5 new Seattle bars include cocktail dens and a medieval-themed dream

Let's hear it for our summer bar headliners: Three cocktail dens spread between Pioneer Square and Chinatown International District have been packed since they opened, thanks to the usual summer tourism scrum with a World Cup boost.

(Speaking of: Ballard's Fair Isle Brewing set up a temporary bar at the elbow of Main Street and First Avenue South to take advantage of soccer fever. The beer pop-up will stick around until the end of September.)

Details below on those three bar openings and two more in Fremont and University District.

Doris

309 Third Ave. S., Seattle (Pioneer Square); 206-604-2804, instagram.com/dorispioneersquare

Located in the former Salumi space, Doris is a tiny cocktail den from Angela Dunleavy, who named it after her great-grandmother. The 18-seat room has white walls and two-top tables with a tin tile ceiling overhead. It's a jewel box space reminiscent of small bars in Europe, with their long drink rails. The bar makes several takes on the martini and riffs on classics like an amaro daiquiri. More snacks than dinner, the shared plates range from a pimento cheese spread to onion dips with chips. More substantial is the smoked beef, served with pickled mustard seeds and horseradish, which pairs well with a side of fries.

Spaces Available

145 S. King St., Seattle (Pioneer Square); spacesavailable.co

Spaces Available belongs in a class with the VIP suites at Lumen Field or a fancy airport lounge. It's a black-and-white space with chandeliers and scorched-planking walls in the Japanese shou sugi ban style.

Instead, it sits on South King Street, which gets rowdy on game days.

Sink into the brown leather couches while you check out the cocktail book. This epic drink list reads like one at some East Village speakeasy. Many of New York City's greatest hits are featured, from Death & Co.'s famed mezcal tipple, the Naked & Famous, to the Clover Club, a pre-Prohibition gin classic. The bar will show big games on the projector with the sound on, but to preserve the ambience and prevent the lounge from turning into a tailgate, Spaces Available will require reservations during World Cup matches and Seahawks games.

ShibShib

510 Maynard Alley S., Seattle (Chinatown International District); shibshibseattle.com

Hidden in a CID alleyway, ShibShib runs a food-and-drink program different from most of its neighbors. The menu skews toward Middle Eastern flavors like za'atar and ras el hanout spices. If you get the munchies, get the roasted halloumi stuffed in grape leaves with muhammara. Come dusk, it might be hard to track down this 24-seat bar, but if you hear hip-hop, house music or R&B thumping out of Maynard Alley between South King and South Weller streets, you've hit pay dirt.

Twist of Fate

225 N. 36th St., Seattle (Fremont); bartwistoffate.com

A medieval-themed bar with a Gothic motif, Twist of Fate comes from the mind of Paul Shanrock, the creative head behind Stampede Cocktail Club, the sci-fi-and-Western bar just four doors down on North 36th Street. His other brainchild? The tiki bar inside Dreamland in Fremont, with a theme of "Legends of the Hidden Temple" meets Indiana Jones in space.

Twist of Fate is yet another canvas to play with. The main floor has a purple color scheme and comes decorated with a dragon head statute and a taxidermy goat. But the main attraction might be the hidden backyard patio, where bar hoppers can party until 2 a.m. nightly while wolfing down $7 Seattle dogs.

Shanrock hopes to unveil the second floor by Halloween. Expect an upstairs aquarium room, an observatory room and a third themed room to come later, he said.

Elixir Dessert & Bar

4524 University Way N.E., Seattle (University District); 206-423-4712, elixirseattle.net

By day, Grean cafe serves matcha. After 2 p.m., it dresses up as a cocktail bar with fusion drinks and bites. Mixed drinks showcase flavors like Asian pear, soju and black sesame. The bites are fancier than the fare at your typical college town bar, with gochujang mole chicken tacos, pho beef sliders and kimchi mac and cheese. The vibe, though, is more coffeehouse, with plush couches and a second floor that some students are already treating like a study hall.

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This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 4:55 PM.