Syndicate Ferndale

If you’ve driven past the little stretch of Vester just east of Woodward, you’d never guess the former auto glass shop tucked there is now one of Ferndale’s most ambitious cocktail bars. That’s Syndicate — opened in late 2023 by hospitality veteran Dana Taucher, who reportedly helped open seventeen restaurants before finally building her own. It shows. This is a place run by someone who knows exactly what she’s doing.

We came for drinks, and the drinks are the reason to come. The cocktail menu changes with the seasons — bar manager Janel Dunn is eight menus deep at this point — and these aren’t your standard four-ingredient pours. We’re talking heirloom tomato water, mezcal atomizers, house violet syrup, butterfly-pea gin that changes color. Creative without being precious. The “witchy, cool” vibe everyone mentions is real — moody lighting, local art on the walls, a back-room lounge with a pool table. The staff were genuinely great: warm, knowledgeable, happy to steer you toward the right drink. (Ask about the secret menu. That’s all we’ll say.)

Full honesty: we grabbed our food elsewhere this visit, so we can’t personally vouch for the kitchen yet — but the room was full of people raving about it, and the seasonal small-plates-to-entrées menu gets consistently strong marks. We’ll report back once we’ve eaten. For now? Come for a cocktail, stay for the vibe, and grab a spot on the patio if the weather’s right.