Plano Mall Now Lets You Sip Beer and Wine While Shopping

Ascension Annex at the Shops at Willow Bend isn't just a mall coffee shop: it's a wine bar where you can snag a wristband that enables you to drink beer and wine throughout the mall. courtesy Ascension

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We've always been fans of grocery stores where you can sip beer and wine while you shop — buying vegetables just feels less humdrum while nursing a glass of rosé. Now, a Plano mall is letting visitors sip booze while shopping, which is about to make that bathing suit-buying experience very interesting.

Last week, Dallas coffee shop Ascension Coffee officially opened its outpost at the Shops at Willow Bend on the mall’s lower level, between Neiman Marcus and Dillard’s. But this coffee shop and wine bar, known as Ascension Annex, has a fun twist: stop here and show your ID to get a wristband and a glass of wine, and you can wander the mall while you sip.

click to enlarge

You'll have to show your ID at Ascension to be given a wristband that enables you to drink all over this fancy mall.

courtesy Ascension

There are a few rules, of course: You have to stop by Ascension and show your ID to get the wristband, which you have to wear while imbibing. And you can't wander with a bottle of beer; your booze needs to be in a plastic cup, supplied by Ascension. You also can't bring beer or wine into any of the mall's restaurants. And there are several new restaurants at this mall, including Terra Mediterranean and the new Plano outpost of Knife.

This is Ascension's sixth DFW location, but it's the first location that supplies the liquid courage necessary to buy those lime green culottes you've been eyeing.

The Shops at Willow Bend, 6121 W. Park Blvd., Plano