Tini Bigs

Inventive cocktails are everywhere these days, but when Keith Robbins opened Tini Bigs in December 1996 it was rare to find anything more unusual than a standard martini or Manhattan. He wanted to open a real cocktail lounge, old-style, with music. As simplistic as it sounds, he was starting an explosion of craft cocktails in Seattle.

Manager Joe Zara says the concept hasn't changed over the years. "We make really good, fun cocktails. The concept was meant to evolve. If you're having fun with liquor, you're going to try new things. We also have an amazing scotch selection, at least 125 whiskeys at any given time. We pride ourselves on our liquor selection. We're known as the martini place, but our straight spirit selection is great as well. We have a lot of local spirits now."

Tini Bigs changes their cocktail selection seasonally. This summer they're playing with ice cocktails like the Slow Ride. They make ice cubes with lemon, cucumber and rosemary and put one into a cocktail of gin, vermouth and maraschino cherry liquor. The drink complexity changes as the ice cube melts, served in a bucket with an absinthe spoon. Click here for the recipe. They'll be rotating different cubes throughout the summer. "I tell people if they want a second Slow Ride to have it in the same glass. Then the second drink is completely different right from the start," says Joe. Another summer time treat are frozen classic cocktail pops, based on the Otter Pops of our childhoods. The first is a Metaxa Side Car.

From the start, Tini Bigs was meant to be a lounge without pretension. "People can get too serious about cocktails," explains Joe. "We like to think outside the box, but we're not really a mixology bar. You can have one of our high-end concoctions or a vodka and soda. We do it all. We even have a creative list of non-alcoholic drinks that served in martini glasses so everyone can feel part of the fun." Their beverage menu lists the local spirits they offer, their seasonal cocktails, their own classic cocktails that have stood the test of time over the past 15-1/2 years (like Dirty Girl Scout), the classics ("original" martini, champagne cocktail, Pimm's Cup, etc.), their wine list, and their temperance menu (bourbon and water, hold the bourbon).

Food items rotate just like cocktails. "Our chef is probing and trying things to see where we want to go. As of early July, we have a solid menu with small plates, an artisan cheese selection, salads, entrées and side dishes. We also have a specials board with two special entrée-style dishes and a different daily flatbread. As we head into winter, we'll expand the menu. One of my favorite items is the picked deviled eggs." If you want to try a variety of things without breaking the bank, their happy hour menu is the whole menu at 50% off (4-6 p.m. daily). They also offer half off happy hour special beverages (three martinis, sangria and their Pike Place Infusion which is a rotating cocktail created from fresh items they find at Pike Place Market). Happy hour is available wherever you are: the bar, indoor table or outdoor patio.

Keith started his industry career bussing and waiting, and he's also cooked and bartended. With the exception of college in New York, he's lived in Seattle all his life. His first bar was Watertown at 1^st and Bell. He moved it to a small storefront on lower Queen Anne a little over 20 years ago and called it the Romper Room, a dance club. He later updated it, making it a fancier dance club, and brought back the Watertown name. He'd been eyeing the space on the corner for some time and jumped on it when it became available. He brought in the bar he'd been keeping in storage from the original Watertown, a 1909 Brunswick that had been made on the East Coast and shipped all the way around South America to the West Coast (no Panama Canal—it opened in 1914). Tini Bigs opened as a cocktail, scotch and cigar bar. The cigars are gone, but hope hasn't died (and you can still buy cigars there).

Tini's lounge in action

In 2006, Keith was looking to change the dance concept of Watertown. Again ahead of the Seattle trend, he opened an authentic tiki bar, Hula Hula, in December 2006. The Hula girl logo is a vintage logo that he has the rights for. "Keith worked hard to make every detail authentic and it still is, but it has really become a karaoke bar. Karaoke starts every night at 9 p.m. We have Mikey, a KJ (karaoke DJ) with a great sound system—everyone sounds good," laughs Joe. "He has lights, smoke, bubbles. He's a self-described karaoke geek."

Originally there were two storefronts, Romper Room took one and Keith opened a barbecue joint, the Hardened Artery, in the second. When he opened Watertown and Hula Hula, he used both, next to Tini Bigs in the corner spot. "Tini and Hula are on the same liquor license," explains Joe. "There's a door between the two lounges that I call ‘the door to another world.' You can take drinks from one place to the next, and we use the same kitchen and food menu for both. It's fun to watch peoples' reactions if they don't know the door is there. They go from this nice lounge into a bar with people singing and drinking from tiki mugs. People can hire our karaoke guy to do semi-private and private parties at Hula."

Joe Zara at Tini's bar

Keith is also a licensed captain and a fishing guide; his Spot Tail Salmon Guide is the only Washington state Seattle fishing charter guide offering light tackle, mooching, saltwater fishing in Puget Sound.

Having been open 5+++ days consecutively, you know you can count on Tini Bigs to be there with inventive cocktails and friendly faces whenever you need them.

Connie Adams/July 2012