Hardwater Cocktail Room

Hardwater Cocktail Room is a bar in Bentonville, AR, sitting on SE D Street between Downtown Bentonville and the Market District. The cocktail room serves neighborhood patrons and visitors with a menu of house-specialty and classic cocktails, small plates, and a selection of draft beer, wine, and spirits, all presented in a cozy, elegant interior. Hours run from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with Sundays closed. It holds a rating of 4.80.

The bar is the work of owners Cole and Jenny, who drew on years of experience in Chicago lounges, Greenwich jazz clubs, and Nashville watering holes to build a neighborhood cocktail room in their hometown. The drinks menu features house creations crafted by the bar's bartenders, including Sting Operation with serrano-infused gin, thai basil honey, and tajin; Cocaine Cowboy with chocolate malt bourbon, coffee liqueur, cardamaro, espresso, and maple; Sunroom with sauvignon blanc, brandy, ginger liqueur, ancho reyes chile, and peaches; and Aesop's Grape with London dry gin, house-pickled grape brine, dry vermouth, and orange bitters. Zero-proof options such as What Plants Crave, a cucumber shrub and ginger honey blend, sit alongside the signature and seasonal list. All spirits on the menu are listed by the cocktail's bartender and ingredients.

The bar sits about a tenth of a mile from Town Branch Creek and Town Branch Park, with the public artworks Buckyball and the Peace Sign nearby, all within roughly a fifth of a mile. The Momentary arts center is close by along East Central Avenue.

For a bar opened by bartenders trained across major cocktail cities, Hardwater Cocktail Room brings that mixology experience home to Bentonville.