Belly Up at White Horse, If You Can Find It

Pike Place bar/bookstore still feels like a secret.

It looks closed, but if you’re wandering around Post Alley after 5 p.m., the door’s unlocked. There’s only one toilet. It’s open air (kinda), and if you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss the pinup. There are only two beers (usually), and only by the bottle. Wine? Yes. Like the beer, options are slim but in high rotation. Hard liquor? No. But there are books, and plenty of British Invasion pumping through the speakers. It is, perhaps, the only bar in town at which you can hear the Stones’ “Time Is on My Side” without the stale KBSG feeling. Haven’t heard of the place? Could be because the owner doesn’t believe in advertisements, relying instead on word of mouth, and recommendations from the nearby Pink Door restaurant, which regularly directs table-waiting patrons up the steps for a drink. Nothing about White Horse is begging you to make one of its bar stools your favorite after-school special. And that’s just the point. If letting the proprietor choose your brew isn’t your style, or you don’t like the feeling that you’re drinking in the coolest basement rec room in history, then keep on walking and find a seat at Kell’s.