Recess

Liquor is necessary at food halls such as this one, The 4^th Street Market. These places serve as a hub for socializing and consuming. What goes better with those two things other than a little libation?
That being said, it serves its purpose in completing the food hall, but it is just a small bar counter. There are about five or six offerings of beer, wine, and cocktails; respectively. They also have house made sodas, of which I have no clue if they consist of alcohol. All the menu items come poured out of at tap, which is good for quick service. This ultimately means, cocktails might not be of the greatest quality given that they aren’t prepared at the moment of order. Nonetheless, I was happy that there were some drinks available.
The staff tending the counter was nice. I appreciate that they allowed me to sample some beers before I ordered the one I wanted. Another great aspect is that the menu changes occasionally, so you won’t always see the same things. Just be glad Recess exists, because if it didn’t, what would you wash all that good food down with?

Good service. The server was friendly and got our drinks to us fast.
They have a lot of beers on tap from local microbreweries and handmade cocktails to choose from.
If you don’t drink alcohol they also have handcrafted sodas and teas.
Great spot!

Service is good. Wine was horrible & in a plastic cup. Also tried the lemon crème soda tasted awful like theraflu. Huge disappointment, I will not come back.

It’s a really cool spot tv’s for the games and a dj spins at night. Also games like connect four and jenga. Perfect place. Hipster /​trendy spot. There’s ping pong table and chutes and ladders, checkers and I just over all loved it

No IPA’ on tap, enough said only place to get tap beer so 6 taps really doesn’t cut it

I understand the concept of Recess, but find it basically unfulfilled. Beers are six bucks each, cocktails are all eight etc. All beers, wine, and cocktails are on draft, so it should be really, really quick, but it’s not. This is where they, for some reason that I can’t determine, struggle. I’ve been here twice now, ordered beer once, and wine another. I haven’t had the guts to order one of their craft cocktails, as I am afraid they won’t be any good, not being «crafted» on the spot. I am most likely wrong on this point, having had the wonderful cocktails numerous times at the Playground. Why not a big drum of watermelon everclear punch with some blackberry brandy and 7-​up tossed in? This is what my mind conjures up here. But that’s not my problem with Recess. It’s back to the service. The line in front of me only had three other couples waiting for drinks. I used to knock out drinks for folks four deep back in my bartender days, and these were multi-​ingredient fruity cocktails. Crap compared to Recess to be sure, but I could make them pretty fast. So why does it take ten minutes to get to the counter when everything is pre-​made. Get cup, pull lever, hand drink to customer. Both times I’ve felt like I was being served by the new kids at Fruitty Yogurt. Slothly movements, making me wait, when all I want is a quick drink. With one person at the register, and another pulling the levers, this needs to be fast. Sorry for whining, but I honestly got my food faster at KTCHN after I got my drinks here.
Despite my obvious irritation, I am happy to return for one of those pre-​made things. The descriptions look really, really good, and who knows, maybe they are just fantastic…, and maybe I will be blessed with an immediate front of the line spot. KTCHN is a great idea, the setup is ideal, the selection of beverages is well thought out, with some great beers, and the servers are really friendly. Just slugs.

First timer over here. I just learned about Recess when I came through for dinner at 4^th Street Market. Did I mention it was my first time too? I was overwhelmed with so many options!
What intrigued me most was that it was the busiest place in the market. Beers on tap! Wine on tap! Cocktails on tap! Wait, what? YEAH cocktails are available on tap for $ 8. This was an intriguing concept and I was curious.
They had cocktails like Southside (Ford’s gin /​lime /​simple syrup /​mint), Aperol Spritz (Aperol /​orange) and Old Fashioned (Evan William’s bourbon /​Angostura bitters /​turbanado sugar). An old fashioned on tap? Alright, I’ll try it out. The final touch is added with a lemon peel. Upon first sip, wow! This is actually really really good, although quite stiff.
Wine is $ 8 and beers are $ 6, which is a pretty decent flat rate. I’m sure everything is on rotation, so that’s really cool. Can’t wait to come back and see what else they pack here.

Really liked the set up of the place, kind of skeptical of trying mixed drinks on tap but the girl behind the counter was very friendly and gave me some recommendations and even let me sample. I will be back and next time with a group of people, their outside area is spacious and they even provide group games that you can enjoy and hang out for hours on end! Very trendy and cool for people watching (which I love to do)

I’m not the biggest fan of soda but the lemon crème soda here is delicious. It reminds me of a 50 – 50 bar minus the orange with a hint of lemon.
This drink is a must to go with any meal within 4^th Street Market.
Dinner 7÷30÷2015

I wanted to love Recess like I do the Playground, but I could not.
As a kid I loved both, but as an adult the whole plastic cups thing weirds me out. I’m not a beer snob, but my days of red solo cups, PBR are long gone. I feel like I’m on a plane. I get that it’s in a food court, but when I’m drinking cocktails or beer it’s kind of because I don’t want to be in public. With that rule alone on the plastic to me waters down the concept and lessens the experience. And I’ve loved the concepts of the other ventures by the owners, but this makes me feel like when your 21 and finally able to drink, just for the sake of drinking.
It’s convenient, it’s unique, but I’d rather drink at a brewery which doesn’t allow kids (far away from kids) or drink at a bar that doesn’t premix my drinks and allowed me to lounge. Most people don’t drink when they eat and do it because it’s different from their norm. When they do they don’t pair with their food very often. Ordering food and then coming here not knowing what they have can be tricky. Stick with the brown stuff imo. The décor is like a school cafeteria mixed with a science room. The service is so so, but could be more attentive. I think part of the issue is at bars the bartender takes your order and makes your drink, you have moments to watch, there is some pride in it. Here I felt like I ordered my beers and cocktails from a drone. No conversation, no banter, just «lunch ladies» putting sloppy joe on a plate for me. Service on my 2 subsequent visits were ok, better, but less than what I expected considering these were craft-​ish cocktails versus «drinks» made with jack and coke. They seem less interested in talking about how their premade cocktails. Beer selection is small, changing, not of concern to me as I’m not that picky. Nothing special, but I’m from a real beer Mecca, so I won’t hold this against them. It’s not Jason’s style to compete in a saturated market. I personally like selecting my spirits because there is a specialization in wanting Buffalo Trace over Makers Mark and the premade aspect doesn’t give me that freedom. Their cocktails change and showcase different sprits, colors and flavors. Pairing is well, but having that herbal touch would really help and it’s minimal extra work.
It will be a success. It is unique, but it’s not for me and imo not a market that should have even gotten filled here aside from doing it for the sake of doing something different and keeping it simple and local. Jason I will always support your business, but this is turning out to be like how Malarkey closed quite a few difference concepts after Seersucker before getting back to the roots and flipping a few to what’s tried and true.

I like the name of this place. They offer different beer and a couple of pre-​mixed cocktails. They are pretty decent prices, but once you get your cocktail you realize how tiny it is.
I think this place pairs well with the whole 4^th street market experience, but still pretty slow service for something that just needs to be poured.
I think it’s worth trying, but for me just a one time thing for sure.

So I’ve dreamed of adding a kegarator to our fantasy kitchen, but I think would rather have cocktails on tap! That’s exactly what Recess is offering up on a daily basis.
I will admit I’m alway skeptical when something is being served pre-​mixed. However, these cocktails will make you pucker (depending on which one you get). I agree with James D.: for $ 8 these sips are something special. I tried the Dark & Stormy and one other cocktail on our day at the ‘park’. Both were packing a nice punch and I could easily see meeting friends here after work becoming a regular ‘thing’ if I lived in the area.
The plastic cups don’t bother me, but then again I’m a beach/​pool girl, so I’m used to having drinks out of something other than glass. I might have to do some research on how to get one of these lovely cocktailerators in my next house.

Innovative concept: purchase your food at individual shop and pick up all drink orders in one place. However, Not the most efficient approach.
My friend waited at the food shop for our food while I grabbed our drinks at Recess. The blonde worker gave me our drinks and I took it to a table nearby… Only to see her storm fiercely at me seconds later, yelling «don’t take anything that’s not yours!» Dafaq? How about you do your job correctly? Apparently, she gave me the wrong drink. Mistakes happen, its fine, I get it. But you need to Get off your high horse, and learn a thing or two about customer service brah.
4^th Street Market is a place where ambiance is essential and a key aspect that thrives its concept. That said, I guess i will be staying sober, if I ever was to come here again.

It’s great that you can order a beer from Wagyu Chuck and pick it up at the bar at Recess. It’s not so great when you order a Noble Pale Ale and end up with a hoppy IPA. Thanks a lot. I ended up drinking it because I wasn’t sure if they gave me the right beer or not. But it definitely wasn’t a pale ale. And they weren’t even busy since there was a cinco de mayo festival going on outside.

Kind of an odd placement of the open bar when you walk into the 4^th Street Market, but when I saw that the cocktails were reasonably priced and on tap we had to get some.
They were all tasty, nothing too unique but pretty good.
Beer and wine also, great service.
Cups are on the small size, explaining the prices but its not really about getting wasted here, its all about the food.
It is a nice addition and I advise taking your drinks on the patio (served in plastic cups) the nicest place to sit in the market.

Cocktails out of a keg?
If you are eating at the 4^th Street Market, this is the bar (you can also buy a bottle of wine from the store, but this is the only bar option). There is beer, wine and cocktails on tap, curated and/​or mixed by the folks behind the Playground (get it — Playground/​Recess, Recess/​Playground!!!).
Prices are fair, and the staff is friendly. With so many different types of food on offer in the other stalls, the drink selection is diverse. Beers run a gamut of typical options from craft breweries, I (honestly) didn’t pay attention to the wine list, and the cocktail list offers about 5 choices of fussy mixed drinks. I had a hibiscus flavored margarita variation that was decent. I figured it was one of the better options to pair with a spicy Poke bowl.
So order your food and then figure out what to drink with it, or get a drink and then figure out the food that pairs with it.

I thought Recess was a pretty cool name for a bar — especially one that’s associated with Playground — because bars definitely feel like the adult version of a recess break. Recess is a welcome addition to the 4^th Street Market because once you’ve finally decided what to eat among the many restaurant options offered, you’ll likely want something to wash it down with. Recess offers beer, wine and cocktails on draft. Not exactly sure what cocktails on draft is supposed to mean but I ended up getting the Santa Ana Daisy which is a tequila cocktail with grenadine, Cointreau and lemon. My friend ordered their White Ale. The wine and cocktails are $ 8 while the beers are $ 6. I didn’t see the bartender pull out all the ingredients to make the drink but rather it seemed to magically appear in a plastic cup in front of me. I’m wondering if they’re premade. The bartender was polite, upbeat and really quick with service. For $ 8 and pretty quality ingredients it didn’t seem too bad until I started drinking the cocktail and immediately got a stomach ache from it. I’m not sensitive to tequila or any of the other ingredients so I was a bit surprised. I also didn’t really like the taste. I appreciated that it was strong but the other ingredients didn’t seem to compliment the alcohol very well. It was pretty tough to drink. I think the only reason I got through it was because I was eager to get to Chunk n Chip. My friend enjoyed his White Ale. I felt that their menu could use a bit more variety in terms of their cocktails. A solid vodka option would fit nicely. In the future I might try their wine as their options looked of quality.

This is the «bar» inside the 4^th Street Market. Everything is on tap, both beer and cocktails. Prices are reasonable. A cocktail (and they are fancy, with the best ingredients) are only $ 8. In the craft cocktail world today, that is a bargain. They typically have a whiskey-​, gin-​, and tequila-​based cocktail plus others (usually 5 or so different choices) to try to hit all tastes.
Downside? The drinks and the beers come in plastic cups. This may not be such a big deal for the craft beers, but it feels weird for the cocktails. However, I get why. This is a food court, albeit an upscale food court, so…
What about the name, Recess? Well, this is owned by the good folks who brought you the Playground. So, Playground, Recess, you get it? They are not only amazing when cooking and in making great drinks, but they are clever, too.
You can order your beer or cocktail directly at Recess or, if you are ordering food at one of the stalls, you can order your drinks at the same and then pick them up at Recess, where they will be awaiting you.

No knocks on this place!
$ 6 craft pints! Deal
Service was quick and bartender was knowledgeable. Glad to have a place like this close by.

Recess is the cleverly named bar inside the new 4^th Street Market and part of Chef Jason Quinn’s Lunchbox DTSA concept. They have a great selection of craft beers and wine on tap and serve cocktails as well. But the best part? FREE CORKAGE if you buy wine from Honor Roll, the specialty market also owned by Chef JQ located just 50 feet away. You can’t have lunchtime without recess!