Whatcom County residents now have another option for happy hour: District Brewing opened its third location, District Lynden, this month. The business is 4 miles south of Lynden at 6912 Hannegan Road (Hinotes Corner).
Owners Mark and Amy Shintaffer opened the original District brewpub in Mount Vernon in 2020, followed by a Ferndale taproom and barrel-aging space in 2022. The new Lynden location serves as a taproom and restaurant (not a production brewery) with 24 taps pouring District beer, guest brews, cider, seltzer, kombucha and non-alcoholic options. Wine is also available, and the business plans to offer canned cocktails in the future.
Mark envisions each District location as a “third space” for the community to gather, “whether you’re going to a business meeting, or you’re on date night with your wife, or going out with a couple other adults, or you’re all bringing families,” he said. “So it’s suited for all ages … It’s resonated well with communities we’ve been in, and I think it will do the same here in Lynden.”
With such a saturated beer market in Bellingham, it makes sense for District to expand into the county — offering easier access for Lynden locals who may not want to drive 30 minutes into Bellingham or Ferndale for dinner and a beer.
Lynden builds on the success of existing District locations, incorporating the best of Mount Vernon and Ferndale into a single spot. The new location offers the same beer and food menus (pizza, wings, salads and appetizers) as Mount Vernon, along with some Ferndale-inspired improvements.
“Each evolution of District we’ve had, we’ve continued to make a few adjustments,” Mark said. “The best example was Ferndale. We added some rooms we call ‘family rooms’ — just some different, decorated rooms where you can go in with your personal group and be a little bit out of the way from the busyness of the main restaurant.”
Lynden features two family rooms, one of which is decorated with local sports memorabilia. Mark — a Ferndale High School graduate who has lived in the Everson area for more than 20 years — recognizes the importance of local sports as a community-builder and wants to facilitate those conversations at District. He put a call out for sports memorabilia and received a great response, decorating the room with jackets, signed jerseys and more from various high schools around Whatcom County.
“It turned out to be a full county concept,” Mark said. “I think it will be kind of a fun stepping-off point for people to meet and collect and talk about county stuff — because people seem to rally around sports and it’s a fun conversation starter.”
District’s Lynden location also features an arcade with boxing and racing games, Big Buck Hunter, pinball and more. Outdoor seating will be available soon, along with firepits and lawn games like cornhole. Shintaffer also mentioned a new concept called District Etc. — a separate building on the property that will eventually be developed into a 21-plus space.
“One thing that we’ve heard from our guests in Ferndale is sometimes it can get noisy because it is a family establishment … and sometimes they’d like to have a more peaceful place to have a cocktail,” Shintaffer said. Opening in “a couple of months,” District Etc. will be a quieter space for adults, event rentals, et cetera. Keep an eye on District Brewing’s social media for updates.
District Brewing’s Lynden location is open noon to 8 p.m. Sunday–Thursday and noon to 9 p.m. Friday–Saturday.
Brandon Fralic's Drink Cascadia column appears monthly. Reach him at drinkcascadia@gmail.com.
