If you’re looking for a date night — with anyone from your mom or best friend to a blind date or a long-term partner — that’s casual yet interactive, look no further than a pour-your-own bar.
Hear me out. Instead of a bartender rattling off percentages, soil composition and the aging information for a bottle of wine, a pour-your-own spot lets you feel free to casually drink based on something as simple as a pretty label without judgment. It’s fun even if you’re an oenophile because you’re free to sip and talk and think at your own pace. And if you want more info? The staff is there to answer questions or even help you determine where to start based on what you like.
“Wine has this pretentiousness about it, I don’t know if it’s the names of everything but it creates a lot of intimidation,” says David Clawson, owner of Rapport, a self-pour bar on Capitol Hill. “But with the self-dispensing model, people can do whatever they want.”
Since opening in August 2020, Clawson has seen the self-pour walls create their own social dynamic where strangers start talking to each other about wines they’re trying, trading recommendations without any sense of pretentiousness.
Pour-your-own bars aren’t just about wine, either. Rapport has nine beer taps. Sodo’s Vinason and Tapster in South Lake Union also have nonalcoholic options that include kombucha, local sodas and cold brew.
And while a friend of mine joked that a pour-your-own establishment is nothing more than a clever way to deal with the ongoing labor shortage, I can’t deny it’s much more fun than I thought it might be. With Valentine’s Day looming (or honestly any time you’re looking to go on a date), here are four spots for a night out.
Food: Everything from small plates, charcuterie and cheese boards and salads, to sourdough flatbreads, pastas and main-sized dishes. Full brunch menu on the weekends.
Best for: A quiet, romantic date or catching up with a good friend.
Capitol Hill wine bar Rapport has 80 wines on tap. The bottles are corralled in glass-fronted coolers, a slender straw shoved down the neck of each one, connecting it to a pneumatic dispensing system and organized by larger style; natural, local, new world, old world. To sample any of them you insert a special card into the top of the machine, choose from either a 1, 3 or 5-ounce pour and hold your glass up to the corresponding pour spout where the wine is quickly dispensed.
Rapport has a huge outdoor patio for those sunny days, plus plenty of indoor seating. The lighting is moody and intimate, and the music is piped at a soothing volume. The food menu focuses on locally-sourced, seasonal items and changes regularly. Standouts the evening I was there included the kale-and-kabocha gnocchi with a decadent brown butter chili sauce and the salami-and-leeks flatbread. All the taps are for alcoholic drinks, but there are a handful of mocktails and a housemade guava lemonade for those seeking alcohol-free options.
When it comes to the wine at Rapport, there are so many interesting options to choose from. One entire case features natural wine, while another splits oranges and rose. Tastes start around $3 an ounce, but after tasting my way through four different bottles, I spent around $14 and was content.
I’m sure weekend brunch is a bit more lively, but the weekday evening I went to Rapport, I got strong romance vibes. This is a perfect place for a date or a quiet catch up with a friend you haven’t seen in too long.
3-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday; 700 Broadway E., Suite A, Seattle; 206-706-9500; rapportseattle.com
Food: Charcuterie and cheese boards plus snacky items like olives, nuts and dips.
Best for: A fun night with friends, drinks with co-workers.
The last time I was in the Chez Phinney space, it housed the Bluebird Creamery. But a friend and I slipped in for drinks one blustery evening before Christmas and wow, the space couldn’t be further from the old scoop shop. The cases containing the self-pour wine (similar to the ones at Rapport) line the right side of the wall when you enter. The front wall is a roll-up door perfect for summer, there are tables to your left and down a short set of stairs toward the back is a cozy couch, a small bar and a larger table. The vibe is a little cheeky and fun — bold wallpaper and paintings depicting famous celebrities (Bill Murray and Clint Eastwood, to name two) as Napoleonesque generals with Parisian-style bistro chairs. This is the place to go with your friends and laugh the night away while sampling wine and nibbling on cheese. The wines are focused on women- and minority-owned, small-production wineries. There’s also a small bottle list with a handful of sparkling bottles, beer and some fun nonalcoholic wine options.
The average price per ounce is $2.50. At Chez Phinney I tried a few 1-ounce pours before falling in love with a Washington red and splurging for a full 5-ounce pour, spending a total of $23 on my self-pour experience plus a $12 glass of rosé prosecco.
The music here is at a comfortable volume and the general vibe is fun and energetic. This could be a great place for a first date, but I think it’s even better suited for a night with friends, co-workers or even your book club.
5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, 5-10 p.m. Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 7400 Greenwood Ave N., Seattle; 206-656-7400; chezphinney.com
Taps: 40, a mix of wine, beer, kombucha, seltzer, soda
Food: Pho, banh mi, vermicelli noodles and more.
Best for: First dates, blind dates, family date, game nights.
You can see the stadiums from Vinson’s cavernous Sodo location — and while parking is predictably tough on game days, this is the best pregame spot to hang. I fell in love with the tofu Tater Tots, fried until crunchy with slices of crispy marinated tofu and topped with a healthy squirt of sriracha mayo. The pho and banh mi sandwiches are also pretty terrific.
Self-pour cards are preloaded with $10-$100, ordered alongside food at one of the kiosk screens right when you walk in. Among the 40 taps are a few wines, kombucha and hard kombucha, hard seltzer, local root beer and a wide range of craft brews, imports and even Rainier (33 cents an ounce). Prices seem economical — most beers are around 30 cents an ounce, topping out at 60 cents. Unlike Rapport or Chez Phinney, these taps are completely self-pour, meaning you are in control of how much to dispense. Place your card on an electronic pad under the tap and your balance shows up on the screen. As you pour the screen keeps up, showing how many ounces, how much you’ve spent and how much money is left on the card. With a $10 card I was able to sample a hard kombucha, a seltzer and three beers.
The feeling here is incredibly casual. There’s a massive screen dominating the space; bring a first date here and if all else fails, there’s at least somewhere to look. There’s also a small shelving unit with a handful of board games which could be fun for group dates. Everything outside of the self-pour area is family friendly, making this a great spot for a family date. If Sodo seems out of reach, the Kirkland location of Vinason also has a beer wall.
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday; 1521 First Ave. S., Seattle; 206-403-1827; vinason.net
Taps: 57, wine, beer, coffee, soda, kombucha
Food: Soft pretzels, popcorn, chips, beef jerky.
Best for: Singles, first dates, friend dates.
The night a friend and I were at South Lake Union’s Tapster, a woman from Stir Up the Paint scurried around the tables, setting them with easels, small canvas, paints and cups of water. Tapster is very much a place to mingle, paint your own wall décor with Stir Up the Paint (every Tuesday and Saturday), meet other singles at dedicated singles nights and swing the night away on one of the space’s rope swings that line one of the walls.
The tap system is the same as Vinason’s, except to obtain a card here you check in with the staff and get a credit card on file. Minimum spend is $10. The wine selection is small — just a half dozen familiar reds and whites. Most of the taps are dedicated to beers, prices range from 17 cents for Rainier to upwards of $1.60 for a Belgian import. There’s also a small wall dedicated to nonalcoholic drinks: kombucha, soda, cold brew. I sampled two white wines and ended up spending just over 16 bucks.
Bringing your own food is encouraged here, but there are minimal snacks if hunger strikes in an immediate way. Come to Tapster if you’re looking to mingle or if you’re just feeling things out with a date. The vibe is casual and energetic and if you’re there on a painting night, there’s something to take the edge off if conversation stalls.
3-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, noon-1 a.m. Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday; 1011 Valley St., Seattle; 206-397-3505; https://tapstertastingroom.com
Correction, Feb. 15, 2023: A previous version of this story listed the wrong URL for Tapster.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.