On a recent Labor Day weekend, a group of tourists settled in at Margaux Bar in Saugerties and told the bartender they were “not cocktail people,” but wanted to try something. They weren’t particularly familiar with the classic cocktails on the menu, so rather than turn ordering into a long interrogation about spirits and flavor profiles, he suggested an easy place to start: margaritas. They happily agreed.
The exchange suited Margaux. The new Saugerties bar on Partition Street is unmistakably considered, from its deep blue walls and crowded gallery of art to vintage china, flowers, and navy menu folios stamped in gold. The drinks get that same attention, but owner Sarah Viator has no interest in making guests feel as though there is a “right way” to experience the place.
“I didn’t want people to walk in and think, ‘Oh, this is so bougie and out of touch,’” she says. “I wanted it to be fun.”
A Long Time Coming
Margaux may be new, but the dream is a long time coming for Viator, who first tried to open a cocktail bar in Saugerties in 2016. “There are so many great bars in Saugerties that are institutions,” she says, but she saw room for something different. Viator secured financing and signed a lease on the space now occupied by Ohana Café, but the project fell apart before it opened.
But not all was lost; the experience helped spark conversations with her then-boss, Marc Propper, about buying Miss Lucy’s Kitchen, which he and Michelle Silver had opened in 2003 and named for their daughter. Viator finally took over ownership in July of 2020. Between the new business, the pandemic, and having a daughter of her own, she put the cocktail bar idea on ice.
Then, earlier this year, she spotted a for lease sign directly across from Lucy’s on Partition Street and decided to try again.
To realize her vision of “a cool friend’s living room with mismatched art and comfy seats,” Viator worked with Sam Weller and Christine Ferrante of Maverick & Muse. Friends helped source furnishings and decorative accents, while her husband, Ryan Viator, co-owner of Buns Burgers, built the bar and back bar himself. And in keeping with Miss Lucy’s tradition, Viator named Margaux Bar for her own daughter’s middle name.
The result feels collected rather than overly styled, with deep blue walls, layered artwork, and ornate frames balanced by large windows. The details reward looking around, but the room does not demand reverence and neither does the menu.
Cocktails Without the Ceremony
Classic cocktails make up a substantial part of the list, giving a Negroni, Manhattan, Clover Club, Daiquiri, or Jungle Bird the same billing as Margaux originals. The Mintcess and the Pea pairs gin with snap pea, mint, and lemon, while the Freak of the Week gives the bar a rotating dirty martini. There is enough novelty for someone looking to experiment without requiring every drink to reinvent the wheel.
The food takes a similarly playful approach to high and low. Pâté comes with cornichons, Dijon, jam, and bread, while potato chips are dressed with French onion crème, herbs, and trout roe. The same short menu has three-cheese mac, a chili dog with ’nduja and Kilcoyne beef, and pimento cheese served with Ritz crackers.
And then there are the Cheetos.
“I had to have Cheetos on the menu,” Viator says, laughing. They are funny, but they are not random. For Viator, keeping Margaux approachable means leaving room for someone who wants a well-made cocktail and pâté as well as someone who would be happier with a beer, a hot dog, and a familiar snack. Margaux can care about what it serves without turning that care into a barrier.
The rest of the beverage list is compact rather than sprawling. The current wines lean French and Italian, with each identified as organic, biodynamic, sustainable, and/or vegan. The beer list is currently anchored by Catskill Brewery cans, though Viator plans to bring other local breweries into the rotation as Margaux settles in.
Making Room at the Bar
That same sense of welcome is especially apparent in Margaux’s low- and no-alcohol offerings. Five lower-proof cocktails range from the sherry-and-vermouth Adonis to a Kalimotxo made with red wine, cola, and lemon. A separate “Prohibition” section is fully nonalcoholic, with options including a Nojito, honey-lemon Bumblebee Spritz, Softcore Porn with passionfruit and vanilla, and a straightforward Shirley Temple.
“For the people who want to have the experience and want something a little more curated, more fun, we definitely put a lot of thought into it,” she says.
The approach carries beyond what is printed on the menu. During a recent visit, a guest who does not drink alcohol ordered from the NA list, and the bartender offered to riff on his drink with a nonalcoholic amaro she had encouraged Viator to stock. When the table later mentioned a celiac diner while ordering the pimento cheese, gluten-free crackers appeared without fuss.
Viator considers that kind of accommodation basic hospitality. “Having gluten-free crackers is such a low bar of entry for people,” she says. With Miss Lucy’s across the street, she adds, even an ingredient Margaux does not have on hand may not be particularly far away. “We just take care of it. We take care of each other.”
That welcoming approach appears to be resonating with a broad range of guests. Viator expected plenty of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, but one of her favorite surprises has been seeing groups in their late 60s and 70s settle in for cocktails and snacks and stay awhile.
During Margaux’s first week, she noticed two older couples sitting at a table near the back, drinking, eating, laughing and trading stories. It prompted a realization that now seems obvious.
“Of course you never want to stop going out with your girlfriends or your husband and having double dates and having cocktails and telling funny stories,” she says. “That doesn’t ever end.”
Another Place to Go Out
Viator sees Margaux as part of a complementary ecosystem of bars in Saugerties, each offering something a little different depending on the kind of night people are looking for. Somewhere to watch a game, somewhere to hear live music, somewhere to get a little rowdy with friends. Margaux offers another mood: A place to settle into a table with a good drink and stay awhile. In a village where most of those options are only a short walk apart, a single night can easily hit more than one stop.
For Viator, one of the most gratifying parts of opening Margaux has been the support from other local business owners, including Jess and Mike Mannhaupt of Found Luck next door, along with longtime friends and neighbors from elsewhere around the village. “There’s been so much love,” she says.
The route to a cocktail bar on Partition Street was longer than Viator expected. But now that it is here, Margaux feels less concerned with proving a point than making sure there is a comfortable seat—and something worth drinking—for whoever walks through the door.
Recalling a piece of advice Propper gave her years ago, Viator describes her current philosophy: “Just do what you do, do it well, and keep your head down.”
Margaux is open Wednesday and Thursday from 4–11:30pm, Friday from 4pm–12:30am, Saturday from 1pm–12:30am, and Sunday from 1–11:30pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Margaux Bar
83 Partition Street, Saugerties
margauxupstate.com | @_margauxbar_
