Radio Bar

Radio Bar sits on Northwest Boulevard in Audubon-Downriver, a residential district north-west of the Spokane River and a long way from the downtown bar strip. It is a neighbourhood bar in the good sense: a fireplace, a retro sound system, a room that fills with people who walked there.

The drinks list is split between classic cocktails and the bartenders' own creations, and the alcohol-free options sit on it as a rotating seasonal set rather than a permanent fixture. That rotation is the reason this entry records no signature drinks — a named drink would be wrong within a season — but it is also the reason the bar is worth listing at all. A seasonal non-alcoholic list means someone is rebuilding it every few months with whatever is good, which is a materially different commitment from printing two mocktails once and leaving them there for three years. Alongside them the bar keeps a variety of alcohol-free beers, plus an imported wine list and bottled and canned beer, cider and seltzer.

The Inlander, covering the bar's opening, described its beverage list as running to craft cocktails plus a handful of non-alcoholic ones, which is an honest description of the scale: this is not a dedicated programme on the level of Zola's, and it is graded three here accordingly. What it is, is a good bar in a residential neighbourhood where a non-drinker can turn up on a Tuesday and be looked after.

The hours are worth noting because they include something unusual for Spokane: a Sunday afternoon service from noon to 8pm, when most of the rooms in this guide are dark. Tuesday to Thursday runs 4pm to 11pm, Friday and Saturday to midnight, and the bar is closed on Monday.