May 31st, 2023
Born to Shake: Cocktail bar open for business in Kelowna’s brewery district
Cocktail lovers will certainly want to visit one of the newest tenants in Kelowna’s north end brewery district.
Born to Shake has been selling cocktail accompaniments since April 2020 at the Kelowna Farmers’ Market, craft shows and even local grocery stores.
But now they have a new permanent home at 110-889 Vaughan Ave., where you can find high-end cocktails, tapas-style bites and Neapolitan-style pizzas six days a week.

Born to Shake
It’s also a great place to get ingredients and equipment for making cocktails at home, described by co-owners Shayne Labis and Nicole Barron as “a candy store for the at-home bartender.”
The unique cocktail bar and retail store hybrid has two floors of seating and a dog-friendly patio, and Labis says they want people to come in and feel welcomed.
“We have a vast cocktail menu that has something for everyone. Whether you chat with the bartender making your drink, or take a private cocktail class, we’re here to help make cocktailing approachable for everyone,” he explained.
“We know how daunting it might be to get started making cocktails at home, so we work really hard to come up with easy-to-execute recipes without compromising flavour or quality that are also easy to tweak if you want to take them to the next level.”
Labis and Barron, two bartenders, started Born to Shake as a cocktail catering and ingredient-manufacturing company and the small business has taken off since then.

Nicole Barron (L) and Shayne Labis
Finally, they were able to move into and soft open the new retail space in November 2022 and are finally ready to publicly invite Kelowna residents and visitors to check it out.
As has been the case for much of the north end, Born to Shake is the first tenant of the building at the corner of Ethel Street and Vaughan Avenue, which means they got to design it how they saw fit.
“As a multi-faceted business, we designed the space to highlight the retail aspect by day and to be able to close it off to really lean into the cocktail bar and speakeasy vibe in the evening,” Barron explained.
“We chose to build a second bar upstairs in the mezzanine to have the option to accommodate private parties and cocktail classes while still being open to the public on the main floor.”
You can learn more about Born to Shake through their new website or simply go check it out in person on any day of the week except Monday.
They’re open 11 am until 6 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 11 am until 11 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.