UPDATE: Jan 5
It took a few months more time to get open, largely due to permitting but The Lumberyard Bar in White Center is now open. The hours are 4pm to 2am seven days a week.It's the neighborhood's first first LGBQT bar and owners Nathan Adams and Michale Farrar used the time to make the interior welcoming, warm and with a lot of thematic touches throughout.
Original Post Sept. 4, 2017
By Lindsay Peyton
White Center residents Nathan Adams and Michale Farrar are such good hosts that their friends encouraged them to try entertaining guests for a living.
The couple decided to follow their advice, take a leap of faith and become business partners.
They’re opening a bar this fall that will basically serve as an extension of their living room – right in their own backyard.
The Lumber Yard will also be the first LGBQT bar in White Center -- located at 9619 16 Ave SW.
“You don’t have to go to the Hill anymore,” Farrar said. “We’re going to draw people from everywhere. It will be a destination, a place where people want to hang out.”
The double-decker bar will host a karaoke night, drag shows, trivia nights and monthly sing-a-longs to show tunes, as well as screenings of favorite television shows like “Project Runway” and sporting events.
Adams and Farrar both enjoy cooking and plan to have a full kitchen at the bar, serving their favorite appetizers, sandwiches and a mashed potato bar.
They also plan to have vegetarian and gluten-free options on the menu, as well rotating specials.
“It’s hearty bar fare,” Adams said. “I want you to feel like you’re coming into my house. You’re not going to leave hungry. You’re not going to be thirsty.”
“We’re going to take care of you,” Farrar said.
Originally, the couple searched for a location in Georgetown – but they could not find any available spaces.
“Then we said, ‘You know what, let’s check out our own neighborhood,’” Farrar recalled.
They leased their ideal location in December and went to work gutting and remodeling the building, doing much of the work themselves.
“As soon as we put the sign out, people kept coming in and asking what a LGBQT bar is,” Adams said. “If you call it a gay bar, you’re not being inclusive of the entire community.”
And the goal is for everyone to feel welcome – even if you’re straight.
For more information about the Lumber Yard Bar, visit www.thelumberyardbar.com. Follow the bar’s progress on Facebook.
They say: “If you call it a gay bar, you’re not being inclusive of the entire community.” Isn't EVERY bar out there 100% welcoming of the straight community? The same cant be said if you are gay. Many bars are not treating gay customers w/ welcoming arms so not sure why this place feels the need to do the opposite.