Capitol Hill, Seattle
Bourbon-led drinks, church-pew room, Saturday sermon
Our Take on Witness
Witness was a Southern-influenced cocktail bar at 410 Broadway East on Capitol Hill, opened by Gregg Holcomb of Knee High Stocking Company. The Seattle Times reviewed it for cocktails in an old Southern style, and Seattle Met praised its soul.
The room sold the theme hard. Pewlike benches, white clapboard walls, fake church windows and century-old pews from a North Carolina church built a backwoods-chapel feel that set it apart on Broadway.
The cocktails matched. The house Witness drink put hickory-smoked cherry in a bourbon-and-Benedictine build, the Son of the Preacher Man ran bourbon, black pekoe tea, lemon and honey, and the El Diablo brought a tequila and cassis tang.
The ritual was the sermon. On Saturday nights at ten, the bartender stopped the music to drop some knowledge, a bit that turned a cocktail bar into a Capitol Hill set piece for the better part of a decade.
Witness closed in May 2023, per Capitol Hill Seattle News. For places still pouring, see our Seattle cocktail bars guide, the global cocktail bars index, and the cocktail bars near me finder.
The Move at Witness
The Word on Capitol Hill
- The Seattle Times reviewed Witness for cocktails in an old Southern style, singling out the church-pew room.
- Seattle Met praised the bar's soul and its Saturday-night sermon, a ritual run by owner Gregg Holcomb.
- Capitol Hill Seattle News reported the May 2023 closure, headlining that Broadway lost its holy spirit.
Read the Room
- A record of a distinctive Capitol Hill room
- Readers tracing Seattle's Southern cocktail era
- Note it is closed, so plan a visit elsewhere
When To Visit Witness
Witness is permanently closed, so there is no current visit to plan. This profile stands as a record of the Broadway room and its Saturday sermon.
For a similar Capitol Hill cocktail night that is still open, the siblings below are the closest in spirit, from Knee High Stocking nearby to Canon a short walk away.
Inside Witness
