Bitter & Pour® is the lovechild of four nice guys with stardust in their eyes. A subterranean hideaway housed in the Merchant Exchange building on Historic 3rd Street where only the finest spirits and elixirs are served to Rochester’s hippest drinkers. In the pursuit of excellence, we created a tiny altar that pays tribute to everything we’ve always wanted. A cozy and stylish atmosphere, detail-obsessive cocktails, impeccable wine, and craft beers.
Bitter & Pour® is the lovechild of four nice guys with stardust in their eyes. A subterranean hideaway housed in the Merchant Exchange building on Historic 3rd Street where only the finest spirits and elixirs are served to Rochester’s hippest drinkers. In the pursuit of excellence, we created a tiny altar that pays tribute to everything we’ve always wanted. A cozy and stylish atmosphere, detail-obsessive cocktails, and impeccable wine selection.
Andrew’s passion for the customer service industry started as a child growing up in the Detroit metro. As a young lad, he would assist his older siblings in delivering the daily newspaper, eventually taking on his own route once old enough. Between the ages of 13 and 14 he began working as a junior usher for baseball games at the old Tiger Stadium. At 15, his family uprooted from the Detroit area and moved to Lake City, MN. It was a move to Winona, MN at the age of 18 that provided him his first foray into the food and beverage side of the customer service industry, bartending while taking courses at the local university. After leaving Winona, he bartended in Minneapolis and again in Lake City before a move to Rochester, MN to take on the role of FOH Manager and eventually GM at the Westfire Grille. It was here he would meet his future business partner, Josh Kral. He then spent the next 14 years at various Rochester hot spots, building his reputation and a loyal customer following. This is where he would meet his other two business partners, John Pacchetti and Patrick Hass.
A native of New Ulm, MN, Josh’s passion for the food and beverage industry was piqued at a young age while running around the historic August Schell's Brewery, where his father resides as plant manager and brew master. He worked odd jobs around the brewery until moving to Rochester at the age of 18 to play football at the collegiate level. He was introduced to the world of bartending while working with his future business partner Andrew Ferguson at the Westfire Grille. He then spent the next six years at the Kahler Grand Hotel, working primarily in the cocktail lounge while also moonlighting in fine dining, banquets, and room service. After a brief stint working in the cocktail lounge of the historic Michael's Supper Club he moved on to run the bar program at Pescara where he fine-tuned his craft working with professional chefs and certified sommeliers. It was while working for Pescara that Andrew approached him about Bitter and Pour and introduced him to his other two business partners, John Pacchetti and Patrick Hass.
