Half Rats: Great Barrington's Exciting New Natural Wine Bar
Get a little tipsy (the old English definition of half rats) at this relaxed new Great Barrington hot spot.
Half Rats, Great Barrington’s new natural-wine bar, brings a scrappy, raw edge to a business district better known for its polish. From the wine selection to the vintage art and exposed brick, there’s a confident chillness inside the recently restored former Berkshire Community College South County satellite building at 343 Main Street. The boho, vintage look, sketchy rodent iconography, and openhearted approach to sharing uncommon wine is the direct expression of the joint’s local Gen Z owner, Abby Pendergist.
The name alone signals her instincts. “Half rats” is Victorian British slang for being slightly tipsy. Pendergist discovered the term while thumbing through a Victorian dictionary while dreaming up a business that fused her love of vintage clothing and natural wine. “I just read ‘half rats’ and then read the definition, and I was like, ‘There couldn’t be a better name.’”
The name came long before the bar. So did the rat-themed design touches: a bit tongue-in-cheek, a bit punk, and totally memorable. “I really leaned into the whole rat thing once I figured out the name,” she says. Even early doubters came around. “Mark Firth from Prairie Whale was like, ‘I think I hate it,’” she recalls with a laugh. “And then he finally came around. Now he loves the name.”
From Prairie Whale to Portugal, and Back Again
Pendergist’s path to becoming a wine-bar owner wasn’t plotted so much as unfurled. Born in Connecticut, raised in rural Pennsylvania, and arriving in the Berkshires about eight years ago with her parents and brother, she fell into the service industry after a post-high-school gap-year adventure in Australia and New Zealand. At 18, she landed at Ruby’s Cafe, then Prairie Whale, where, she says, exposure to Mark Firth’s all-natural wine list changed the course of her life.
“I just remember knowing nothing about wine,” she says. She began by memorizing the explanatory blurbs on the menu to answer customer questions. But over the course of nearly six years at the Whale, she gained a hands-on education: tastings, conversations, and the kind of mentorship that isn’t taught in classes. “Mark would open really nice bottles and let everyone try it. It was super helpful and cool.”
Travel shaped her palate too, though she laughs at how unrefined her younger self was. “I’d drink a cheap bottle of rosé and call it a day. I wasn’t drinking professionally yet.” Now, she and her partner, Nick Speidel, explore the world with wine in mind. A return to Portugal is next on the list. “This is going to be a work trip,” she jokes.
A Wine List That Says Relax
Half Rats is built on the same philosophy that made Pendergist fall for natural wine in the first place: curiosity, openness, and zero intimidation. “Wine lists can be scary,” she says. “I wanted my place to be not-scary.”
While you can get a bottle at Half Rats, Pendergist encourages customers to order by the glass, so they can try new things. “I like the idea of being able to come in and be like, ‘What the hell does a Georgian wine taste like?’ and you can just try it,” she says. Prices range from $11 to $18 for a generous pour.
Small, playful descriptions beneath each selection keep things clear without condescension. “Even for me, sometimes you recognize one word on a wine list. I want people to have an idea of what they’re getting without feeling overwhelmed.”
Her current favorite bottles include Ink, a “medium-bodied, fruity, juicy red” from Austrian winemaker Judith Beck, and the cult-favorite Susukaru Rosato from Frank Cornelissen, made from grapes grown in the ashy soil at the base of the Mt. Etna in Sicily. Pendergist said she tried the rare dark rose years ago and loved it. She admits she was a little nervous to taste it again when she was able to track some bottles down recently. She had enjoyed it so much she worried it wouldn’t live up to her memory. “I opened it and I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s perfect,’” she says. “It hits every time.”
The Snacks: European, Simple, Perfect
Inspired by the tiny bars she found travelling in Europe, Half Rats keeps its food playful and unfussy. “Every place I’d sit down in Portugal, they’d give you a little bowl of corn nuts,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘Damn, I love corn nuts. No matter what, I need to have them.’”
Beyond corn nuts, the small menu includes mixed olives, truffle chips, Spanish goat cheese with figs and honey, and gildas, the classic Basque skewer with anchovy, olive, and a long hot pepper. “Just small snacks. The perfect little bar food.”
A Community That Showed Up
Supporting the interconnected, symbiotic nature of Great Barrington’s economic ecosystem is important to Pendergist, who worked in town for nearly a decade before opening her own business.
“The community is just really important and very supportive,” she says. “I had so many people around me who were happy to support me. I’d run into people at the grocery store and they’d say, ‘Tell us if you need anything moved for the bar,’ or, ‘we’re good at painting!’”
The reception since opening in late August has been even better than she expected. “It’s been such a crazy range. Young people, older people… everyone’s excited about it. It’s just been everybody, which is refreshing.”
Keep an eye on the Half Rats Instagram page for upcoming events. Pendergist is toying with a New Year’s Eve gathering, future winemaker tastings, and more. For now, the bar is exactly what she dreamed it to be: approachable but stylish, casual but thoughtful, modern but with a wink of vintage eccentricity. A place where you can wander in, learn something new, try something unexpected, make friends with strangers and get a little half rats.
