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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, January 24, 2010

#983 - Louie's, Seattle (Ballard) - 1/23/2010

Update: Louie's Cuisine of China closed on June 29, 2014


The Louie family have been running Seattle restaurants since the 1930s, and this one seems to serve the bland form of Chinese food that is popular with elderly white people.  But the elaborate decor and old school bar make it worth a visit.

In a previous post I opined that lounges attached to Chinese restaurants are widely bifurcated into "classic" types and "slipshod" types. The lounge at Louie's Cuisine of China was recommended as a good classic type. And indeed it is, with a very nice decor, though with a curiously limited set of baseball memorabilia somewhat conflicting with the theme, a limited, standard bar menu, and a nice little set of regulars.

The latter, on the Saturday afternoon I dropped by, including a 60-ish man with a white mohawk, and a large guy in a Hawaiian shirt who brought his prized meatloaf in thinking it was meatloaf contest night. "I worked all day on that," the guy said, "Look at my presentation!" It turns out that the meatloaf contest is next Sunday.



5100 15th Avenue Northwest, Seattle, WA 98107-3899 - (206) 782-8855
Est. ? (1976?) - Closed June 29, 2014 - Building constructed: 1976
louiescuisine.comyelp - citysearch

#982 - Faire Gallery Cafe, Seattle - 1/22/2010

Update: Faire closed June 8, 2012

Faire Gallery Café (from the French verb "faire" or "to make") hosts rotating art displays, live jazz, and other forms of live music, and a small but nice menu of food and drinks.

1351 East Olive Way, Seattle WA - (206) 652-0781
Est. March 2006 - Closed June 2012
fairegallerycafe.com - myspace - yelp - seattle weekly - seattlepi

The Living Room, Seattle - 1/22/2010

Update: The Living Room closed August 2012

The Living Room, which opened on Halloween 2009, has a very lovely and relaxing, two-level decor, and very good cocktails. There is a limited food menu, but the focus is the drinks, created by owner, local artist, and bartender Monika Proffitt. This is one of the better places in the area to have a drink and some conversation, and given the current embarrassment of riches along Olive Way, that is saying something considerable.

(Note: I have not incremented the number on this entry because I accidentally listed the Living Room in my starting set of bars, probably due to confusion with the Sitting Room.)

1355 East Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 708-6021
Est. Oct. 2009 - Closed Aug 28, 2012
thelivingroombar.com - seattle weekly - the stranger - seattlemet - yelp

Thursday, January 21, 2010

#981 - Bandits, Seattle - 1/20/2010

Update: Bandits closed in Summer 2018


Sort of a neighborhood bar where you don't expect a neighborhood bar.  The drinks and decor were pretty unremarkable, but the tamales get multiple rave reviews.

159 Denny Way, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 443-5447
Est. Dec 27, 2007 - Closed 2018 - Building constructed 2005
banditsbar.com - myspace - yelp - citysearch - the stranger

#980 - La Isla, Seattle (Ballard) - 1/20/2010

Update: La Isla was closed by fire on Oct 7, 2019

I'm not sure if they do this every happy hour, but when I stumbled in they had $2 mohitos!  Of course they also have Seattle's most extensive rum menu.  (They have also had more than their share of major league ballplayers drop in.)  Viva Puerto Rico! 

2320 NW Market St., Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 789-0516
laislaseattle.com  - facebook - seattle times - the stranger - yelp - citysearch - seattle weekly

#979 -Hudson, Seattle - 1/20/2010

This is a cool little place with good cocktails and very good food (I had the sliders and they were excellent).  I'll definitely be coming back, for breakfast as well as the cocktails and dinner.  It's located in the Georgetown area under a big haunted house sign that's been up for two years and which I personally hope is up for another 50.

5000 East Marginal Way S., Seattle, WA 98134 - (206) 767-4777
hudsonseattle.com - seattle weekly - seattle weekly 2 - seattle times - yelp

#978 - The Eagle, Seattle - 1/17/2010

As in most large cities, Seattle's "Eagle" is a leather bar, roughly in the mold of Tom's Saloon in Hamburg. But again like most other large cities, it's considerably less edgy and the crowd more diverse than when gay life was less broadly accepted in the general public. Since it is not exactly designed with people like me in mind, rather than opine upon it, I'm going to list a few quotes I came across in the yelp reviews:

Apparently, I missed its glory days:  "The sling is gone, no free pool table, sex is not allowed and a 5$ cover for an empty bar filled with trolls." 

"The DJ leaves alot to be desired. It's a little Asian guy who wears 2 baseball hats at once. I may be a little bias, but I played much hotter music than he does. I was out on the patio one Saturday night and swore I could hear "sail away" by Enya. On a Saturday night?!! Fire him!!!"  (Okay, this is probably terrible prejudice, but I'm 100% behind firing anyone who wears two baseball caps at once.)

"The windows are blacked out, there is no sign marking it as a legitimate establishment, it kind of smells like urine, and there is a "swing" in the corner."

"Just then, a man with white toothpick legs, above-the-knees denim shorts, and a loose wife-beater tank top burst out the door and onto the sidewalk as if there'd been an explosion inside. He had dark hair, glasses, and a mustache that looked so much like a caterpillar that I thought it would crawl around.  Linda peeked in the door before it closed again. "Oh you couldn't even handle it, honey!" the man said to Linda."

"The Horror."  (That's the complete review.)

Historical notes: The Eagle dates its origin to 1980, which is not the year it was first named The Eagle, but rather the year it was purchased by James Allen Veres and Lance L. Hughes, who purchased the "Le Chateau" lounge and began it's transition to a gay leather bar. They renamed it the "J&L Saloon" in the early 80s, and "The Eagle" later that decade. The space has hosted bars since at least the 40s. It was called the "East Pike Tavern" from the mid 40s to late 50s, then was "Gordy's Tavern" by 1959, became "The Piker" around 1965, then "The Odyssey" by 1968 and through most of the 70s, and Kelly's Ring Side Pub in 1979.


314 E Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 621-7591
Web site: seattleeagle.com
Articles: capitolhillseattle - yelp - the stranger

#977 - Kingfish Cafe, Seattle - 1/17/2010

Update: The Kingfish Cafe closed Jan 25, 2015

A pleasant place with great old photos. But not pleasant enough for an $8.50 Hendricks and tonic, and much more interesting cafe (southern food) than as a bar.


602 19th Ave E., Seattle, WA 98112 - (206) 320-8757
Est. 1997 - Building constructed: 1909 - Closed Jan 25, 2015
Previous bars in this location: None known
thekingfishcafe.com - seattle pi - yelp - citysearch - the stranger

#976 - Barrio, Seattle - 1/17/2010



1420 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 -(206) 588-8105
barriorestaurant.com - seattletimes - yelp

#975 - Tower Tavern, Centralia, WA - 1/11/2010


114 S Tower Ave., Centralia, WA                    
Previous bars at this location: The Nimble Nickel (30s)

#974 - The Olympic Club, Centralia, WA - 1/11/2010

This is my favorite yet of the great old, preserved spaces in the McMennamins chain. It is said to have been built in 1908 and to remain "virtually unchanged from the time of its opulent remodel in 1913."  Originally named the Oxford Hotel and owned by "King of the Bootleggers, Jack Sciutto (the 1910 Lewis County Polk guide lists the owner as J. Schutto), over the years lured many a logger, miner, and rail worker to its billiard room, liquor, and welcoming working women in the rooms upstairs. (McMennamins)


(more photos)



112 N Tower Ave., Centralia, WA 98531 - (360) 736-5164
Est. 1908
mcmenamins.com - yelp - urbanspoon

Monday, January 18, 2010

#973 - Darrell's Tavern, Shoreline - 1/7/2010

I despaired of ever getting Darrell's on my list.  I made several trips hoping to find it open, to no avail (I could find no phone number and certainly no web site).  As I did my "research" in various bars around the neighborhood, I began to fill in the back story.  The owner, now in his 80s, who also collected cars and worked as a CPA in an office upstairs (and may or may not have lived up there for a while), had once had the place relatively thriving with the help of his gregarious Korean wife.  People told me his wife left him and the place started to dwindle, with the old guy not much caring about when he was open or closed, and probably well ready to retire at any rate.


So I was delighted to find it actually open on this night, and even more pleased to talk to Dan, the new owner, who is now combining a fine appreciation for the vintage 60s decor (he dropped nine grand into refurbishing and moving the sign out front alone) with some much needed upgrades, including a web site and soon live music.  "The place your dad used to drink," is how Dan describes it.  And while it's a little out of the way for most Seattlelites (just south of Aurora Village and Sky Nursery), it is well worth the trip.  Go out and support people keeping these great old bars alive.






















































18041 Aurora Ave N., Shoreline, WA
darrellstavern.com - seattle weekly

#972 - The Filling Station, Kingston, WA - 1/6/2010

The Filling Station (previously the Holding Lane Pub) seems to have the most character of the Kingston bars, and when I rolled in on a Wednesday afternoon the place was packed for Bingo Day. I slipped outside and had a nice chat with regular Jim beside the gas fireplace encased behind a custom-made grill with the owner's family coat of arms. Jim told me that a few years ago he got a DUI, said "fuck it," gave his farm to his daughter and bought a little house just across the street from the bars. Jim told me about some of the fights he'd seen at the bar, and about the time the bartender woman saved him from being beat up by three gay guys. "Just because they're gay doesn't mean they can't kick your ass," Jim told me. After chatting for a while, I thought I'd tell Jim about this bar project, and started with "I have a project from God, Jim ..." Jim winced a bit, cut me off to go refill his drink, and said, "I ain't much of a God guy." My glass was empty by that point too, so instead of trying to explain, I told Jim goodbye and headed down to the ferry dock.




11200 NE State Highway 104, Kingston, WA 98346 - (360) 297-7732               
Est. 1980
yelp

#971 - Kingston Inn, Kingston, WA - 2002 (OOO)


We went to this bar on the boat of our friends Eric and Tracy and met Jen and Jason there.  This was shortly after we discovered the remote control fart machine, which made it a long night for some.  Then the Kingston Inn burned down in September of 2005 (no fart devices were implicated).  The sign in the photo now resides in the Filling Station.

#970 - Main St. Ale House, Kingston, WA - 1/6/2010


This is the upscale bar of the Kingston trio, with a view of the bay out back, a baby grand piano, and open mike nights. 

11225 N.E. State Highway 104, Kingston, WA 98346 -(360) 297-0440

myspace - yelp

#969 - Drifters Pub and Grill, Kingston, WA - 1/6/2010

This seems like a nice enough place, with the bar basics in liquor in food -- although when I asked the bartender if they had a syrah or a malbec, she thought I was referring to beers.

11265 NE State Hwy 104, Kingston, WA 98346 - (360) 297-4400

yelp

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#968 - Point No Point Casino, Kingston, WA - 1/6/2010

Now simply "The Point" Casino

7989 Northeast Salish Lane
Kingston, WA 98346-9649
(360) 297-0070
Est. Feb 14, 2002
the-point-casino.com -
yelp

#967 - McCormick & Schmicks, Seattle (4th Ave) - (OOO)

(This is listed out of order due to confusion with the other downtown McCormicks and Schmicks.)

#966 - Crow, Seattle (lower Queen Anne) - 8/13/2008 (OOO)


Update: Crow is closing June 22, 2019

(Note:  This is out of order because it used a duplicated number in the original entry.)










823 5th Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 283-8800
Est. 2004 - Closed June 22, 2019 - Building constructed: 1900 or earlier
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: eatatcrow.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - thestrangerseattlepieater - yelp - tripadvisor

#965 - Jax, Portland - 3/17/2007

(Note:  This is out of order because it used a duplicated number in the original entry.)

#964 - The Lotus, Portland - 3/17/2007 (OOO)


Update: The Lotus closed Aug 20, 2016, with the building to be demolished

Animals heads!!!

The Lotus Cardroom and Cafe are said to have opened in 1924 and one guesses became a licensed bar shortly after the Beer and Wine Revenue Act in 1933?  It is said to be Portland's first legal gambling establishment and also it's first hipster bar.  As David Dekrey kindly pointed out to me, the bar also contained a fine antique Brunswick bar which appears to be identical to the one in Loggers Inn, in Sultan, WA. Happily, at least the bar has been obtained and will be restored by the McMennamin's group.

932 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204 - Phone: (503) 227-6185

(Note:  This is out of order because it used a duplicated number in the original entry.)