Years before he was a mixologist, the first cocktail that Tanner
Doyle ever tried was in downtown Sacramento’s Ten Ten Room. Back
in 2018, Doyle was a busboy at Grange restaurant next door, and
he’d slip over after a shift sometimes to toss a shot back or
unwind with a glass of Modelo. Eventually, Doyle noticed the
intricate care that a bartender named Ryan Fiola was putting into
his mixed drinks. The busboy asked Fiola to make him something.
What got slid back was a special riff on a Manhattan.
“It just really opened my mind up in so many ways,” Doyle recalls
of that moment. In time, he’d learn the basics of bartending,
then work his way up to journeyman skills — then be given true
creative encouragement by one of the main bartenders at Saigon
Alley. He loved the progression.
But a year ago, Doyle was tapped to make a return to Ten Ten
Room, this time as the head of a high-caliber team tasked with
elevating its drink program into something memorable. Doyle’s
marching orders were to do that without sacrificing the homey,
welcoming ambiance that downtowners have always loved about
the place.
“It’s just funny to have been sitting on the other side of the
bar seven years ago, and now, to be on this side in a whole
different capacity,” Doyle reflects. “I want this bar to be a
perfect interaction of world-class cocktail craft and no barrier
of pretension to get in. We want to serve drinks at the highest
level every night, but also provide comfort and fun. Here, you
can enjoy a New York steak with an amazing Manhattan, or you can
order dino nuggets and a hard Mountain Dew.”
A whiskey wizard buys The Ten Ten Room
In Sacramento, if you ask a rabid fan of bourbon, rye or American
single malts where they drink, there is more than a chance
they’ll say Locked Barrel on 11th Street. The restaurant, nestled
at the base of the historic Elk’s Tower, features over 800
different whiskeys. It was opened in 2019 by veteran chef-owner
Jason Lockard, who’d already established himself as a force in
downtown, first by running the kitchen at Brew It Up and then by
owning and operating Blue Prynt.
When the Elk’s Tower offered Lockard a chance to take over its
Art Deco ballroom and part of its ground floor, he jumped at the
opportunity. Designed by architect Leonard Stark, many consider
the tower one of the most visually beautiful buildings near the
state Capitol. Lockard was also given access to its underground
swimming pool from the 1920s, which meant he had enough storage
space to start collecting distilled spirits from every famed
whiskey trail from Texas to Japan.
Related: Luscious
Libations: Distilleries use local, natural flavors to enhance
their creations
As Locked Barrel started prospering, Lockard began looking for
his next project. He took his time. He wanted the new spot to
still be within the same tight quarters of central downtown where
he’s worked for the last 20 years. Finally, he got word that Ten
Ten Room was for sale.
“Ten Ten Room was always kind of a go-to spot for me,” Lockard
explains. “I have a thing where I try not to drink in my own
bars. It can be a bad look for employees and customers. But
sometimes you want to just get away, and Ten Ten Room was one of
those spots where I’d just go to have a beer and relax
sometimes.”
Ten Ten Room reportedly struggled during the pandemic, and
Lockard knew it had seen better days. He also understood that,
for years, locals have appreciated its welcoming neighborhood
atmosphere. Lockard believed that vibe could be maintained while
pairing the hundred-year-old bones of the place with top-tier
cocktails that are fitting of a Prohibition-era building.
In late 2024, Lockard bought Ten Ten Room. He spent a couple
months deep-cleaning the historic structure, simultaneously
sanding its floors, reworking its bar top, changing its seats and
benches and throwing up new paint and lights. Lockard was sure he
could nail part of his vision through a new kitchen menu,
focusing on tasty but approachable dishes that include pulled
pork or parmesan chicken sliders, cheddar mac and cheese and
charcuterie boards. To keep things playful, he added dinosaur
nuggets.
The Forager 4 is a new cocktail that is distinct to Ten Ten Room.
Now he needed the right bar manager. Various friends in the
restaurant industry started mentioning Doyle’s name.
“I didn’t want another whiskey bar,” Lockard stresses. “Whatever
Tanner wants to do, I’m letting him do. At the end of the day, a
nice cocktail bar is really about the minds that are making the
drinks. On the whiskey side, sure I’ve been able to get a lot of
good and rare products, but you have someone who really knows
what to do with those products, otherwise it doesn’t matter what
you’ve stocked behind the bar.”
A new team gets innovative
Doyle had just stepped away from Saigon Alley on good terms when
Lockard came calling.
“It was amazing timing on both of our parts,” Doyle says. “I
really like taking classic cocktails and turning them on their
head, so they’re still somewhat familiar to the source material
but still totally different. Jason’s given me the freedom to do
that here.”
Exactly one year after Ten Ten Room reopened, Doyle is excited to
talk about what he and his bartenders are up to. That includes
Doyle’s spin on the Espresso Martini. To make it, he went to The
Allspicery, a Sacramento herb shop, to grab some cocoa powder and
a pumpkin spice kit. He used those items to whip up his own
pumpkin spice chocolate espresso liquor. His own espresso martini
builds on that by adding mezcal and reposado, tequila aged in oak
barrels, before being finished with cold brew coffee and a
topping of orange vanilla foam. The result is something that
tastes like a drinkable German chocolate cake with a pleasant
marshmallow pillow.
Related: 100
Years Since Peak Prohibition, Revelers Still Seek Speakeasies in
Sacramento
Another standout drink that Doyle’s engineered at Ten Ten Room is
The Forager, which is part of an evolving series of sour
cocktails that rely on mezcal and various herbal and vegetal
ingredients. At the moment, the bar is serving its Forager 4.
This evolution of the drink pairs a guava rind-infused mezcal
with yellow chartreuse, fresh blackberries, lemon peel, black
cardamon, cinnamon bark, black peppercorn and a little bit of
clove. It hits the pallet as a multi-layered mix of roasted stone
fruit off the barbecue crossed with hints of charred agave and
some light, sweet and savory inflections.
Tanner Doyle has put his own spin on the Espresso Martini at the
Ten Ten Room.
“I wanted it to be fruity, spicy, herbal, smoky — and a refined
version of the first drink I ever made,” Doyle says. “I grew up
in Loomis, picking blackberries, and my mom would always make a
spiced honey tea, so that’s kind of the inspiration for the
cordial. Then, it’s about matching that with my tastes as an
adult now, my love of mezcal and herbal spirits like chartreuse.
The rinds of the guava get a little bit more bitterness into the
mezcal.”
For those who don’t drink alcohol, Doyle and his team have put
some TLC into their mocktail menu. One of their big hits so far
is the Jumba Soda, a concoction of house-made guava cream and
Sprite. With its distinct vanilla textures, the Jumba Soda is
reminiscent of a refreshing but indulgent milkshake.
Doyle hasn’t dreamt up all these special touches by himself. His
lead bartender, Hadley Giebeler, says she loves working at Ten
Ten Room because she and her coworkers are urged to get in on the
drink-making magic.
“I love that we’re constantly creating,” Giebeler mentions. “We
change the menu three or four times a year now; and that’s not
counting little menu pop-ups here and there. And Tanner is really
good about letting his staff contribute to the creativity, and
taking their ideas into account. So it’s been a really inventive
outlet for me.”
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