Durkin's Liquor Bar — Restaurant in Spokane

First impressions made me skeptical about this place. The fancy-shamcy decor was nice, a little too nice, like pretentious nice if you catch my drift. The walls and mirrors reminds me of decor you would find in teenage girl bedroom aisle at Hobby Lobby. The basemant was a far better atmosphere, more of a classy speakeasy feel than anything else but dang it's like they couldn't figure what theme they wanted for the first floor bar.

Service was not bad, but one things that made me skeptical was the way we were served warm water from one of those trendy glass bottles you'd see from The Pirates of the Caribbean. A trend I'm seeing more and more in restaurants where I for one see as a red flag for places like this. When our food arrived, my mood abruptly changed, the burger was like a literal chef's kiss. Quite possibly one of the best burgers I've had in Spokane, I have probably said before but this time I REALLY mean it. The burger felt like a pillow when I bit into. The cheese just becomes one with your taste buds. I could go on but I'm not going to.

Other entrées we had was the Mac and Cheese which had waaaay too many caramelized onions in my opinion. Then we had the BBQ Cola Wings. That's right, BBQ COLA flavored wings and believe me, you can taste the cola. I wouldnt recommend if you not avid soda drinker like I am. I would come back but ONLY for that cheeseburger. Hot dang, that cheeseburger is going to be in my dreams for the...

The atmosphere of the "speakeasy" basement section is pretty cool, with a "we can't figure out who we are" menagerie of unconnected decor - but still pretty cool. But the place could use some heat. I mean like actual heat. When I was there in May it was freezing cold. That night was also a DJ night, with a guy spinning actual vinyls. But way too loudly. The place's ambiance calls quiet conversation with background music. As for drinks, the bartender's own cocktail creations are creative and really good. If only they had more than one and a half people staffed to serve drinks downstairs (one person behind the bar, one running upstairs and down to serve drinks).

Now as to why only three stars.I gave them a credit card to keep a tab open, and then later paid cash. But they also charged my card, which I noticed when logging into my bank account a couple of days later. I assumed it was made in error and I made three phone calls to the bar over the next few days. I never received a call back from the manager/owner. When I was downtown a few days later, I stopped in with a copy of the voided credit card receipt to show I had paid cash and to ask for a refund on my card and was told the owner wasn't in and I'd have to call back. I finally had to resort to having my credit union dispute the charge.

So, go in, have fun, try some new drinks. But by all means, don't expect to have a quiet conversation and don't let them touch your...

Durkin’s came recommended to us by the bar tender at our hotel, and I can see why. Situated in a very easy to miss door sandwiched between another restaurant and an ice cream shop, Durkin’s is very unassuming from the outside. When we entered we thought about going somewhere else, as the place seemed empty. However, heading downstairs we entered a speakeasy feeling basement bar that was bustling with people.

The drinks came fast, and were well made, but not the strong pours we seemed to get everywhere else in Spokane. The food was tasty, but it didn’t know our socks off. I got the beef tartare and while I was surprised at how large the portion size was, I was blown away by the flavor. I also got the poutine and it was fantastic, great flavor, decent portion size, and they actually got the cheese curds to be a little melty, something many American establishments don’t get right. My buddy got the burger and was happy with it, and he let me have a bite as well. It wasn’t earth shattering by any means, especially for $16.

The service was fantastic from the moment we stepped in the door to the moment we left we had one friendly individual or another checking on us and happily chatting with us. If they kicked their prices down a notch I’d definitely have...