Gigantic

Gigantic occupies a small storefront on Cottage Street, the block that carries most of Easthampton's evening life, and it has been there since 2018. The Daily Hampshire Gazette once described it as a glam museum, a punk-rock saloon and a Tinder-date destination at once, which is a fair summary of a room with a pressed-tin ceiling, painted portraits on the walls, stained-glass lamps and about as many seats as a large living room. Owner Ned King lights forty-five candles before service and builds the playlists himself; the attention shows in the way the place feels rather than in anything on a sign.

The drinks list is arranged historically, running from 1937 to the present, which makes it a cocktail-history exercise as much as a menu, and includes a run of tropical and tiki builds. The relevant part for anyone not drinking is that the non-alcoholic drinks are treated as cocktails rather than as an afterthought. The Dream Defender is the one to know: a zero-proof reconstruction of the Zombie, built on lemon, lime, passionfruit, pineapple, pineapple syrup and mint, and served with the same care as the rum version it descends from. Reviewers who order the mocktails tend to mention them unprompted, which is not the usual pattern.

Two practical things. Gigantic is a full bar and most of the room will be drinking alcohol, so it is a place to get a genuinely good zero-proof drink rather than a place to avoid alcohol entirely — a different proposition from Dry Humor a few streets away, and worth knowing which you want before you go. And there is no kitchen, so eat first or plan to move on; Cottage Street has options within a few doors either way.

Hours are evening-only and it is closed Mondays. The room is small enough that a busy Friday fills it, and the bar posts closures to Instagram when weather or staffing intervenes, so a look at the feed before setting out is worth the ten seconds.