This Saturday, December 5, marks the end of a dark time in America: Prohibition. To celebrate the last 82 years of freedom to drink, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite cocktail bars in the city—some with decidedly speakeasy themes (like Tavern Law, which will have cocktail specials in honor of the occasion) and others, like Canon, that just embrace free-flowing liquor.
1. Bathtub Gin
Bathtub Gin is a miniature speakeasy-style bar that doesn’t try too hard and works like a charm. Park yourself at the six-seat bar for a while to make new friends, drink great cocktails, and enjoy the hell out of yourself. (Happy hour daily 5-7 pm)
2. Biterroot
The bar in the back feels a little bit secret, like a small private club. Also: a long list of all-American whiskeys, bourbons, and beers.
3. Canon
Jamie Boudreau wants his patrons to be “ensconced in booze.” To that end: a 100-drink menu-book, antique glassware, barrel-aged cocktails served in glass flasks, punch-bowl service, and more, more, MORE. It’s the slightly ridiculous, totally marvelous pinnacle of Seattle cocktail culture. (Happy hour daily 5-6 pm)
4. Clever Bottle
Clever Bottle is a lovely candlelit spot for a well-made cocktail, right in the middle of the Belltown party madness. The local liquor flight includes three local liquors and an assortment of mixing ingredients: fun. (Happy hour daily 5-7 pm)
5. Damn the Weather
Bryn Lumsden (who has tended bar at Rob Roy, Vessel, and Vito’s, and was also in the band Fleet Foxes) teamed up with Jay Kuehner (beloved from Sambar) and Eli Dahlin (who’s cooked at the rightfully honored Walrus and the Carpenter) to open this “Historic Hangout” and “Adventurous Bar and Kitchen” named after an old-time cocktail.
6. Loretta’s
From the owner of Georgetown’s beloved 9 Lb. Hammer comes this South Park bar that’s comfortable to a degree that could be hazardous to your liver’s health. Drinking at Loretta’s is like drinking in a cabin in the woods, or maybe inside a wooden cigar box. (Happy hour daily 11 am-close)
7. Oliver’s Lounge
Oliver’s Lounge in the Mayflower Park Hotel has that unmistakable hotel-bar greatness—watch the city go past the enormous windows, secure in its embrace. The hotel was built during Prohibition, and the martinis here win the International Martini Classic Challenge—hosted on site—with almost suspicious regularity. (Happy hour Tues-Sat 5-7 pm)
8. Percy’s and Co.
Percy’s and Co., with its “apothecary-style” cocktails, sounds gimmicky, but Percy’s is very handsome and very comfortable, especially if you sit in one of the cushy semicircular booths. The thyme-infused gin, fresh Bosc pear, and house-made sour mix cocktail is excellent. (Happy hour daily 4-6 pm)
9. Rob Roy
A Rob Roy is a version of a Manhattan made with Scotch. Rob Roy (1671–1734), the cocktail’s namesake, was an outlaw-hero, the Scottish version of Robin Hood. The Rob Roy is a swankish ’70s cocktail lounge in Belltown—the kind with stacked flagstone behind the bar, a black-leather-padded wall, low lighting, and general comfiness. The cocktails are marvelous. (Happy hour daily 4-7 pm)
10. The Sitting Room
The Sitting Room feels like a European cafe—it’s cozy in winter and airy in summer, and it has you-look-gooood lighting and a zinc-topped bar. It’s a fine place to relax while drinking good drinks and maybe having a snack, too. (Happy hour daily 5-7 pm, 11 pm-close)
11. Sun Liquor Distillery
Clean, glossy wood is everywhere, with collections of mid-century oddities to keep things interesting. A display case holds a range of badminton artifacts, with trophies, manuals and antique birdies. And as the name implies, this Sun Liquor is making its own booze—and yay for that. (Happy hour daily 4-7 pm)
12. Tavern Law
Tavern Law is an upscale cocktail lounge with a vigorous speakeasy theme (including a “secret” upstairs bar called Needle and Thread). They’ll also be serving cocktail specials in honor of the occasion.
13. Witness
A Southern-style place for craft cocktails on Broadway. The place feels like a pleasant stage set—clapboard walls with backlit stained-glass windows, pews for booths—and the food is good, the drinks are great, and everyone’s very neighborly. (Happy hour daily 4-6 pm)
14. Zig Zag Cafe
The Zig Zag, tucked away on the stairs below Pike Place Market, serves very fine cocktails. The atmosphere is nice but not at all stuffy, with favorable lighting conditions.
