Port Gardner Bay Winery — Attraction in Everett

Have you heard of Howard Mack? Or Sandy Carter? Me neither, but a very beautiful woman I know invited me to see them play at Port Gardner Bay Winery last Saturday. I picked up the beautiful woman and drove to downtown Everett. During the day, Everett was hosting an art walk, so many of the streets were closed off. Fortunately, the winery on Rucker was easy to find and there was plenty of parking on the nearby streets. The beautiful woman held my hand while we walked in. Her friends had reserved a table right up front where we settled in and chatted with Howard. He was well dressed right down to his unique shoes. He promised to put on a good show and recommended the pizza. A woman came by and explained that when we knew what we wanted, we could order at the bar in the back. We decided to get some drinks and wait for the rest of our group before getting food. There were a number of wines on the list from the winery, but we were not in a wine mood, so I had a beer and the beautiful woman had a cider. The friends showed up and we went through all the usual negotiations to find a pizza that everyone would like. The beautiful woman’s favorite pizza is Hawaian style, but she was shy about ordering such a controversial pie. The solution was obvious - we got a half and half Hawaian and sausage. The smell of pizza hit us a bit before our pie hit the table. There was a hint of burned bread in the smell, but our pizza was fine. It was just the right size for four people and was generously covered with toppings. The beautiful woman and I quickly polished off warm pineapple and ham while the friends ate up their half. Everyone pronounced their half delicious. Howard Mack stated that the music would be an eclectic mix and proved himself right. Sandy provided some jazz guitar riffs on a few songs and steel guitar for the rest. Both of the guys did a good job on everything from Buck Owens to Neil Young. They hit all the right notes for the somewhat older crowd. One thing they did that you don’t see much is that they invited a couple of folks from the crowd up to do guest vocals. The show went on for around 2 and a half action packed hours. I would like to report about prices, but the friends of the beautiful woman picked up the check. From what I saw on the menu, everything was quite reasonable even after making a donation to the musician’s tip jar. It was a lovely evening and, who knows, maybe the beautiful woman and I will find occasions to go back...

Was an odd situation with an unexpected turn of events. Was my birthday party with probably 20+/- friends that are the most honest and trustworthy folks you will ever see. Was having a great time and then things went arwy with Chris (owner) and he accused one of my employees of stealing a bottle of wine and subsequently told me at the end of the ordeal our group stole four bottles. Was really bizarre as one friend was standing right there at the bar talking with people the whole time during his accusation. Anyway I did have a reasonable conversation with the owners wife, but in the end it was like the Chris was bi-polar and just became a huge ass and then told us to leave. Needless to say my b-day party turned into a sour note all because Chris ruined the fun. I see tons of great reviews and he was nice to my wife initially setting up the function, but then walla,,,, turned on her and told me she was "a piece of work" and to avoid confrontation in an already tense situation I let it go. Bottom line,,,, although there are good reviews, just be careful as the owner obviously can become an incredible jerk and make many unwarranted...

If you're looking for fancy traditional winery with high priced wines and expensively dressed staff this is not the place for you. However, if like me you feel more comfortable in a friendly, casual, eclectic environment this is the place for you.

The winery is set up like a small coffee shop, the walls are lined with the beautiful work of local artists, there are open mic nights and live music. the room filled with a variety of comfortable seats. There is an assortment of snacks on offer to pair with your wine and the environment is very welcoming and unique.

The staff are incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and work well with people who have little experience wine tasting. They were so friendly and made me feel incredibly comfortable (which is rare for me and my social anxiety)

I would recommend this winery to all of my friends and anyone who loves wine but doesn't want to learn about and enjoy it in such a staunchly traditional...