Tucked away on a quiet street in Providence, Rhode Island, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it unassuming door that, for those in the know, takes you to a standout cocktail spot that was just given one of the highest honors in the food and beverage world: a James Beard Award. Loma, which first opened in 2024, won the Best New Bar prize from the prestigious culinary awards on June 15, cementing its place among the industry’s greats.
Loma has quickly become a hometown favorite with its innovative menu that pays homage to Hispanic culture through finely tuned cocktails featuring ingredients you’d be hard-pressed to find on menus outside of Latin America countries. As an immigrant from Central America, seeing ingredients like Salvadoran cream and nances, a fruit that some say tastes like a mix between bananas and lychee, but to me just tastes like home, at the forefront of an elegant spirits program feels like walking into a family gathering. Couple that with the rotating selection of classic salsa, boleros, and Latin jazz playing in the background of the intimate space, and I’m back at my grandparents’ house in San Salvador.
From the malty 015 cocktail, made with reposado tequila, sherry, corn silk, sauternes, burnt tortilla, coffee bean, buckwheat, and honey, to the tart and effervescent 013 mocktail, with hibiscus, buzz button, aji amarillo, and hoja de mango soda, the drinks are creative and elevated, but show a sense of whimsy and fun that’s a credit to co-owners Leishla Maldonado, Osman Cortave, and Yefri Cortave. The trio makes customers, both new and returning, feel like old friends, truly embodying Loma’s ethos of helping guests feel like they’re having drinks at someone’s home bar…