Fork in the Road: Arrow Cocktail Lounge brings creative atmosphere to downtown Manhattan

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) - A place to kick back and enjoy a nice evening with some great cocktails is going to be Arrow Cocktail Lounge in downtown Manhattan.

Arrow which was formerly known as Harry’s ended up shutting down when covid hit, then Arrow opened in April of this year as owner Ben Motley said he wanted to make this place special again.

“First and foremost, this is one of the most iconic, most beautiful spaces in our city and we own another business downtown, so we’re down here all the time and walk by it at least a couple times a week and thought man it’s just a real shame that nothing is in there, so that was kind of the first thing that made me think someone needs to do something, it might as well be us right,” said Motley.

Obviously, with the main focus around the cocktails, Arrow’s food menu has been starting to grow as they have shareable items such as cheese plates and more sizable things like pizzas and pot roasts. Head chef, Laura Clement, said she enjoys making her meatballs as she was inspired by a Netflix show to use them as her own. Clement mentioned although they are very popular she likes to mix up the menu every couple of months.

“We have this thing called shallot dips, so we use roasted shallot and then creme fraise and sour cream and then we make our own potato chips that are kind of a barbeque season and that’s really good people like to get that with a champagne a lot here cause it’s a good pair,” said Clement.

As for cocktails, Arrow mixes up its menu based on seasons but one of the most popular things sold are old fashions. One of the unique things, Arrow is also connected with the Café Bodega as you can enjoy some coffee in the morning and come get a special cocktail in the evening.

“Coffee to cocktails there’s a lot of crossovers. It’s all about like finding ingredients that are inspiring to you and kind of moving towards an end product that you wanna share with people. It’s the same whether it’s a single origin Costa Rican coffee that’s Anaerobically processed that’s really nerdy and cool or if it’s like Laura talking about her meatballs or if its a really cool cocktail that we’ve developed,” said Motley.

Motley said having a friendly atmosphere from college students to older people is Arrow’s goal even if people may not know a lot about cocktails.

“So we just wanna be a place where people can come. Anyone can come and have a good time and enjoy something unique that maybe they haven’t been exposed to before, so this atmosphere I think is very inviting for everybody whether you’re a college student or whether you’re in your 70′s. It’s a good spot for all types of people,” said Motley.

“A lot of people come here with friends and just like to share food and drinks with each other,” said Clement.

The Café is open 8-2 Wednesday through Sunday and the Cocktail Lounge is open Wednesday through Saturday 5-10 p.m.

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