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Bars where Pete has had a Drink (5,608 bars; 1,754 bars in Seattle) - Click titles below for Lists:


Bars where Pete has had a drink

Sunday, September 28, 2008

#711 - The Grey Parrot Brewpub, Long Beach, WA - 9/27/2008


Update: Phil and Carlene Goularte's Grey Parrot closed sometime by 2011


This is a charming little place where Phil and his wife brew beers and serve food in a double wide mobile home filled with souvenirs from his travels, and marked by his home carved signs out front.

Est. July 4, 2005






Grey Parrot Brewpub, Long Beach, Washington

#710 - Gear Shed Lounge, Long Beach, WA - 9/26/2008


Features a very nice lodge sort of room.

#709 - The Lamplighter, Seaview, WA - 9/26/2008

Backwards baseball cap required.

#708 - Columbia Bar (Lightship Restaurant), Long Beach WA - 9/26/2008

#707 - Doc's Tavern, Ocean Park WA - 9/26/2008


This and the Grey Parrot Brewpub are my favorite bars on the peninsula. It's a big place, an old place, stocked with history and personality and personalities. I have no primary source data on the history of the bar, but long-time owner Don Sheldon recently penned a colorful history for a calendar, a copy of which is now posted conveniently above the urinals in the mens room next to a centerfold of "Miss September":

"In 1933, at the urging of Roy E. Sheldon and Ralph Osborn, Art Matthews decided to start a tavern in Ocean Park. The trio traveled to Olympia to get a license and a tavern known as "The Whalebone" was established at this sight [sic]. The name came from the fact that dead whales which had washed up on the beach, were buried under what is now the northwest section of the tavern. Art opened at 12 noon on the 4th of July 1933, and closed an hour later at 1:00 P.M. to go to a local ball game.

Doc's Tavern, Ocean Park, WA
In 1936, Art was forced to move. A local leaseholder, following the Good Book, decided that his property shouldn't house a drinking establishment. It seems that the Methodists controlled Ocean Park and a couple devout Methodists operated a bakery across the street. They advertised "home baking," so Art mischievously advertised "home breaking."

Art didn't give up. He had a new building built at the site, which was the old Richfield Station (now Jack's Country Store's new addition). The Tavern, complete, including labor and materials, cost $744.00. He renamed it "Arts" and operated it until 1944, then sold it to A.W. "Doc" Watson.

Doc's Tavern, in business for 79 years, is the oldest tavern or bar in our area, as the liquor license was purchased immediately following the repeal of prohibition.* There have been only three owners, which is nearly unheard of in the liquor industry. Art Matthews, the first; A.W. "Doc" Watson was the second and although he passed on, is a legend in local tavern history; the third, Don Sheldon, Doc's grandson, is carrying on the family business and had the opportunity to share many years in close relationship with Doc Watson.

Before the building housing Doc's Tavern was a tavern, it had many uses. An ice cream parlor (from which the stools you sit on still exist), beauty shop, W.W.I. recruiting office, pool hall, restaurant, bakery, real estate office, antique shop, and gas station. The tavern is actually 5 buildings under one roof and the oldest section was built in 1883. There is an example of the foundation with iron nails and hand carved dowels connecting the corner. This was discovered as we replaced the foundation.

Doc's Tavern, Ocean Park, WA
Doc, a merchant marine, worked on ships while his wife ran the tavern. Doc would return home while not on duty and do the same. Things were fin until another leaseholder not caring for taverns forced another move. A deal was worked out and the original site was purchased by Doc in 1948. Doc being superstitious, kept the name "Arts" and built a lasting trade. In 1968, the tavern was enlarged to include pool tables. Doc ran the tavern for many years and built a lasting reputation in the tavern industry and community.

In 1976, Don Sheldon began working at "Arts" under the guidance of Doc Watson, and in 1979, was hired as a manager of the tavern. Doc died on April 16, 1980, while enjoying his favorite pastime, fishing. Don Sheldon then purchased "Arts" and renamed it "Doc's Tavern" in Doc's memory....

Your friend Don Sheldon"


*Very small nit here: The 21st amendment and the repeal of prohibition actually became effective only on December 5, 1933. However, it is still possible that a (legal) tavern was opened July 4 of that year as it was actually the Beer and Wine Revenue Act, effective April 7 of that year, that allowed the legal flow of beer taps to resume.



1414 Bay Ave, Ocean Park, WA 98640 - (360) 665-4105
Est. 1980 - Building constructed: 1883 (oldest section)
Previous bars in this location: The Whalebone, Art's
Web site: facebook
Articles: yelp - chinookobservor - tripadvisor

#706 - Long Beach Tavern, Long Beach, WA - 9/25/2008

#705 - The Sea Hag, Ilwaco, WA - 9/25/2008

http://seahagilwaco.com/

#704 - The Little Red Barn Loaf'n Shed, Grand Mound, WA - 9/25/2008

Sunday, September 21, 2008

#703 - Juju, Seattle (Belltown) - 3/19/2008

Juju - 2224 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA


2224 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 728-4053
Est.  2008 - Closed Nov. 2012 - Building constructed 1911
Previous bars in this location: Ximaica

#702 - The Polar Bar, (Arctic Club Hotel) Seattle - 3/19/2008


700 3rd Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 340-0340

seattletimes - thestranger - gastrolust - cornichon

#701 - The Crimson C, Seattle (downtown) - 3/19/2008

When I went there on an early Wednesday evening it was just big, red, and empty. I'll have to try again some Friday or Saturday night. (web site)

Followup:  The Crimson C has closed as of Jan. 2010

Saturday, September 06, 2008

#700 - Ama Ama Oyster Bar, Seattle (West Seattle) - 9/4/2008


Update: Ama Ama closed in 2009


The most swank bar in Seattle -- absolutely beautiful everywhere you look, like a living Shag painting.

Try the: Starrlight

4752 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 (map)
Est. 2007 - Closed 2009 - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars at this location: Guppy's West, Ovio Bistro
Subsequent bars at this location: Table 35, A Terrible Beauty
(ama-amaseattle.com - facebook - yelp - Seattle PI)

Monday, September 01, 2008

#694 - The T-Bird Tavern, Seattle (Ballard) - 8/31/2008

Thunderbird Tavern, Seattle - Joe Nix mural
The Thunderbird/T-Bird bar next door to a small strip club is in a space that has hosted a bar since the late 1930s. By 1941 it was the "Pilot House Inn" and in 1959 became the "Thunderbird Tavern." It closed again in mid 2013, but reopened the following February under new owners Madison Eckendorf and Ian Smith, who have preserved the diveyness, and eventually added a beautiful Joe Nix mural to the north side of the building.

 Overheard from a Thunderbird customer (discussing a different bar): "You can't have a 70-year-old woman totin' around kegs and have a ditch in back ..."



Thunderbird Tavern, Seattle - 2008

7515 15th Ave NW,  Seattle, WA 98117 - (206) 706-4973
Closed 2013 - Building constructed 1936
Previous bars at this location: Pilot House Inn
backpageyelp - thestranger - seattlest

#693 - Hazelwood, Seattle (Ballard) - 8/31/2008


This bar had the small personality of a bar in the Adams Morgan district of Washington DC (which is the best strip of small personality bars in the country, as far as I've seen). I wasn't quite as knocked out by the drinks or vibe as most of the places I highly recommend, but this is an intimate, unique space, with a cool crowd and some adventurous cocktails, and what more could you ask?

#692 - Ocho, Seattle (Ballard) - 8/31/2008

A very nice, hopping, little place.

Try the Ten Dollar Margarita and the Sangria Rioja.