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Eater must’ve spotted us at Hotel Delmano on Friday because they took a break from their holiday yesterday to post interior shots of Billyburg’s first cocktail palace, from the owners of Union Pool. We might’ve done the same — that’s how impressive this place is — but we confess to being too hung-over from one too many elderflower tequila gimlets, which is what happens when you ask the barkeep there to make you something with tequila. That and a tequila with grenadine and bitters made “by hand” (hence the moniker “Delmano”). As for the cocktail list, the Commandant’s Cocktail is the only original one and the most expensive at $14 (it contains pear cognac, Cointreau, lemon juice, and green chartreuse), but mixologist Jeff Hanson’s $9 to $12 renditions of the Last Word, Corpse Reviver No. 2, the Hemingway Daiquiri, and the Seelbach Cocktail are plenty revelatory.

A note about checking into the Hotel when there’s no vacancy: A week out of the gate with pretty much no press, the place is already operating à la Death & Co., with a doorman turning away parties and taking cell numbers. When we went early in the week, we were seated right away, no problem, but come Friday the place was full up and we had to wait fifteen minutes for one of the small marble tables in the back room. Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio was in the front room, and there’s also a secluded alcove holding about a dozen in the middle room. One other thing: Barchitect Michael Smart took a cue from Pastis when he installed the gorgeous communal sink and subway tiles in the bathroom, but he managed to trump even McNally with the W.C. proper. Bravo! Finally, a bit of trivia: You’d never know it, but the place used to be a tattoo parlor. Now the only thing that’ll hurt is the check.

Hotel Delmano, 82 Berry St., nr. N. 9th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn; 718-387-1945.

Inside Hotel Delmano [Eater]