Karen and Robert Penrose are injecting the Skagit bar scene with a dose of art deco and all things 1930s with their new bar, Revival Lounge.
Located in downtown Mount Vernon, Revival Lounge offers a vintage bar experience with classic cocktails that will transport you back in time.
The idea to open a bar made sense to Karen, who says owning bars runs in her family.
“Both my brothers own bars, and it’s kind of a thing, and we just kinda fell in with the concept and decided to do it,” says Karen, who describes the bar as having an antique aesthetic with a variety of classic cocktail options.
After officially launching on February 7, their doors were only open to the public for six weeks before stay-at-home orders forced the lounge to close up shop. Karen describes the experience as both overwhelming and positive.
“It has been an overwhelming experience, because the first day we opened, we got our approval from the city to open at noon, so I was like, ‘Let’s open at 5:00,’ and by 5:02 we were over capacity, so the ball just kept rolling from there,” Karen says.
Robert attributes their initial success to the fact that Mount Vernon and Skagit County as a whole have needed a bar like Revival Lounge for a long time.
“It’s a bar that’s well overdue, and people were really excited about it, and it’s something just needed beyond what’s already being offered,” Robert says.
As for their best drink, Robert recommends the popular “old” old fashion.
“When we say the old fashion, we mean the old old fashion, the original classic version,” Robert says, explaining that the difference lies in the process of making the drink.
“The more modern version is a real muddled up version, so you’re muddling the bitters, the sugar and sometimes a cherry…the classic version doesn’t call for that.”
Regardless of having to adjust during the pandemic, Robert and Karen are proud of their new bar and its optimistic, if abbreviated, opening.
“The other offerings in the city and county are fantastic, [but] this just fits a completely different feel that I believe people were really excited and appreciative of,” Robert says.
Revival Cocktail Lounge, 306 A Pine St., Mount Vernon, 360.399.7880
For more like this, check out our Taste section here.