Farside serves up elegant but simple cocktails as well as three-dollar Jameson, plain old mixed drinks, and great draft beer in a hip atmosphere complete with arcade games and projected VHS experiments.

The east Chinatown bar is run by Mike Reynolds along with partner Rachel Conduit, who herself heads up Handlebar and formerly the Avro. Mike proposed to her the night Avro closed down , and they've been helping each other out with cool community projects ever since.

Mike's been fortunate enough to work for chill bars like Hitch where he was able to do his own thing and learn the trade.

The wall near the front features a gigantic mural by the first artist in residence at Farside, Dmitry Bondarenko. They have studio space in the back here, and are planning on continuing to partner with artists and support their work.

As for the rest of the decor, Mike and Rachel both swear it looks just like their living room at home. A DJ booth is also built into the bar.

The Danforth Viaduct IPA that they have on tap ($6.25) is super smooth compared to many IPAs, but we want to try some fancier cocktails too.

The Chili Gonzalez ($12) is named for local music legend Chilly Gonzales. It's built like a mezcal sour, with serrano chili infused El Jimador tequila.

The tequila is shaken with lemon juice and topped with the typical "sour" element of frothy egg whites. It's then garnished with a serrano pepper speared on a cocktail sword.

Another fun drink that is a little less expensive and a little less risky if you're really concerned about spicy things is the Forever 41 ($10).

The idea came from drinking with friends and musing about what a store called Forever 41 would sell, as opposed to Forever 21. They landed on something along the lines of yoga mats and white wine spritzers.

It includes white wine, soda, and elderflower liquor. It's garnished with a long leaf or blade of grass, they're not really sure which, but a lot of their ingredients come from around the area, like the Jiahua Trading Company right across the street.

This is also true for the kimchi in their sour plate ($4). It's a great price for a pickled egg drizzled with sriracha atop the bed of kimchi, with regular Miss Vickie's chips on the side.

It's great value for a snack you can keep munching on for a long time with friends using a wooden fry fork.They also serve birthday cake on a Spice Girls plate ($4) complete with a lit candle, no birthday required.