Day by Day Bar

Day by Day began the way plenty of bars do. Friends were out having drinks and somebody said, why don’t we start a bar. The plan was fresh, easy-going, occasionally lowbrow cocktails alongside casual canned beer — and above all, to have fun and take life day by day.

It sits inside Mac Market, McMinnville’s food hall on Alpine Avenue, in the corner space Bodhi Bakery used to occupy. Owners Zach and Diana are usually the ones behind the bar, and they’ll serve you a cocktail or a bad pun with roughly equal enthusiasm. The space was reworked with fresh colors and a snug seating nook.

What makes it more than a food hall bar is the wine program. They run a small-producer residency, hosting free tastings for independent labels like Mendivia Wines, Human Cellars, and Maypop Wine Co. In a valley where most tasting happens at the wineries themselves, a downtown bar deliberately platforming tiny producers is unusual and worth supporting.

The mocktails have their own following. And the setup means you can pair a drink with a slice from Honey Pie Pizza, a sandwich from Alea, or snacks from Wellspent Market without leaving the building.

It’s 21 and over at the bar itself, though Mac Market around it is open to everyone.