One night four years ago, Maria Tilkens called her son, Alexander Tilkens, with a question: “Would it be crazy to start a mobile bar?”
It was the end of 2020, when people were going stir-crazy stuck in their houses, and Maria’s friend had just sent her a funny meme that said, “Adults need a champagne truck like kids have an ice cream truck.”
“It was a lightbulb moment,” Maria says. “The pandemic had happened, we were just starting to come out of it, and people were desperate for parties.”
Alexander told his mother that the idea wasn’t crazy at all. A few months later, Bubble Bar Boston was born, a mobile bar housed in a vintage-style, white shiplap trailer that brings the party to you. Although Bubble Bar Boston has been incredibly popular since hosting its first event in June 2021, Maria and Alexander found that people craved more.
“Everyone kept asking us, ‘Where is your bar? Where can we come get more of this?’” Maria says.
Now, they have an answer. Bubble Bar Boston is opening its first brick-and-mortar location in Amesbury with Bubble Bar Boston on Main, which opened in August.
Putting down roots
Bubble Bar Boston on Main, located at 39–41 Main Street, will take the incredible cocktails, high-end whimsy, and amazing attention to detail that clients have come to love in the mobile bars and give them a permanent home.
“You’ll be there with other people who appreciate a good cocktail and want to step out of their world for a little bit,” says Alexander, who owns the business with his mother.
They’ll definitely be able to step out of their world when they visit. Bubble Bar Boston on Main will include a luxurious, vintage-inspired bar that nods to Old Hollywood, as well as a private lounge called the Champagne Room that gives a “Havana-meets-Miami in the ’30s” vibe, Maria says. The entire space will incorporate a 1920s to 1940s aesthetic, with black and gold décor, a vintage chandelier, and a baby grand piano on the second floor that “floats” above the bar. There are also other vintage pieces throughout, like an antique gramophone, as well as an original, hand-painted, surrealistic-yet-glam mural.
“It’s Gatsby with a touch of Willy Wonka,” Alexander says. “From the second you walk in, you’re going to be awed.”
That aesthetic will extend to the venue’s entertainment, too. Think lounge singers, jazz, barbershop quartets, “This is a place where you can do a sweet saxophone solo and we will appreciate it,” Alexander says. Bubble Bar Boston on Main will also boast food and cocktails with “European style” dining that features seasonally rotating light bites that pair well with drinks, like charcuterie boards, pickled veggies, snacks, and hot appetizers.
For each of its menu items, Bubble Bar Boston on Main is partnering with local chefs and small businesses who’ll provide them. For instance, they’re working with Lowell-based Roots & Spoon for things like brunch boards and pickled veggies; Pizzelle Bakery in Lowell; Amesbury-based cookie artist Sweet Cheeks by Renee; Seacoast New Hampshire-based Shari’s Sweet Shoppe Vegan Bakery; and Lowe’s Donuts in Haverhill, among many others.
Maria and Alexander also expect to host special, ticketed events, like Halloween and New Year’s Eve parties.
“I bet we’re going to have a wicked New Year’s Eve party,” Alexander says. “That is right up our alley for Old Hollywood and vintage glam.”
Still on the go
Even with the new stationary location, the original Bubble Bar Boston mobile experience is still very much available and thriving. In fact, it’s only grown in the past three-plus years. In addition to the vintage trailer (dubbed “Poppy”), the mobile bar fleet also includes Delilah, a 1948 Dodge truck, and Petunia the Bubble Bike, a vintage tricycle with a petite mobile bar in tow for smaller venues.
“The mobile bar idea was to bring the high-end experience you get when you’re going out to a nice restaurant or bar to your property, with the same level of service, good cocktails, and the ambiance,” Alexander says.
In addition to a full bar with customized, signature cocktails, Bubble Bar Boston’s mobile bars bring to the party bistro tables, umbrellas, décor, flowers, and pretty touches like floral ice cubes, ensuring that every high-end detail is covered.
“You’re getting what you would get if you went to a high-end lounge or bar but in your front yard or in your backyard,” Alexander says. “We’re here to give you an experience you don’t have to leave or drive anywhere for. Just at your house.”
That mobile bar experience will be amplified and glam-ified in Amesbury.
“We want people to feel they’ve been transported back in time and really had an experience,” Alexander said. “Not only did they get a cocktail and a delicious nibble, but they also got this beautiful music with a lounge singer. They get this incredible ambiance. We bring the city to the suburbs.”