Unique Beer Bars

Did you wear cool glasses during those visits!?!



Cheers!

 

It sure if it counts but I found this craft beer bar in Naha (Okinawa) called Baku that was located in what appears to be some dude's apartment in an apartment block. There's no way you could tell there was a watering hole up there from street level.

They had an awesome selection of Japanese and US craft beer (had my first Fremont Lush there).

 

Ah, making me miss it. Everyone loves on Holy Grale I'm Louisville because it's fancy. But Sergio's is so much more unique. It's really a stupendous experience

 

TNT in Southampton has a lot of machines and they buy sell and repair. They hosted a party for me once and it was awesome. We paid for 2 hours of free play and all the parents and kids loved it.

I think there is a pretty tight pinball/arcade games community that has a ton of parts, I would think similar to car parts guys or old appliance guys.


Enjoy

 

Oh yeah, glad to hear they are still open.

 

Barcade has fallen off significantly in selection and market pull. It's fun for an hour until you're over drinking Allagash White for the 10,000th time. Back when they regularly had top shelf products you could have a blast for hours. Very unique, for sure.

 

The combination arcade and bar idea seems very popular on the West Coast. We've got a full blown one in our small town plus a more beer focused bar that has like 8 pinball machines

 

This place near me is pretty interesting but the beer list is relatively basic.
http://actionburger.com/menu/

Action Burger. They have really good pub food and some crazy cocktail options.

The tables that you reserve have vintage gaming systems with tons of games. You pick your table based on which consoles you want to play.

They also have vintage arcade games, loads of comics and books. Family friendly too.

 

Junction Craft Brewing in Toronto is build in an old garbage incinerator known as the "Symes Road Destructor". Some of their beers have (or had) "Destructor" in their names in honour. I haven't been but it's on my list.

 

Unique to me was walking around a beer store in North Carolina while enjoying a beverage. Also seeing the food stores there having a bar was wild.

 

We have lots of beer shops that you can drink your beers at, most of them have taps and also let you drink whatever's in the coolers (with a corkage fee), some of my favorite places out here. Full Throttle Bottles, Beer Junction, Bottleworks, Pint Defiance, Special Brews, RIP Malt & Vine...

I know regulations in some states prevent that from happening, but I have no idea how common or uncommon this is across the country.

 

I guess I'll go a little bit of a different route. Some of the places I'm seeing here are either tap rooms with a ridiculous amount of taps, or endless amount of space in coolers, or places that cater to nerd culture (not that there is anything wrong with that, to repurpose a line from Seinfeld of course).

Though, I will highlight a spot in Houston. Supposedly, the oldest building in town, at least that is what the historic sign out front says. It has been a bar since the 60's, and for Houston time that is an eternity. The building goes back to the 1860's with an interesting collection of original art work.

La Carafe is the bar. They only have three taps. Shiner, Lone Pint Yellow Rose, and some other macro. More bottles, usually Chimay, Sam Smith, and some local Saint Arnold. It is mostly candle lit, with a great jukebox. Edith Piaf, John Coltrane, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Bobby Blue Bland, and a lot more. Only beer and wine, and cash only. There are several ghosts stories, and supposedly Sam Houston did spend the night here once. While it doesn't have the wide ranging selection as most are posting, it is a "beer bar" for me, and definitely on the unique side.

 

Not quite a unique beer bar per se, but Voodoo Brewing Company in State College Pa has Maine Bay & Berry Company pretty much on the same lot.
What a fantastic fresh seafood selection.
I got some beers to go from the brewery and a couple dozen oysters from the market to consume when I got home. Speaking of bait shops.
The brewery has great outdoor seating by the creek.

I remember the first time I saw a taproom with over 100 drafts I was blown away.
They've since gone out of business.
I remember McFly's in Lancaster, some 30 years ago had 30 taps on the wall, some of which were liquor like Skyy Vodka and Jaeger. At the time I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

 

I'm racking my brain and the best I can come up with is the Alibi Room in Vancouver. The thing that makes it unique is they have OG copies of random movie scripts laying around everywhere. It's where I discovered this gem:

Does anyone remember this classic rollerblading movie from the '90s with Seth Green and Jack Black in supporting roles?

 

This is a longshot, but I'm hoping someone will remember it. In central Bangkok around 2003 approximately, there was a short-lived unique bar that specialized in only Belgian beers. It was basically a warehouse filled with cases of what I think was EVERY beer from Belgium. The bar part was tiny, nothing on draft (if memory isn't clouded), but very professional. I was in heaven there after a year of light Asian lagers. The problem was my teacher's salary wouldn't allow me to patronize this wonderful place often. They lasted only a year?? To this day, I wish I would have gotten to know ownership better. They truly loved beer. Anyone remember?

 

Yeah, but it's in Bellingham. Doesn't your city hall insist on at least one establishment answering this description?
Kinda like how mine insists on at least one coke bar in it's city limits.

 

Brewery Vivant might qualify:
"Visit the world’s first LEED certified microbrewery housed in a refurbished historic funeral home in the East Hills neighborhood. Live the bon vivant with neighbors, brewers, and monks alike enjoying rustic European inspired beers along outstanding locally sourced dishes from our scratch-kitchen."
If you check out their "about" section you can see photos of the place in its original use.
They brew quite good beer and have amazing food.
https://breweryvivant.com/

 

I believe there used to be a combination brewery and bookstore in Dayton, Washington, years ago. I also believe it didn't work out. Too bad, as that's my kinda place.