#2111 - Viking Sports Bar and Grill, Shoreline, WA - 3/22/2013

The building here is a jangle of discordant styles, with what gives the appearance of a strip mall slamming into a two-story residential house, cut by an angular roof now fronted with wood lattice, and for some reason Tuscan columns affixed to the front side. It emphasizes sports and the Seahawks, it is named "The Viking," and actually seems to draw people mostly with karaoke seven nights a week. It is a dive bar, with a mixed ethnicity, dive bar crowd, and serves fairly typical bar drinks and food from behind a physical bar that looks like it came from a 70s fern bar. And every single one of the middle aged crowd appears to take a turn outside smoking.

This visit came just three weeks into the venue and ownership (this was previously the Zaika Indian restaurant, which in the evenings was dominated by "Mr Z.'s Lounge" and karaoke). The permanent signage and current paint job were not there yet, but there was a fairly lively crowd of locals inside.

Like a million other suburban instant sports bars across the region and the country -- with their flatscreen TVs, pulltabs, Budweiser paraphernalia, burgers and steaks and Taco Tuesdays, cheap well drinks and Jager shots -- there's not much unusual character nor anything particularly remarkable about the Viking. But people go to places like this because it's *your* suburban sports bar -- delivering the basics in your neighborhood among people you enjoy. Judging from the crowd, this one may be around for a while.

14622 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155 - (206) 922-3764
Est. March 8, 2013 - Building constructed: 1954
Previous bars in this location: Zaika (Mr. Z's Lounge) 
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp