Spokane, Wash., Is an Outdoor-Adventure Haven With an Impressive Cocktail Scene

When it comes to mid-sized cities, Spokane, Washington, is a favorite of mine. It has everything from a thriving outdoors scene to a vibrant food scene, plus incredible cocktail bars. I’ve yet to have to eat or drink at the same place twice when I visit this underrated city, and their craft-cocktail scene makes for a great bar crawl. So if you’re in Eastern Washington, a stop in Spokane should be on your list, and there are five cocktail bars that are must-visits.

There was a time—a terrible century ago—when booze was illegal. But as with weed, Prohibition (1920–1933) didn’t make it impossible to get whiskey. There were medicinal exemptions for alcohol, and if you weren’t distilling liquor somewhere secretly, speakeasies were another option. Cloaked behind secret doors and whispered passwords—the term is derived from “speak easy”—an underground of bootleggers, bars, and brothels prospered. (Spokane even had its own tunnel system for transporting liquor without detection.)

Today, a speakeasy trend can be found in cities across the country, where bars offer homages to the era through secret entrances and stairways. On 108 N. Washington in Spokane, Cease & Desist Book Club looks like just a row of bookshelves behind glass doors when you find it, but one of those opens up to the bar. Why are they named Cease & Desist? Their original name was Scofflaw Book Club (scofflaw is “someone who flouts the law”), but they received a cease-and-desist letter from a brewer by that name, so they embraced the court order as their name.

Their cocktail menu has classics that you can enjoy like corpse reviver and penicillin, along with local favorites, like Oaxaca old fashioned (Pueblo Viejo Reposado, Del Maguey Vida, Angostura, and orange) or low-alcohol to zero-proof cocktails if you don’t imbibe.

I discovered The Bad Seed by accident. My Spokane forever-friend Kate and I were checking out the revitalizing neighborhood of Hillyard and saw an old local library building with a large, bright “open” sign. Naturally, that requires going in to check it out. The Bad Seed serves Tex-Mex and craft cocktails with a gothic vibe decorated in antiques and paintings inside an old neighborhood library. It is said to be haunted by a librarian whose portrait hangs in the dining space.

Being in a library, cocktails take on literary allusions, like Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian (gunpowder rye, lime, and Compari) or Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano (vodka, elderflower liqueur, Gentian Amaro, grapefruit, lime). The Bad Seed is also the title of William March’s 1954 horror novel. And if you’re just in the mood for enchiladas, burritos, or street tacos, the house margarita (tequila, triple sec, house mix) won’t disappoint.

On a rare 105-degree day in Spokane in July, visiting Purgatory Whiskey Bar felt appropriate. I’m told there are over 1,000 bottles on their beautiful bar wall. To go along with your elk burger, brisket sliders, or roasted goat cheese with blueberries, there are plenty of cocktails. I loved the Up in Smoke (a hickory smoked Old Fashioned), but others like I’ll Be Your Huckleberry (Aviation Gin, huckleberry shrub, lemon) or a You’re Gonna Whiskey When I’m Gone (Famous Grouse blended Scotch, Aperol, rosemary, mint, and lemon) can do the trick. They have whiskey flights—like a 30-year flight that includes a 30-year Macallan—and if you’re really in love with the place, you can put a ring on it and join their Spokane Whiskey Club.

Tiny bars are a thing that I love and Spokane has a growing list of them, but Baby Bar is a local dive-bar institution. It may be the size of a small studio apartment, but its bar is mighty. I went for my go-to drink, an Old Fashioned, but they can serve up whatever you’re looking for in their moody red lighting next to their portrait of a nude Danny Devito (and no, I have no idea why they have it) or under their many decorations, like aliens hanging from the ceiling.

If they’re low on space, they are part of Neato Burrito, which shares the building, has extra seating, and serves Mexican food.

 

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And lastly, I recently dropped into Bijou Bar, a tiny bar with plenty of window lighting and outside seating. You can start the day with coffee, tea, snacks, and charcuterie from local providers or just come for cocktails. Bartender Dakota, a mix-mastermind entertained us as wilful testers of new cocktails she was perfecting. Bijou is not as central to downtown, but well worth the stop.

If on some Thirsty Thursday you’re in Spokane, and you’re drinking responsibly, there are two centrally located hotels downtown: the nicely remodeled Hotel Indigo downtown and the historic Davenport Hotel, an over-100-year-old iconic hotel with The Peacock Room Lounge, a cocktail bar with a 5,000-piece stained-glass ceiling and decor giving the Jazz Age. Both are within walking distance of Spokane’s nightlife and give you a nice place to collapse later—because you’ll need it.