#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.)

#963 - Atlas Foods, Seattle - 12/31/2009

For my 216th new bar in 2009, I finally made it to Atlas Foods on their last day in business after a decade in U Village.  The Chow owners say they were not a fit for a mall (nor, apparently, as partners any longer), and it's hard to argue with the point after suffering the seventh circle of hell known as "U Village Parking."  The food seemed fine to me, though I've heard mixed reviews from people who have been there more than I, and strictly as a bar it didn't appear to have anything that will be particularly missed.

2675 NE Village Ln., Seattle, WA 98105 - (206) 522-6025
seattle times - yelp - seattle weekly - chow foods

#962 - China Dragon, Seattle - OOO

With the previous post, I realized that I'd forgotten to list one of the venerable dive bars in my own neck of the woods, the lounge at the China Dragon.  Consider for a moment all the things that are charming about dive bars, and all the things that are disgusting about them.  This place is pretty keenly focused on the latter.  It is one of those bars where you want to get drunk BEFORE you go in.

10119 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98133 - (206) 524-5525
yelp - citysearch