Bar Tips: Local cocktail pro, Jack Lovett, shares his favorite spots for a Bellevue bar crawl.

Jack Lovett manages the bar at Lot No. 3, Bellevue’s go-to destination for careful cocktails without fuss or circumstance. On his nights off, you might find him appraising his peers’ concoctions, or just sitting back and drinking something simple at one of his other favorite spots around town.

PADDY COYNE’S IRISH PUB

This friendly pub has comfortable booths and Irish-inflected bar food, but Lovett especially appreciates that it’s open until 2am: “It’s where industry
people go after work.”
Drink: Lovett’s crew favors a shot and a beer after a long shift.

CIVILITY & UNREST

Lovett visits the W Hotel’s pseudo-speakeasy partly to check out the competition, but also because “It’s a fun place if you’re looking for a big,
extravagant cocktail.” The staff here is very social, he says. “Watching them
make cocktails is almost like a show.”
Drink: Lovett just tells the bartender what style of drink he’s in the mood for. “When I go to a known cocktail bar, that’s what I’ll usually do, to see
how creative the bar staff is.”

ASCEND PRIME STEAK & SUSHI

“It’s an experience,” Lovett says of the surf-and-turf penthouse at Lincoln
South Tower, where cocktails skew elaborate but the big draw is the
panoramic vistas. “You can sit up on top of everything and have a nice
drink or cocktail.”
Drink: The Washingtonian cocktail— local Woodinville Whiskey Company bourbon, cherry reduction, and orange bitters—arrives in a smoke-filled glass cloche. “A friend ordered it and was awestruck.”

TAVERN HALL

The atmospheric beer hall in Lincoln South, tricked out with reclaimed
light fixtures and church windows is Lovett’s pick for grabbing a pint.
The lineup of 30 taps is heavy on Washington breweries.
Drink: Lovett’s a fan of Belgian-style beers, and appreciates the surprisingly broad selection here.

PURPLE CAFE AND WINE BAR

Granted, this industrial-chic cafe and wine bar is owned by the same group
as Lot No. 3, “but honestly, they have the biggest selection in Bellevue,” says
Lovett. “Especially Pacific Northwest wines that you really can’t get anywhere else.”
Drink: A glass of Washington-based Fidelitas’s 4040 red wine. “It’s not super tannic; it just has this perfect balance.”

This article was written by Allecia Vermillion for the 2019-20 Bellevue Visitor’s Guide.