See the $7,600+, record-breaking Bloody Mary served at this NC bar
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- The Blind Pelican set records with a $7,605 Bloody Mary featuring 30 luxury foods.
- The massive drink included caviar, tomahawk steaks, oysters and rare bourbon shots.
- The bar's social media-driven cocktail trend draws national attention and travelers.
The crab legs pointed up to the sky like a crown atop the world’s most extravagant Bloody Mary.
An ice sculpture held five gallons of bloody mary mix. There was caviar, cold water oysters, tomahawk ribeyes and lobster tails. That was just a start.
Renowned for its extreme cocktails, The Blind Pelican in Holly Springs set new world records Saturday, Aug. 9, with the most lavish Bloody Mary ever concocted. It took hours to build, a team to move and could feed more than 100 people.
In total, 30 different foods, many among the world’s most luxurious bites, combined to make a $7,605 drink.
Viral Bloody Marys
Bar manager Joshua Self started making viral Bloody Marys at the Blind Pelican several years ago, naming them after Greek gods. In 2022, the record was a modest $280, The News & Observer previously reported, and has climbed steadily.
“People will show up wanting to break the record,” Self said. “They’ll come in expecting it to be a couple hundred dollars. Try a couple thousand dollars.”
“Doing it for the ‘Gram”
The Bloody Marys at the Blind Pelican take “doing it for the ‘Gram” to new heights, Self said, with social media leading to larger and larger drinks, topped with sandwiches and steaks, oysters and king crab, resembling a statue more than a brunch cocktail.
“They all want that picture,” Self said. “People would drive 800 miles.”
Then last year, the record reached new heights.
Lexi Syriss traveled from Texas to Holly Springs to set a new Bloody Mary record at The Blind Pelican. Her drink included wings and crab cakes, lobster rolls and bread pudding, totalling more than $2,300.
But that record didn’t stand for long, broken by a couple hundred dollars and a whole lot of crab legs.
For her 40th birthday, Syriss flew back to North Carolina and aimed to set a record that would be a bit more durable. Syriss spent months working with Self to design the ultimate Bloody Mary to mark her milestone birthday.
“After seeing our record broken last year, my husband said, ‘Let’s go back and set a real Bloody Mary record,’” Syriss said.
What’s in the giant Bloody Mary?
In all, Saturday’s Bloody Mary included 72 raw oysters, a tin of beluga caviar, 27 pounds of crab legs, 7 pounds of shrimp, four grilled cheeses, 11 filet mignons, four 2.5 pound tomahawk steaks, 5 pounds of scallops, lobster tails, crab cakes, calamari, elk burgers, bacon wrapped shrimp, jalapeno poppers, chicken wings, gator bites, onion rings, two whole red snappers, four dozen roasted oysters, 39 shots of vodka and one $1,000 shot of rare Weller Millennium bourbon, bottles of which go for $8,000.
The restaurant says the Bloody Mary broke three world records:
- Most expensive Bloody Mary sold in a bar or restaurant
- Largest garnished Bloody Mary
- Largest garnished Bloody Mary able to feed the most people
Its buyer was also pleased.
“It was wonderful,” Syriss said. “As good as we remembered, if not better. They always go above and beyond, the food is so good.”
Syriss posted the check on Facebook, showing the final tab, including $1,282 gratuity totaling $8,887.39.
Syriss said she and her husband often travel for food, sometimes building vacations around meals featured on the Cooking Channel’s “Man V. Food.”
The moment was also validating for Self, who says he’s heard from plenty of naysayers about the Blind Pelican’s Bloody Marys.
“It’s a huge achievement for me, proving people wrong who said no one would buy a $40 Bloody Mary,” Self said. “Well, how about a $7,000 one?”
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 3:21 PM with the headline "See the $7,600+, record-breaking Bloody Mary served at this NC bar."
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly spell Joshua Self’s name.
