Would you drink a Caesar salad martini? South Philly bar O’Jung’s is betting on it

This martini is the color of creamy Thousand Island dressing and garnished with grated parmesan and a skewer of hot pepper ribbons. It’s also delightfully filthy.

It’s the Dirty Spicy Caesar martini from O’Jung’s Tavern, the drink-de-résistance co-owner Michael Otto hopes will grow the former South Philly “shot-and-a-beer” dive into a semi-viral destination for over-the-top food and cocktails.

“We’ve had influencers coming in,” said Otto, who bought the bar from his wife Holly’s family in 2018. “A picture is worth a million words.”

The drink is not rage bait, but rather part of Otto’s years-long effort to rebrand O’Jung’s, which has stood at corner of Second and Fernon Streets in Pennsport since 2001. It was the type of place where you could knock back cheap beers for hours on end until the pandemic, Otto said, when he started adding hot sandwiches and select appetizers — like Italian hoagie eggrolls and wings — to the menu.

Then came the decorations. Otto started transforming the bar to usher in each season last Christmas, taking weekends off from his full-time job as an electrician to string twinkle lights and set up ornate floral arches over the entryway.

Now, O’Jung’s is a bona fide gastropub, splitting the difference between cash-only Murph’s Bar and the audacious Craftsman Row Saloon holiday bar. This fall, patrons can order filet mignon sliders on pretzels encrusted with everything bagel seasoning or proper chicken parmigiana while taking in Otto’s collection of bat decals, scarecrows, hanging ghosts, and miniature deciduous trees.

They can also sip on a martini that tastes like a liquefied Caesar salad.

“Some [people] weren’t in love when we changed,” said Otto. “Everything is homemade now. The only thing you won’t get from our kitchen is ketchup.”

Otto said he got the idea for the Dirty Spicy Caesar martini from social media, where beverage influencers such as Alessandra Pizzorni have been racking up millions of views by developing half-earnest — and fully filthy — martini recipes, such as one for an Olive Garden-inspired cocktail garnished with soggy croutons and one that’s meant to taste like a seafood boil. The trend comes as the pendulum swings from frothy espresso martinis back to more savory cocktails, like the Waldorf Salad whiskey cocktail served at the former North America’s Best Bar winner Double Chicken Please or the French onion-soup flavored Manhattan from the iconic Barcelona bar Two Schmucks.

O’Jung’s Dirty Spicy Caesar Salad martini is the only one of its kind being served in Philly. It’s shaken with Tito’s vodka, dry vermouth, a splash of olive juice, and half ounce each of Otto’s homemade Caesar dressing and buffalo sauce.

The cocktail premiered on O’Jung’s menu during Memorial Day weekend with a non-spicy counterpart that cuts out the buffalo sauce. The latter didn’t last, Otto said, while the spicy version has developed a large enough cult following to become a permanent menu item. The bar slings about 20 of the specialty cocktail a week, he estimated.

“It’s definitely an acquired taste. If you’re a Bloody Mary type of person, you’ll probably like it,” said Otto, who admitted to preferring espresso martinis.

The martini is thick — not unlike dressing — and briny, with the umami from the Caesar masking any taste of vodka.

Otto says the magic is in O’Jung’s homemade Caesar dressing, which combines mayo with anchovy, parmesan, and cracked pepper. The bar goes through about 10 gallons a week, Otto estimated, and often fields request from regulars who offer to pay extra to take a bottle home.

He rarely obliges.

“We do our best to avoid giving it away,” said Otto. “Then they won’t come in here. They’ll just take their container and buy a head of lettuce.”