Craft beer

Settling into the bar stools at the Public Bar by Blush to talk with assistant manager Tyler Evans, we learned that this is the third bar for  owner Taylor Kim. The others are in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter and in San Jose’s San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose, offering creative East meets West cuisine with creative cocktails in a spirited bar scene.

Experiencing the growth in the Emeryville neighborhood near where Taylor lives and learning about the need for a local bar, the Public Bar in Emeryville evolved. Emeryville residents, he learned, did not always want to have to take Uber to get to where they were going. They thought it would be fun to be able to walk to their local bar, grab a drink and not have to pay to go home.

So here we are. At the Public Bar with three 55″ flat screen TVs for sports and news, 16 Bourbons, 15 Tequilas, Specialty Blush Cocktails, Wine and 99 Beers for here or to go. And they have some small bites at the beautiful long bar, adding a comfortable lounge to the Public Market in Emeryville.

“We’ve only been open six weeks,” says Tyler, “but every week we have set a new record!”

What’s a Blush Cocktail? Built on the base of a craft cocktail, ‘Blushies’ are layered drinks topped with a float of their exclusive house-made, frosted fruit ice, resulting in something more than the average chilled drink.

Happy Hour is 3-6pm and 9pm – closing daily. Blush Cocktails are $6 and The Basics are $5

About the Blush history

Two best friends, Russ Fukushima and Taylor Kim, who grew up in Hawaii together had a  mutual passion for great food and drinks which inspired them to start Blush.  Moonlighting as a bartender in Seattle, Taylor developed the recipe for the concept’s signature Blush cocktail in 2009. By the fall of 2011, Taylor and Russ opened their first restaurant Blush Raw Bar + Lounge in the newly developed San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose and started serving up the Blushies. By 2014, they had found an ideal spot in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter for their second bar and unveiled the second restaurant, renamed Blush Ice Bar, in the summer of 2015. The Public Bar at Public Market Emeryville is part of their plans to continue the adventure and serve up Blushies in markets across the U.S.