#936 - Chao Bistro, Seattle - 11/6/2009

Update: Chao Bistro closed in June 2012.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Chao Bistro, and in some neighborhoods, I'd probably seek it out (the owners are affiliate with soul-less Belltown venues Amber and Venom). But in a neighborhood with as many choices with personality as Capitol Hill, it's not clear to me why anyone would choose this place.

1200 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 - 206 324 1010
Est. Sep. 25, 2009 - Closed June 2012
Previous bars at this location: Pike's Bar and Grill,  1200 Bistro
chaobistro.com - facebook - yelp - the stranger - seattle weekly

#935 - Quinn's Gastropub, Seattle - 11/6/2009

Quinn's has excellent food (try the wild boar sloppy joes) and good cocktails (try the Missed Opportunity). It's right in the middle of the Capitol Hill nightlife activity, and I probably avoided it earlier only out of personal, sentimental reasons. The space is a little open and the crowd a bit boring, but from now on out, if I am on Capitol Hill and in the mood for some top rate drinks and/or food rather than decor and people, the choice will be Tavern Law or Quinn's.

1001 E Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 325-7711
quinnspubseattle.com = seattle times - seattle times 2 - yelp - sneaky sunday

#934 - Mr. Z's Lounge (Zaika), Shoreline - 11/2/2009

Zaikia closed (in 2011?)

Zaika site, via the Wayback Machine

14622 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155 - (206) 306-0880                     
zaikathetaste.net (defunct) - yelp - waybackmachine

#933 - North City Tavern, Shoreline, WA - 11/2/2009

The stretch of 15th Ave NE north of Northlake Mall has a pretty nice string of neighborhood bars, from Boud's Pinehurst to the Caroline to North City Tavern. North City Tavern/Lounge has been around since at least 1945. It occupies the oldest commercial property in the area (built in 1930 according to tax records, though I've seen 1927, 1928, and 1929 all cited by other sources) when it apparently started as a small store and gas station. Inside it has all the basics of a neighborhood dive -- woody interiors, yellowing old beer promotion lights, and yellowing old regular patrons.

17554 15th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155 - (206) 362-1443
facebook 
eater - ronaldblog - seattle weekly - yelp

#932 - Shelter Lounge, Seattle (Ballard) - 10/29/2009

The old location of the Station Bistro has been re-made into a lovely, half-indoor/half-outdoor, mid-century modern lounge that brings to mind Portland's Doug Fir. (And like several Portland bars, they feature a nice, jalapeno-flavored margarita.) The decor is a swanky dark combination of rock, wood, and flame. The central bar serves both indoor and outdoor patrons, and on summer evenings when the garage doors are fully opened, this is sure to be packed. (Opened 10/23/09, owned by Kevin Carlson)

4910 Leary Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 829-8568
my ballard - yelp - girl in the city

#931 - Andaluca, Seattle (downtown) - 10/28/2009

Good wine, good food, upscale but comfortable.

407 Olive Way, Seattle, Washington 98101 - (206) 382-6999
andaluca.com - yelp - the stranger

#930 - Athenian Inn, Seattle - 10/26/2009

Although I've eaten there many times, I've never made it to the bar at the Athenian Inn, probably because it just recently extended its closing time from 6pm to 7:30pm. The restaurant has now been there literally a hundred years, and the bar since 1933. It has a surprisingly large beer selection for a place that seems to cater to blue collar regulars who prefer Miller or Bud Lite, and a nice happy hour menu (try the elk sliders).

Along with the pleasantly inebriated regulars (Hi, Frank), it has a nice cross-section of old and young, tourists and locals, and of course it has that view (best witnessed in the colder months, when the sun sets before closing time). It was pretty foolish of me to live in Seattle for a quarter of its century-old life and not stop in for a drink before now.

1517 Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 624-7166
athenianinn.com - seattle dining (history) - seattle weekly - the stranger - yelp

#929 - Ventana, Seattle (Belltown) - 10/23/2009

Update: Ventana closed 7/3/2011

Ventana, named for the large windows looking out on Elliot Bay ("ventana" is Spanish for window), is owned by the same folks who own Twist next door. It has quite good food, quite good cocktails, quite nice service, and quite nice ventanas.

Try the: Cucumber and jalapeno margarita

2323 1st Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 441-9478
ventanaseattle.com - seattle pi - yelp

#928 - Pike Place Bar & Grill, Seattle - 10/19/2009

A place like this rises or falls as a bar with the characters it brings in, and on what appeared to be a typical weeknight this one had more than it's fair share of color. There were the old codgers describing how they explained to their doctors that they didn't *really* need to stop drinking, the full-on alcoholics all too eager to regale you with how they've screwed up their lives, the man in the cheap Sunday suit who looked like a televangelist intently reading a book in the corner, and a host of other regulars along with the inevitable tourists visiting Pike Place Market.

One of the codgers explained to me that his wife was again on her "apple diet," and observed that "all wives are crazy." "On the other hand," he noted, with a straight face that worked like a wink, "all husbands are the epitome of normalcy."

There was the drunk fellow trying to get the drunk woman to come home with him: "I have cable! Comcast! I got beer. I got chronic." The woman responded that seven men have tried to get her to go home with them tonight. "Well them six are shit outta luck, because I'm fucking classy!"

This was all before 7pm on a Monday, mind you.

I like this place. The employees there were all very nice, including Lee the bartender, who asked me if this was my first time there. "If this was my first time here," Lee pondered, "I don't know what I'd make of it."

90 Pike St Ste 22, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 624-1365
yelp - citysearch - the stranger

#927 - Alki Tavern, Seattle - 10/26/2009

Update: The Alki Tavern closed after St. Patrick's Day, 2013

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This is just about the perfect dive bar. Outside, ramshackle patio furniture, hand-painted stylized seagull sign, and the Pacific Ocean lapping up from around the Olympic peninsula across the street. Inside, a woody, flag-draped interior and any number of local characters. On this night the latter included the artist who was having a difficult day due to patrons passing gas in the Starbucks where she does her work, and the hyper-affected English gentlemen manners of a young fellow with a cane (asked by the bartender how his dog was: "Well," eyelids fluttering half closed, "He is well.") And of course the bikers.

An excellent dive to have so close to the middle of the city.
 

1321 Harbor Ave SW., Seattle, WA 98116 - (206) 932-9970
Established 1976 - Closed March 18, 2013 - Building constructed: 1915
Previous bars in this location:  Unknown name owned by Thomas & Jensen in the 1930s
thealkitavern.com - myspace - seattle weekly - yelp - seattle.com - the stranger

#926 - Laredo's, Seattle - 10/11/2009

Try the: Tia Cuca's    

555 Aloha St., Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 218-1040
laredosgrill.com - seattle times - http://www.yelp.com/biz/laredos-grill-seattle - seattle weekly - queen anne view

#925 - Mac's Smokehouse, Seattle - 10/10/2009

1760 1st Ave S., Seattle, WA 98134 - (206) 628-0880
yelp - urban spoon

#924 - Casuelita's, Seattle - 10/5/2009

Reviews on various sites have claimed that the quality varies widely here, but the night I went the food was all very good and the drinks fairly good too. I'll definitely be coming back.

81 Vine St., Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 770-0155
<seattle weekly - seattle pi - seattle times - yelp

#923 - Kushibar, Seattle - 10/6/2009

Update: Kushibar closed in October 2017

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2319 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98127 - (206) 448-2488
Est. 2008 - Closed Oct 2017 - Building constructed 1928
Previous bars in this location: None known
http://www.kushibar.com - seattle dining - the stranger - seattle times - seattle pi

#922 - La Vita É Bella, Seattle - 10/6/2009

2411 2nd Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 441-5322
lavitaebella - yelp - zagat - bellinghameats - the stranger

#921 - 9 Million In Unmarked Bills, Seattle - 10/5/2009

The new place in the old Triangle location in Fremont has an inconsistently applied 30's gangster theme and a menu of interesting cocktails. The ones I tried didn't have quite the balance that Seattle's finest bartenders produce -- and I didn't try the John Dillinger (Bulliet Bourbon and a cigarette) -- but it's a step up, as is the very good food (I had the Caprese salad and the lamb sliders).

Historical notes:  This was the "Triangle Tavern by 1935 until 1986 (the listed address is slightly different in earlier years, but it is the same location).  It was the "Classic Tavern" in the latter 80s and 90s, and re-named the "Triangle Lounge" from 1998 through 2009.)  Building constructed in 1926.

3507 Fremont Place, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 632-0880
Est. 2009 - Building constructed: 1926 - Previously: Triangle Tavern, Classic Tavern, Triangle Lounge
9m-unmarked.com - seattle magazine - yelp - seattle times - the stranger

#920 - Sinners & Saints, Seattle (Fremont) - 10/5/2009

Update:  Sinners and Saints was closed and reopened as Woodsky's in Jan. 2011

Not a whole lot of good drinking choices and even fewer food choices, but it's very nice to look at.

303 N. 36th Street, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 547-1141
seattle weekly - first call - yelp - the stranger

#919 - The Cuff, Seattle (Capitol Hill) - 10/4/2009

(Brian P. photo -- The resemblance may not seem so remarkable in this pic as it was taken before I took my shirt off.)

So I went to The Cuff and had a Top Shelf Electric Ice Tea and I still didn't contract gay, as far as I can tell. I'm beginning to think that it doesn't spread quite as easily as Rev. Pat Robertson has led me to believe.

Anyway, I had an entirely inaccurate impression of The Cuff: I was thinking it was a relatively small, leather bar, and of course it's a large, varied, multilevel place (I guess that's why they call it the "Cuff Complex"). And I have it on good authority that the next time I get a Top Shelf Electric Ice Tea it should be from the back patio.

1533 13th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 323-1525
Est. March 23, 1993
cuffcomplex.com - seattle weekly - gay cities - the stranger

#918 - Pony, Seattle (Capitol Hill) - 10/4/2009

Pony is like a gay "Cha Cha" -- a bar designed from day one to be a dive (although one of our party repeatedly insisted it was not a dive but rather a "shanty"). As nouveau dives go, it's a fairly good one, with its odd angles giving it character and its ship-like patio giving it an odd sense of command of Capitol Hill.

1221 E Madison St., Seattle, WA 98122
the stranger - yelp - stranger pics (NSFW)

#917 - Hamburger Harry's, Seattle (Ballard) - 10/3/2009

Hamburger Harry's closed in late 2013

2409 NW Market St., Seattle, WA 98138 - (206) 297-8000
Est. 2008 - Closed Sep or Oct 2014 - Building constructed 1950
Previous bars in this location: Sea Breeze
yelp - myballard - the stranger