Cocktails and more

“It has kind of a city feel for a small town,” said Becca Mae Luft of her new Vail bar, called “Becca Mae’s.”

Her focus on cocktails adds to the city feel.

“That’s something that you don’t get around here very often,” she said. “I’m just trying to fill the gap of some of the things we don’t have.”

She said she makes the very best dirty martini.

Becca Mae’s also offers a large variety of beer and a small variety of food.

“We do a little bit of food,” Becca Mae said. “On Fridays, I’m doing these awesome pork carnitas – those are going over really well.”

She also offers soft pretzels through the week and plans to add charcuterie in the near future.

“It’s a work in progress, but I’m slowly adding things to the menu,” she said.

Becca Mae’s is located at 111 Highway 30 in Vail in the former location of The Chub Pocket, which was owned and operated by her parents, Marc and Jodie Luft.

“My dad grew up in Vail and my grandma still lives here,” she said.

Becca Mae grew up in Carroll and is a 2013 graduate of Carroll High School.

She worked at the Carroll A&W for eight years and worked for her mother at two different bars.

After graduation, she spent several years in Arizona, where she did a lot of bartending and learned about signature cocktails.

She moved back to Iowa three years ago.

Her parents decided to close The Chub Pocket last summer.

“This was the next natural step,” Becca Mae said. “My parents own the building and it was just sitting empty. I decided to rent it because it was a good opportunity.”

She leaned on her experience in bartending and working at restaurants.

“I’ve been doing this for a really long time, so there wasn’t much training involved,” she said.

Becca Mae didn’t do any remodeling of the bar, which already has a very modern and new appearance.

“I did a lot of painting, a lot of decorating,” she said.

The bar had a soft opening on New Year’s Eve.

“I didn’t say much beforehand because I didn’t know what my timeframe was going to be. I didn’t want to rush myself, so I just flipped the lights on one day and it’s worked out,” Becca Mae said. “It’s been a really good week. I think word of mouth was a huge deal.”

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At present, Becca Mae’s is open every day from 4 p.m. to whenever closing happens to be.

“It’s whenever everybody leaves,” she said. “If there are people here, I’m going to serve them.”

Patrons of Tiney’s Steakhouse, just around the corner on Main Street, often find their way to Becca Mae’s later in the evening.

“They close around 10 (p.m.), so I’ve been getting a lot of business from there,” Becca Mae said.

She prefers to leave the restaurant business to Tiney’s and concentrate on her bar.

“I don’t want to be a restaurant. I’m not going to just do the same thing,” she said. “I want it to be a cocktail bar – that was the main idea.”

In the coming weekend or the next, she plans to open earlier on Saturdays and Sundays for football games.

Becca Mae isn’t looking to hire any additional help, at present.

“I have a couple girls that are going to come help me out, but for now I’m just doing it all on my own,” she said. “I’m seeing what I could afford to pay and what kind of hours I’m going to have.”

She said the bar is turning out to be what she hoped it could be.

“I love it – I’m glad I did it,” Becca Mae said. “I was very, very nervous at first, but I’m kind of getting the hang of things, now. It’s kind of nice to have something that’s your own. No one can tell me what to do, but I still have to be accountable.”

She said she likes to move around a lot, but right now she feels that Becca Mae’s is where she wants to be, and she hopes others will feel the same about the bar.

“I’ve worked at a lot of dive bars and this is a very nice, clean bar, and I want it to feel like home,” Becca Mae said.

“Come check it out.”