The outside of Gateway1890 Taphouse & Grill looks like your go-to brewpub, but hidden below the building’s wood floors is one of northwest Washington’s rare speakeasies.
Gary Slavin and his wife Kristen have owned Gateway1890 since December of 2021, when they added it to their restaurant ownership, which at the time included the Rustic Fork.
With the Rustic Fork closed, the Slavins dedicate their time to making Gateway a spot where customers can enjoy an affordable menu featuring burgers, fish & chips, mashed potato bowls and salads with 20 craft beers on tap from Washington, Oregon, California and Montana.
“The biggest part of it is affordability for everybody to be able to come here,” Gary said. “We love our community.”
Blaine was incorporated as a city in 1890, which is why Gary included it in the name.
Gary grew up north of the U.S./Canada border but frequently visited Birch Bay and Blaine. He met Kristen, who grew up in Blaine, and the two now team up to run Gateway.
“Gateway has been my vision for 15 years,” Gary said. “Not having that restaurant/tap idea in Blaine, I really wanted to bring something like that here.”
In 2023, Kristen and Gary decided to create a speakeasy in the restaurant’s ground floor storage area. When the hidden room first opened, special code words were needed to enter.
The room is dimly lit and velvet booths line one side of the wall of the tunnel-like speakeasy. The name Smuggler’s Tunnel recalls tunnels used in the prohibition era to smuggle alcohol beneath authority’s noses.
“We knew we wanted to have a bar down there when we got this building,” Kristen said. “It was kind of about tying in the border and the history of Blaine and the history of prohibition here.
Today the speakeasy is not as serious about its code words and secrecy because Gary and Kristen want everyone to enjoy the unique experience. They’ve been hosting pop-up themes like Harry Potter in the speakeasy to make the experience ever-changing.
Although Smuggler’s Tunnel and Gateway1890 are different entities, they share the same ideology.
“We’re a community restaurant. We want to see the community thrive,” Gary said. “We’re really trying to keep our pricing in line, if not under a lot of the places in the area, just to keep it more affordable for families.”
Restaurant recommendation: Gary and Kristen recommended that readers try the chicken/mushroom schnitzel. For a beer they recommended the Gateway pilsner. In the speakeasy they recommended an espresso martini or an Old-Fashioned.
This article is part of a series in The Northern Light highlighting Blaine and Birch Bay restaurants.
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