Kentucky Derby This Weekend: At Bourbon Steak, Make Your Own Mint Julep

Jules Morgan

Bourbon Steak wants to be your Kentucky Derby headquarters, so it's plying you with promises of cheap booze and free food (works for us). From 5 to 7 p.m. on Derby Day (Saturday, May 5), plant yourself bar-side, where $5 mint juleps will be featured among an array of drink specials, including reduced pricing on signatures such as a cosmos and Manhattans. Southern style is conveyed in complimentary canapés such as fried green tomatoes and buffalo oysters, both dipped in batter. Tuna tartare will also be passed around -- not so Southern, but it lightens things up.

Bourbon Steak's flat-screen TV screens will all show the race, which supposedly goes off at exactly 6:24 p.m. Need some advice on which pony to pick? Stop by the restaurant Friday at 6 p.m. for a horse-betting tutorial with Ron Nicoletti, the track handicapper and TV host for Gulfstream Park. The restaurant will offer the $5 deal on juleps Friday night too; just ask and you shall happily receive.

How about a little Derby prepartying? Read on for Bourbon Steak's official take on the mint julep (a good recipe equals Southern comfort all year long).

Bourbon Steak's Mint Julep

 2 oz. bourbon
6 mint sprigs
½ oz. simple syrup
crushed ice

1. Muddle mint and syrup in a rocks glass.
2. Add crushed ice.
3. Add bourbon.
4. Stir well and enjoy!

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