The story below is 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.
Editor's Note: Thanks to John Park for the video as we share a sneak peek behind our dining coverage and what you'll enjoy on Show Pony's menu!
John Park
The Holy Diver, A Tropical Cocktail Created by Bar Manager Teer Willow.
John Park
Best Day Ever Fan Club Cocktail (Made with Local Strawberries).
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.
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 Boudin
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
Show Pony Menu Staples Include New Orleans-Inspired Dishes like Yakamein.
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John Park
The Interior’s Updated Look
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John Park
Whipped Cream and Poser Bakes’ Carrot Cake.
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John Park
Housemade Strawberry Daiquiri Ice Cream with Tajín.
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John Park
Owners Jeff Farmer and Cas Moser
One of Moser’s favorites is the spirit-forward Travelin’ Man, named for a country song but also apt given the ingredient list’s wide-ranging provenance, including American bourbon, Averna (a Sicilian amaro), Planteray Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple (a blended Bajan-Jamaican rum), and dry Curaçao (from France). It’s an ideal choice for folks who gravitate toward boozy drinks like an Old Fashioned or Vieux Carré, or if you’re looking for something less overtly tropical. If cocktails aren’t your thing or you’d rather pair your bowl of mussels or pork and rapini sandwich with a beer, there’s a tidy list of domestic drafts and options like a $7 boilermaker, a 16-ounce draft beer with your choice of shot from the well, or beer-and-a-shot combos like a Miller High Life pony with a shot of Old Grand-Dad Bourbon for $5.
John Park
Raw Oysters
These value-driven options honor Moser and Farmer’s intention to open a place that was approachable in price. The signature cocktails are fun and creative, but you can also order well-executed classic cocktails for $12, like a Daquiri or Gibson. There are always $10 freezer martinis on hand — batched gin or vodka martinis blended with blanc and dry Vermouths, served at 33 degrees, with your choice of garnish (Moser’s go-to is a pickled quail egg and cocktail onion). The freezer martinis are most consistently promoted on the Monday supper menu, when you’ll find specials like $2 oysters and soulful plate of red beans and rice for $10.
Originally, the pair wanted Show Pony to be a late night spot, akin to the bars they frequented in New Orleans during their respective times there. But instead of a couple dozen patrons hanging out and talking, they got what Farmer described as a “weird French Quarter vibe, drunk and wanting to party.” The pair quickly realized that it wasn’t sustainable to operate six days a week and stay open late, for themselves as well as their staff. Moser and Farmer are both hospitality industry veterans, and they wanted to open a place that both honored their love of the industry while prioritizing a positive, sustainable work culture that prevents burnout. “I want to have a staff who come to work and go home and not think about work,” Farmer says.
John Park
Red Beans and Rice (A Monday Night Special)
“Everyone in this restaurant is a lifer in the industry. This is what we care about, this is what we do for a living,” Moser says. “I feel like our staff is excited to come to work.”
The front-of-house employees’ enthusiasm was evident in the way that the service gelled from the get-go. Servers are generous in a way that is attentive without being overbearing and knowledgeable without overdoing it, and they’re fully on board with upholding Moser and Farmer’s vision. Once the sun sets, the bar lighting will remain dim. Food will come out as it’s ready. The acoustics are such that sometimes the noise level rises above the soundtrack, set primarily to a mood-based play list that ranges from reggae to 90s to punk. If the music seems a little loud, it’s intentional (and no, they won’t turn it down).
“This is our curation of food, drinks, atmosphere — you gotta trust us. We love guests, we love customers, we want people to come in and have a good time,” Moser says. “But this is our idea of what a bar and restaurant should be.”
Show Pony’s buzz is still going strong; part of what makes it feel consistently fresh is the way it incites a certain kind of FOMO. The team leverages social media to diligently repost patrons’ photos, from hero food shots to bathroom selfies, tout new drink debuts, or show-off daily menus calling out specials (like a Chicken Crunchwrap Supreme or Beef Tongue Tostada) or dessert additions (don’t sleep on Poser Bakes’ seasonal cakes and pies or the crave-worthy house made ice cream). Show Pony may be a new breed in Roanoke’s dining and drinking scene, but if you’re along for the ride you’re guaranteed a good time.
The story above is from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!