#1798 #S1032 - Green Leaf, Seattle - 5/27/2012

Green Leaf is the second incarnation of a popular Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle's International District, this one in a curious basement space in the old Labor Temple building. The building itself is between the heavy foot traffic areas of Belltown and lower Queen Anne, where one presumes that it is particularly critical to establish a reputation that will attract people a bit off the beaten paths.

This wasn't always the case. From the 40s into the 90s this location hosted the Labor Temple Restaurant and Lounge, a main hangout for a thriving union scene, where workers shared drinks in the windowless lounge area they called "The Pit." Indeed, it appears to have been in the late 90s the last remaining labor temple lounge in the country. As the labor movement faded, the owners changed the name in the late 90s to the "Samuel Gompers Steak House," remembered as simply "Gompers." But Gompers did not last long, and it has subsequently had a revolving set of restaurant-bars with wildly varying themes -- the Greek Zoey Blue Plate Special, the Italian Vela Pizzeria, the Mediterranean Mira! / Faina.

Green Leaf may have a longer lifespan in the space than those, with a well established reputation and a fairly large menu of some of the better Vietnamese dishes in the city. The delicate and ornate decor feel like a different world from the aging, functional exterior of the upper floors -- even including a small pond and grotto. The lounge area features an antique bar and some interesting cocktails.

2800 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 340-1388            
Est. May 16, 2012 - Building constructed: 1942
Previous bars in this location: Labor Temple Restaurant and Lounge, Gompers Steak House, Zoey Blue Plate Bistro, Vela Pizzaria & Lounge, Mira! / Faina
Web site: greenleaftaste.com -  facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - thestranger - seattleweekly - seattlemet - yelp - urbanspoon