Bar seating is back, Part 1: The pubs and taprooms we missed the most
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Bar Seating is Back
After 15 months of pandemic restrictions, we’ve been itching to grab a spot at the bar. Here’s where we’re headed first.
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After more than 15 months of the strange sight of bars sans stools, the chairs have been flipped back to their rightful place.
Washington was one of the few jurisdictions to hold steadfast to its rule of no bar seating throughout the ups and downs of the pandemic. For those of us who haven’t traveled out of state since March 2020, the bar morphed into a foreign land. The notion of hoarding an entire table for a mere pint felt painfully gauche.
If you can’t tell, I never got over it.
So I — and all the bartenders awaiting conversation and those sweet tips — am stoked to say, bar seating is back.
In this three-part guide, we lay out our picks for where we missed hanging out the most. First up: the low-key taprooms, beer bars and pubs where sitting at the bar is precisely why you go.
Next, it’s our favorite restaurants to have dinner at the bar without a reservation. Then there are the places that opened during the pandemic, whose bars have only just begun.
7 Seas Brewing - Tacoma
2101 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253-572-7770, 7seasbrewing.com
Of all the area’s great breweries, the Tacoma location of 7 Seas might just have the best — or at least the biggest — bar. A massive circle of seats resides in the center of the airy warehouse taproom, and though the couches are cozy, we missed those stools — probably not as much as the bartenders missed the tips, though. With ample sunlight in the day and ambient lighting in the eve, it’s rightfully a go-to spot for many occasions. Order a dozen oysters and a sandwich from the 3uilt window for good measure.
The Church Cantina
5240 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253-292-0544, facebook.com/thechurchcantina
No matter where you sit to drink, the Cuban-inspired food from chef-owner Nicole de la Paz punches far above the weight of most pubs of modest nature. From the house Cuban with mojo pork to a burrito of sorts with chorizo, mango slaw and chili-coconut prawns, most everything is a true flavor bomb. A great late-night option, the bar has been waiting for your return.
Doyle’s Public House
208 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-7468, doylespublichouse.com
It would be impossible to talk about returning to a bar stool without mentioning Doyle’s, open 365 days a year, seven days a week — a mantra they stuck to throughout the pandemic. Owner Russ Heaton added a tented parking lot patio, which they hope to keep, but the energy of a happy neighborhood bar cannot be replicated without leaning over to talk to your neighbor. Welcome back.
Engine House No. 9
611 N. Pine St., Tacoma, 253-272-3435, ehouse9.com
The iconic Sixth Ave. pub — now in its 10th year under X Group’s purview — had been closed since November, when restaurants statewide ceased indoor dining for the second time. The team spent the first half of 2021 overhauling the menu, focusing on favorites and a new thin-crust, square-cut pizza. Owner John Xitco said the experience will feel a bit more like a restaurant than its pre-pandemic self, but it’s still the kind of bar you want to frequent, especially with friends and an E9 draft in hand.
Harmon Pac Ave
1938 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253-383-2739, harmonpacave.com
The one-time Tacoma brewery is slowly reintroducing new house beers, brewed with Odd Otter on the other side of downtown. Chef Blake Lord-Wittig gave the menu an appreciated facelift with a part-PNW, part-Southern twist: Dungeness crab hush puppies, skillet cornbread, an oyster po’boy and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Whether it’s a cold beer or a cocktail you’re after, this bar is ready to reintroduce itself.
The Mule Tavern
5227 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 253-212-3112, themuletavern.com
The Mule celebrates its five-year anniversary this week. Celebrate with a completely unpretentious, utterly satisfying cocktail at one of the round stools affixed to the floor along a very long bar, in view of the backlit bottles and a hand-painted sign reminding you to take home a growler of owner Sam Halhuli’s delightful housemade ginger beer or tonic. Get there early, stay late. “Drink with friends,” as the bar implores.
Peaks & Pints
3816 N. 26th St., Tacoma, 253-328-5621, peaksandpints.com
With such a long bar and only high-top tables in the main bar area, Peaks & Pints wasn’t meant for table service. Sitting on a stool here, any day of the week, feels like coming home again. Maybe you’re reading a book alone or laughing with old friends. Either way, you’ve got a great beer in hand and that’s the makings of a very good day.
Pint Defiance
2049 Mildred St. W., Tacoma, 253-302-4240, pintdefiance.com
The West End beer pros at Pint Defiance kept the bar closed until this spring, operating exclusively as a bottle shop. With rare brews on tap, here is an easy place to relax alone or with a pal, and to stock up for the weekend from the 50-some feet of cooler with craft beer from across the country and specialties from around the world.
The Red Hot
2914 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-779-0229, redhottacoma.com
It seemed almost sacrilege to not sit at The Red Hot bar with a brew and a dog (or a biscuit at weekend breakfast). At one of Tacoma’s most beloved beer bars, the tap list still rules with regional craft and Belgian imports. Especially for singles and doubles, the bar here is an ideal choice to relax at a high-backed chair most any time of day.
The Tipsy Tomato
3878 Center St., Tacoma, instagram.com/thetipsytomatotacoma
When “We R Tacoma” posed a bracket-style Battle of the Bars in May 2020, people said, “What’s Tipsy Tomato?” But the Rainiers’ marketing team understood. It’s a dive, and you should go. Grab a seat at the L-shaped bar, order a cheap drink and decide which super-thin-crust pizza suits you tonight. Then keep the secret to yourself.
Top of Tacoma
3529 McKinley Ave., Tacoma, 253-272-1502, thetopoftacoma.com
The Top just didn’t feel the same without its always-full bar. Saddle up for a beer, a Bloody and a Beast of Burden. If you time it just right, snag a seat during the midday happy hour, 2-6 p.m., for $5 wells and select drafts, plus $8 cheesy bread and $10 pork belly and prawn scampi. It feels good to be back.
Wicked Pie - Puyallup
112 S. Meridian, Puyallup, 253-256-4698, wickedpiepizza.com
This Puyallup pizzeria kicked up its takeaway business during the pandemic, but now the restaurant is back open for 21-and-over only — a rarity in the pizza world. Surrounded by turn-of-the-century brick walls and an original tin ceiling, the bar here is an ideal place for ones and twos to casually enjoy a pizza and a beer, or perhaps the Wicked Mary accompanied by a cold slice.
Zodiac Supper Club
1116 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253-327-1891, zodiacsupperclub.com
Dark, kitschy and always cool, this Hilltop dive slings more than just great cocktails. Here the staff makes offbeat classics like an Amaretto Sour taste good, and it feels wrong to drink that anywhere but on a stool, elbows on the bar, in a dimly lit room with pink walls that sort of feels like your best friend’s ‘80s basement, in all the right ways.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 12:00 PM.