Flavors to Savor: The Waiting Room
Step into another era
In the center of downtown Billings, there’s a secret place to sip a spirit and gather with friends. But please — keep this just between you and me.
After stepping into Doc Harper’s Tavern, at 116 N. Broadway, and moving immediately to the right, I whisper the secret entry code through the small, grilled peephole set into the bookcase. I smile to myself when I realize the code is written on a blackboard in pink chalk.
I enter a seductive jewel box of a bar called The Waiting Room. A silvery tin ceiling glimmers overhead, while a richly stained, wood-paneled bar beckons. Behind it, bottles of spirits glow like precious jewels, their amber, ruby and emerald hues illuminated from within. Overhead, wine glasses hang like crystal ornaments, catching the light and adding shimmer and sparkle.
I settle into the intimate glow, slipping onto a seat at the bar. The Waiting Room feels deliciously clandestine — a glamorous little secret where I can linger over a beautifully crafted drink and imagine, just for an evening, that I’ve stepped into another era.
“I’ll have a New York Sour,” I tell bartender and mixologist Andy Gregory, who helped open The Waiting Room. “I don’t usually see this on the menu.”
Gregory creates the whiskey sour with bourbon, lemon juice, Angostura bitters, red wine and egg white. Listed under Prohibition Style Cocktails, the drink arrives in three distinct layers: a deep-red layer of wine floating atop the golden-yellow sour, all crowned with a frothy cap of egg white.
Barb’s Tini and Bruce’s Manhattan are available in The Waiting Room, while my favorite, the Spicy Martini, is served only at Doc Harper’s Tavern. On this newer, clandestine side of the bar, guests can order bread and a nut mix, but there is no full food menu.
Barb and Bruce Harper opened Doc Harper’s Tavern nearly a dozen years ago as a martini and cocktail lounge with a sophisticated, big-city flair. The tavern is named for Dr. Robert Dana “R.D.” Harper, a longtime country doctor and Bruce’s father.
At the beginning of last year, the space next door became available. “We had the first right of refusal after the barbershop closed,” Barb says. They immediately took over the space and hired architect Kim Olsen of O2 Architects to transform it. “We wanted more of a cocktail lounge vibe in The Waiting Room.”
Gold-upholstered banquettes line the walls. A black-and-white painting by Mike Martin, depicting a gentleman and a flapper sipping martinis, dominates the back wall and sets the tone for The Waiting Room. In the back corner, a small cove provides an intimate, semi-private space for up to four people.
“People come over here more dressed up,” Barb says with a smile. “This is a good destination for date night.”
And it is just as inviting for a date with a loved one, an evening shared with a few dear friends, or simply some time spent enjoying your own company in The Waiting Room.
