rewrite this title Bellingham bar adjustments and new additions, plus dry-ish January
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Gruff Brewing opens kitchen Since opening in downtown Bellingham in 2016, Gruff Brewing has served no-frills brews in a laid-back, dog-friendly taproom. Its sprawling beer backyard is the place to go for cozy hearth desk vibes. Gruff has by no means been identified for its culinary choices, however that will quickly change. Beforehand served by meals vans, Gruff opened its personal kitchen on the finish of 2023. The menu presents a wide range of small plates together with edamame, nori fries, karaage rooster and calamari. Throughout a January go to, I opted for the house-made tofu gyoza (pork can also be out there), served steaming sizzling and washed down with a darkish ale. For bigger appetites, sandwiches are served with a aspect, and embody rooster katsu, tonkatsu or teriyaki tofu choices. Salads spherical out the menu for a great number of vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free selections. The kitchen operates like a meals truck, minus the climate woes. Stroll as much as the window, order, take a buzzer and your meals is served up shortly. Gruff additionally launched a brand new draft cocktail menu that includes classics just like the margarita, quaint and whiskey bitter alongside a chilly brew martini made with Tony’s Espresso. Have a dry-ish January Excellent news for anybody trying Dry January: one in all Bellingham’s greatest completely happy hour spots, Banter, is pausing dinner and cocktail service for a number of weeks to “restructure, redesign and map out a smashing 2024.” Banter stays open for brunch day by day, with plans to renew night hours later in January. Fingers crossed for a return to desk service. For these occupied with “damp January” (an unlucky identify for a month of sunshine ingesting), Kulshan’s obtained you lined. The Bellingham brewery just lately launched Get Low IPA, a hop-forward, 2.5% ABV (alcohol by quantity) beer out there at each taprooms. Stemma lowers the ABV bar even additional with Hoppy Squeeze, a roughly 2% seltzer cocktail made by mixing their house-made Tremendous Squeeze laborious seltzer with Lagunitas’ non-alcoholic Hoppy Refresher. Usually we’d be speaking about strong winter hotter beers in January, and there’s definitely a time and place for these. However in recent times, there’s been a shift to lighter, “crushable” types within the beer trade. Lagers are making a substantial comeback after years of residing within the shadow of the almighty IPA. Most native breweries supply gentle lagers on faucet within the sub-5% ABV vary. A number of to do that month embody Larrabee Lager’s crisp Legacy American Lager, Buildings’ American/German hybrid Plainsman and Aslan’s perennial grain beer, Kernza Lager. Spirits, cider and historical past Save the date for Downtown Bellingham Partnership’s annual Spirits & Cider Stroll on Feb. 8. Pop-up spirits and cider tastings will happen round downtown “inside companies and buildings with fascinating historical past.” Tickets (on sale quickly) embody a commemorative tasting glass and appetizers at every venue. Information: downtownbellingham.com.Closures and new additions2024 begins with a smattering of bar and restaurant closures throughout Bellingham. Jack’s BBQ, an area chain began in Seattle, closed in December. Housed within the former Copper Hog area on State Road, Jack’s provided 12 craft beer faucets and signature cocktails. Artivem Mead completely closed on the finish of December. Situated in Bellingham’s Granary constructing, the enterprise produced and offered artisan mead for 3 years. State Road Bar closed following a hearth that began within the bar’s kitchen on Jan. 3. The State Road area was the unique location of the Beaver Inn (often known as the Beav), a storied downtown dive bar. No phrase but if or when the bar will reopen. Endgame Bar & Restaurant introduced on social media that it’s going to shut on Feb. 24. The Holly Road gaming bar opened greater than 4 years in the past, providing board video games, video video games, cocktails and meals. “Sadly, with the combination of accelerating value of products, unstable rental costs and hitting the constraints of what we may do with our restricted kitchen area, we have determined to shut down,” the enterprise posted on Instagram. The homeowners expressed optimism “about presumably coming again in some unspecified time in the future.”The Endgame area has hosted a number of bars over time together with Tubbs Tavern, Swillery Whiskey Bar and Boscoe’s. In my reminiscence, it’ll all the time be the place to play Mario Kart 64 on a projector. Right here’s to hoping that custom continues sooner or later. For now, there’s nonetheless time to assist Endgame and need them a bittersweet “recreation over.”New institutions proceed to open in Bellingham. The newest, reported by Jesse Stanton in a current column, is now open behind The Orion. Odd Fellows Temple Room is Orion’s “neighborhood area” — a cocktail bar and dwell music venue with occasions within the works. The bar is presently open 7 p.m. to “late,” Wednesday by means of Saturday.Brandon Fralic’s Drink Cascadia column runs the second week of each month. Attain him at drinkcascadia@gmail.com.
