Needing a little break from school but there isn’t much time or money to be spent? Check out the Lynnwood edition of With an Hour for some cool places close to campus to stop by and try.

Chug’s Root Beer & More

With over four hundred different sodas and the World’s Largest collection of root beer, Chug’s Root Beer & More is a one-of-a-kind shop. The shop owner’s and employees are brutally honest about their opinions and the popularity regarding every brand of soda they provide. Staff and customer favorites occupy the top shelves and go down in popularity from there. The fridge is also noted as a solid collection of the best the shop has to offer. As if this massive collection of root beer wasn’t enough to entice customers to come by, Chug’s also offers free tasting days every first Saturday of the month, featuring the store mascot, Chug’s the pug in the flesh – or fur.

85C Bakery Cafe 

In the corner of a strip mall, surrounded by big box and name brand stores is a bakery, unique to this location. Originating in Taiwan, 85C Bakery Cafe was created on the idea of five-star dishes, at affordable prices. This bakery is fit for the International District in Seattle, serving up pastries such as the traditional egg tarts, through drinks such as boba, and concoctions of coffee jelly. At all times of the day, traffic jams fill the parking lot as customers flood the store to try the pastries.

Around the Table

Ice cream, soda, food, and games. This combination sounds like hanging out at a friend’s house. Around the Table has taken the idea of a game shop to the next level, merging the concept of a game shop and a pub.

Around the Table offers a collection of games to buy, while also providing tables to bring in your own games to play. For customers who are interested but don’t yet have their own collection of games, Around the Table has a collection of shop games for customers to come in and play, in addition to game nights for board game enthusiasts to mingle.

Moonshine BBQ

Tables set with rolls of paper towels, tin plates, and three bottles of BBQ sauce ranging from sweet to tangy and spicy is standard set up for this restaurant. The wild west has made a pop up in the city of Lynnwood with Moonshine BBQ. Inside this western inspired sports bar, hockey paraphernalia lines the walls of the interior, games taking up a majority of the TVs, in addition to hockey sticks all in a row out front the door. Moonshine BBQ is more than just a western sports bar: this joint has also expanded to incorporate a food truck, outfitted to fit the theme with bull horns.

Espresso Buono

Along Lynnwood’s busy 196th St. SW resides a small cottage size coffee shop. Espresso Buono features drinks such as London Fog, Americano, hot chocolate, onto signature creations such as specialty mochas in varieties ranging from Snickers, to Almond Joy, German Chocolate Cake, and more. In addition to drinks, Espresso Buono offers up pastries, an assortment of smoothies and juices, along with artists trinkets.

For nearly twenty years this hidden little spot sat next to what was Wight’s Home and Garden. Wight’s was seen as a landmark for those in the community for many years, its standing ranging from 1963 through 2017. Since the closure of Wight’s, Espresso Buono remains open serving up coffee and sweets, with a cozy sitting room and back garden patio to boot.