The story below is a preview from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Show Pony brings cold drinks, hot plates and rock ‘n’ roll vibes to Grandin Village.
John Park
The Holy Diver, A Tropical Cocktail Created by Bar Manager Teer Willow.
John Park
Owners Jeff Farmer and Cas Moser
In the six years I’ve lived in Roanoke, I’ve only ever had to wait in line at a Roanoke food establishment once. And until I sidled up to Show Pony, one of the year’s most buzzed about openings, during its mid-February opening weekend, I’d never been quoted up to an hour-wait for a table. I’m happy to report that my experience matched the hype and that several months in Show Pony is starting to hit its stride (minus the wait). Judging by the owners’ track record, I suspect that Jeff Farmer, a veteran Roanoke chef, and Cas Moser, who helms the bar, will continue to dial in their menus and unique brand of hospitality: cold drinks and hot plates matched with a come-as-you-are philosophy and laid-back-cool vibes.
Before they opened their Grandin Village bar, Moser and Farmer worked together at Stock in downtown Roanoke. For about a year, they ran a Monday (or Sunday) pop-up with cocktail specials and bar snacks. When the space that formerly housed farm-to-table eatery Local Roots became available, the pair jumped at the chance to open their “fine diving” concept, serving well-crafted cocktails and domestic beer alongside bar food taken up a notch or two.
John Park
Show Pony Menu Staples Include New Orleans-Inspired Dishes like Boudin
The food menu reads as eclectic, but it reflects Farmer’s multi-versed cooking talents and culinary passions, including seafood, Louisiana cuisine and street food. Several plates and sandwiches are in rotation, but a few dishes serve as menu anchors. There’s Yakamein (aka Old Sober, for its reputation as a hangover cure), a Louisiana dish with Chinese and African roots, featuring braised beef in a broth bobbing with shrimp and hardboiled egg. There’s an excellent trout Reuben, starring pastrami-seasoned Smoke in Chimneys trout, sauerkraut and Old Bay thousand island dressing, all piled onto griddled slices of Breadcraft rye (if I’m quibbling, the sandwich could be balanced with a touch more acid). Among the raw oysters offering, you’ll find primarily East Coast varieties, like medium-briny Island Creeks from Massachusetts or sweet Ninigret Nectars from Rhode Island. Oysters arrive expertly shucked, snuggled in a tray of crushed ice with mignonette, cocktail sauce, Crystal hot sauce and fried Saltines.
John Park
Show Pony Menu Staples Include New Orleans-Inspired Dishes like Yakamein.
I’m hoping Farmer might bring back the fried chicken, perhaps as a rotating special, but diners seem to go crazy for its replacement, Chicken Tendies, served with mac ‘n’ cheese and pony sauce (their take on a popular fast-food chain’s secret sauce). But for my money, I’d order the boudin, a Cajun-style sausage that Farmer sources from Lafayette, Louisiana, whose texture lends itself to spreading onto fried saltines with remoulade and Crystal hot sauce. Pair it with the Top Ramen Salad, a cooling combination of iceberg lettuce cloaked in a carrot-ginger dressing and scattered with fried ramen and furikake (a Japanese seasoning blend made with sesame seeds, bonito flakes and nori).
Farmer will always offer a few vegan dishes, which he says he strives to make both substantial and fun. “My oldest is vegan and when they go to restaurants it’s salad or fries,” he says. One standout here is the Kung Pao Cauliflower, which gets a quick dry fry before being tossed with cashews in a soy sauce-black vinegar base amped up with ground Thai chilies and mouth-tingling Szechuan peppercorns. The Vegan Mac & Cheese, made with a cashew cheese sauce and topped with soy chorizo crumbles is indeed satisfying (though if you like a saucier mac ‘n’ cheese you might find it dry).
John Park
Kung Pao Cauliflower
You can certainly enjoy a full meal here, but to appreciate Show Pony’s essence, it can be helpful to think of it as a bar that serves a solid line-up of savory dishes, designed to pair with the refreshing, often tropical-leaning cocktails. Moser honed his skills at Kreepy Tiki and Death or Glory, both cocktail bars located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that informed his taste for tiki-style tipples, and Manolito, a Cuban-inspired bar in New Orleans, where he developed an affinity for rum. The first two cocktails Moser knew he wanted to do were also early fan-favorites, including the Instagram-ready Head Hunter, starring funky-fruity Planteray Original Dark Rum, Falernum (a spiced syrup with notes of lime and ginger), guava and lime, served over crushed ice in a hurricane glass with an orchid garnish. There’s also the smooth-sipping Gold Velvet, made with Planteray 5 Year Rum, ginger, honey syrup, lime and Cynar, an artichoke-based amaro whose bitterness nicely cuts through the rum’s natural sweetness. Another popular pick is the Best Day Ever Fan Club, a shaken number crafted with local strawberries from Thornfield Farms, lime, Lunazul Blanco and St. Elder Elderflower Liqueur with a Tajín rim.
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John Park
Vegan Mac and Cheese with Soy Chorizo
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John Park
The Interior’s Updated Look
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John Park
Whipped Cream and Poser Bakes’ Carrot Cake.
Want to discover why Show Pony has become Roanoke's hottest "fine diving" spot with its eclectic menu and tropical cocktails? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!