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    The Barrel Thief

    4.0 (241 reviews)
    Closed 4:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)
    Updated 3 months ago

    The Barrel Thief Photos

    Business Info

    THE BARREL THIEF ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Trendy
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - The Barrel Thief

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    Davis W.

    Came here for a work event. They let us book a few consecutive tables near the window. The rest of the interior is a dark sort of ambiance that fits well with the whiskey vibe. They were friendly with their service too -- coming by multiple times to ask if we needed anything else. Their whiskey drinks were very good, especially the one with smoke. The smoke really lingered and imparted a woody scent with every sip. They have more than just whiskey too, all kinds of cocktails really. Their beer selection is light, so don't expect much in that area.

    Cheddar-Jalapeno Hushpuppies
    Trong N.

    Went to Barrel Thief with a meetup that was suppose to be around 16 people scheduled around 6:30 PM on a Sunday (The Barrel Thief closes at 9:00 PM). About only 8 or 9 people showed up and at 7:30 and later, so it was really nice of them to still let us keep our reserved tables. It wasn't busy enough that we needed the reservation however. Server was nice, everyone was allowed to have their own tab (with even some people sharing tabs with one another), we just had to let the host know when we ordered the drinks. Sunday is half off on scotches so I ordered the Goldilocks flight. It was fine, not much of a scotch person but IDK if I would pay the regular $30 for about 1.3 shots. I also ordered the Cheddar Jalapeño Hushpuppies and that was just okay. I wanted more Jalapeño

    Wendi K.

    Beautiful, sophisticated interior. We came for a few drinks and snacks on a Sunday. Fries were nice and fluffy and fresh. I didn't really try any of the drinks but they looked nice. Attentive staff.

    Stacey P.

    The Barrel Thief has great ambiance. I love the barrel staves decorating the wall and it has this artsy, moody vibe. I came in with a medium sized group and found it was a bit awkward for all of us to be there comfortably. It was just hard to hear the person sitting a couple seats down. The drinks were great. Everyone enjoyed their cocktails. The food menu was mostly small bites and we ordered a few items. It was solid, but not necessarily delicious. I found the meat a bit tough. Our waitress was fine. She would check in with us often but she always seemed nervous for lack of a better word. She would come by, stay as far away from the table as she could, and then dart away. It was a bit odd.

    Gin Manhattan type drink
    Gabriele E.

    Such a nice vibey spot. We just came for drinks but our friends had some food that looked delicious. I had a gin drink and I mentioned to the server what I liked and she picked a great drink for me. My husband loves whiskey and scotch and we went on Sunday. Highly recommend that if you love scotch you go on a Sunday! Overall a great visit and we will be coming back.

    Chris E.

    Love the food, service, vibe and new ownership here. Very close to our office so we come here quite a bit. For this area, easily one of the deeper whiskey and Scotch menus, but there's no need to care about such things if you're into cocktails - they do that fairly well too!

    Sourdough toast.
    Sabrina M.

    I know Seattle is expensive, but when you are charging a premium price it should be edible at the very least. $18 for a cocktail that you could get at Triangle Pub for $6 less. This is the first time in my life I have sent a dish back. $14 for "sourdough toast" (photo below). It was advertised as having pickled pomegranate, which piqued my interest. When the dish arrived I almost started laughing. I took one bite that I couldn't even swallow, and sent it back. It smelled like wet dog. I make better toast at home for $1.50. We spent just over $100 on 2 drinks, 1 entree, and 1 app (the toast was removed from our bill without question, +1 star for that.) Our server was great! Still would not return.

    Miriam D.

    My husband and I were in the Fremont area looking for a bite and drink on a Sunday evening. He called and restaurant accepted vaccination cards and negative COVID tests so we headed there. We were asked if we had a reservation and we explained we had called ahead. With a little hesitation, which was weird because there were more empty tables than ones with diners, we were offered a few table options to choose from. After sitting, it did take a few minutes before we were approached. Long enough for me to start reading reviews and looking at pictures of the menu items to see if it was worth staying at least. Being completely honest, the food was decent but it was not enough to bring me back. Although, the pricing is decent, the food just did not fit the ambiance or vibe of the restaurant for me. I expected a little more flavor in my chicken Caesar and my husbands burger. The fries were over salted, the burger was just too dry and the bun was too charred and dry for our taste. I expected a little more and not something comparable to a Blazing Onion down the road.

    Whisky Flight
    Declan H.

    A neat spot. I appreciated the wide selection of whiskey and picked a nice flight. I'll probably return here soon to try more! Note that they do add an automatic 20% service charge to the bill which I almost missed.

    Pimm's Cup
    Justie L.

    Barrel Thief was a solid spot with a ton of booze offerings. I had a pretty good Pimm's Cup (after a small amount of confusion about what a Pimm's Cup was, and the bartender needing to look up a recipe...), as well as a good local red, and the dude had a couple of good whiskeys. Despite it being immediately after we had a large dinner, we couldn't resist getting an order of fries which were pretty damn good. Whatever's in that garlic salt is super addicting. Service was perfectly fine, and the ambience was a little sleepy, but overall a good experience. Definitely a great place to go if you've got a group with super eclectic tastes.

    purple rain (non Alc), C'est l'Amour, Cardboard Cowboy

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    1 year ago

    They add 20% gratuity to everything, including bar tabs. $13 gratuity for 2 rounds of drinks.

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    1 year ago

    The bartender is fantastic! Great cocktails and a great ambiance. Recommend sitting at the bar for the full experience.

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    Page 1 of 7

    Ask the Community - The Barrel Thief

    Have you ever rented space at The Barrel Thief or any of their spaces for a fixed minimum spending amount? Detail the size of your group, the nature of the event, and the length of the event you attended?

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - The Barrel Thief

    I was there after work during happy hour menu and we indulged in way too many orders of truffle popcorn.

    Mentioned in 28 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    I heard about this gin-focused bar and restaurant from a friend and had to check it out as gin is…read moremy favorite spirit. It's not a common favorite for others, and I often find most menus to be lacking in creative gin specials. Stumbletown fixed that problem for me. With a dedicated menu for gin cocktails to an extensive array of different distillers, I was amazed. We enjoyed our cocktails thoroughly and also enjoyed some light bites. The arancini was a special of the evening and came out perfectly hot and crispy. The calamari was also fried very well. I did dock a star because about 80% of the food items on the menu were unavailable even though it wasn't closing yet. We did also get a little lost and ended up at stumbletown's sandwich shop before we found our way here. Luckily they're close by each other!

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    Chez Phinney - Interior upstairs

    Chez Phinney

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    I had been wanting to check out Chez Phinney for awhile. Was planning a trip to Willamette Valley…read morewith friends and one of my friends suggested we meet up there after work to finalize some plans. Was the perfect spot I got there a little ahead of the rest of the gang so I enjoyed a hop water while waiting for them was greeted by friendly staff. Told them there was going to be four of us so they pushed a couple tables together for me. You give them a debit/credit card and they give you a card to use with the wine dispenser. Each wine has a nice write up so you know the religion and notes they have but the staff is more than happy to assist you and point you in the right direction if you tell them what you prefer. My friends arrived two of them already knew the owners so they caught with them a bit and I got to meet them wonderful people. We all decided to start with a Willamette Pinot since that was where we're planning for. I love the option of trying a taste before committing to a larger pour. You options are 1, 3 and 5 ounces. We ordered a bunch of appetizers since it was Happy Hour some were at a HH price which was nice. We enjoyed the cheese plate, onion dip and a tin of Calamari I believe had a photo but accidentally deleted. Was a wonderful light dinner for us all. Cute space warm ambiance, lots of tables and upper and a smaller lower area. Definitely would return wonderful selection of wines something for everyone

    Disclaimer I came here for a fundraiser, however I would definitely come back…read more A little different experience than going to a winery only tasting that wineries. This is more like a bar in the sunset that you have amazing variety of wines. Not feeling like a domestic taste the international. The directions are very simple and clear You grab a wine card, grab a glass, wine, pick a wine and decide the pour size. You know I didn't count, but there were easily a dozen wines to select from. The people who are working at the wine bar were absolutely. Truly service with a smile. The interior is really pretty cool lots of things to look at and is also very comfortable I would definitely come here again

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    A nice little bar (Essex), associated with Delancey. It's clear that the wait for a table at…read moreDelancey is frequently long, and they have wisely separated the bar area, and made it independent, so that waiting at the bar (Essex) wouldn't clog the front entrance of Delancey. We ordered munchies and drinks while we waited for our table at Delancey. The bartender / server knew we would be headed to Delancey in 40 minutes or so, and handled things well accordingly. We got a plate of olives (tasty, great finger food) and drinks. The Yonder cider was good, not too sweet. The Martini was tasty. I had two quibbles: The first was with the pricing: the martini was charged as two separate items: 1) gin (I suppose the charge varies by the kind of gin or vodka in your martini) 2) martini (which is apparently the non-vodka or or non-gin part of your drink) While I'm sure this makes it easier to track for the bartender and inventory, as well as for charging, as a customer, it's a little odd to have a mixed drink be a two-part charge. The second was the included 20% automatic gratuity. I don't object to the concept of a standard service charge, I just wish it had been more prominently displayed so that I wouldn't have added a 20% tip on top of that (and my tip was on the amount that included tax, service charge and drinks / food). So, buyer beware ... the service is good, the ambiance is nice, the food and drinks are good -- but the payment / billing is non-standard, and can cause unexpected surprises.

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    The Barrel Thief - lounges - Updated May 2026

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