The Marquee Lights Up State Street

Sweets and eats are dandy, but liquor is quicker at the new Marquee (1212 State St., 560-0100, marqueesb.com). Working hard to live up to the gussied-up Granada Theatre next door, The Marquee provides classy snacks and cocktails in a convivial atmosphere that harkens to the Granada’s original heyday, copping a bit of a speakeasy vibe, while also looking to the future with open industrial ceilings and the hope to get you Facebooking and Tweeting away about your fine nights at the club.

Food runs from cheese and charcuterie to a lobster martini packing the titular crustacean plus cucumber, avocado, cocktail sauce, and lemon. But it’s the cocktails that steal the show, many cleverly themed to the theater—the Dress Rehearsal packs a potent punch with Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch, Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch, fresh lime juice, ginger puree, and honey syrup—or slyly joking about the Santa Barbara lifestyle, as the Cougar offers Aperol, Mionetto Prosecco, and soda in its claws. Pre- and post-theater life just got so much better that it’s possible some folks may never make it to their seats in the Granada because they’ll be having such a fine time at the Marquee.