Jenna Carol hopes that Winedown, her new wine and beer lounge planned for 118 State St., will offer a more relaxed, “upscale but not stuffy” atmosphere, where young professionals, graduate students and state workers can gather over drinks, board games and live music.
“I’m really going for a living room type lounge,” she says. “You go in and you feel like you’re at a friend’s house.”
Carol plans to serve a rotating variety of wines and beers, as well as specialty cocktails made with wine and beer and frozen wine and beer — a slushy treat whose formula and consistency she says she perfected through “lots of patience.” Winedown will also serve food, but the offerings will be “minimal” — local breads, jams and cheeses.
Winedown is taking over the former home of Diego’s Mexican Bistro, which closed in January.
“The focus isn’t necessarily on the drinking aspect as much as it is on the community,” Carol says. “We really want it to be a place for people to come and connect.”
