place is very industrial including open ceilings with exposed piping, and clear garage doors which open up into the outdoor area. The outdoor area is quite large and has misters going to help keep you cool. They have both an indoor and outdoor area for private parties as well. The music they play is fantastic…but only if you have the same music taste as we do. It would stand to reckon that Out of Bounds agrees Emo’s not dead. Parking can be a bit of a challenge when they are busy, but they do have an overflow parking area located at the corner of Folsom Blvd. and Parkshore Dr.

All in all, I would recommend trying Out of Bounds if you haven’t been there before. Just make sure you don’t arrive at the changing of the guards (bartenders) and leave your invisibility cloak at home.