Bair Drug Bistro
1617 Lafayette Street
Steilacoom, WA 98388

Monday – Friday
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday
9 a.m. to  3 p.m.
Sunday
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Bair Drug has been open since 1895. That is correct, 1895!

Under various owners and operators, it has been dispensing drugs, selling hardware items, acting as a post office, warming community members with a hot stove and good coffee or serving meals and desserts in downtown Steilacoom for over 110 years. It is even supposed to be haunted and there have been TV shows about it in in the past. The establishment is owned by the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association, and the restaurant has been managed since 2009 by Phillip Curtis who was happy to tell us of the history of this amazing place.

We went for lunch and were very happy with quality of the food and service. We had coffee at $2.00 for endless refills, and since it took a while for our food to be cooked we were glad to have a chance too look at the antiques and artifacts preserved in the building. The original shelves with items sold in the past are there, and the kitchen is where the post office used to be.

We had the Bair Burger, at $9.99 one-third pound Angus beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickle. A side salad was ordered and the blue cheese dressing was great on the fresh romaine. The burger patty was moist and tender even though it was ordered well done. Exceptionally good.

We also ordered the corned beef hash breakfast at $9.99 and it was nothing like the usual dish. Toast, butter and two eggs were included.. The “hash” was chopped onion and chunks of corned beef and home fried potato the size of big casino dice! No mash here, and the portion size was very large. Very good flavor and a large serving made this a very enjoyable meal.
Seating is plentiful in the winter but tourists fill up the dining room in good weather so get there early when the weather is good.

There is a nice clean accessible bathroom, and plenty of on street parking.