#1119 #S667 - Circa Grill & Ale House, Seattle - 5/29/2010

This is a little place popular with neighborhood families for it's slightly upscale comfort food.  There is nothing particularly remarkable about the bar, and the selection of beers on tap is pretty small for a place with "Ale House" in their title (although they do have Manny's, which always makes the selection okay in my book), and they have some nice cocktails.

2605 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 - (206) 923-1102
circawestseattle.com - seattle pi - seattle weekly - the stranger - yelp

#1118 #S666 - Vela Pizzeria & Lounge, Seattle - 5/28/2010

Vela is number 666 on my list of bars in the Seattle city limits.  Perhaps I should take something exciting from that.  I did see some references to the "Union Bar" which conjured images of a great old blue collar dive in the basement of this temple to an era where such working people used to command a bit more societal respect.

But Vela Pizza, while in a great old Labor Temple space, is just a pedestrian pizza joint by day, and by night a bar that is a cliche second rate bump and grind club.

2800 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 441-8352
velaseattle.com - facebook - yelp

#1117 #S665 - Hunter Gatherer Lodge, Seattle - 5/27/2010

Update: The Hunter Gatherer Lodge is closing after Saturday March 31, 2012.


This is not one of my favorite types of bars and the cocktails are basically of the frat party variety.  However there are at least three reasons to be very happy about the new Hunter Gatherer Lodge, in the space of the previous War Room:  1) It presumably will give us continued access to a fine upstairs patio in the summer months; 2) it keeps an active bar in a structure that was built in 1920 and which has hosted a bar (mostly the Harvard Tavern) since at least 1935; and 3) it has a sweet section of wall with taxidermy heads extending from live ivy.

722 E. Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 328-7666
Est. April 9, 2010 - Closed April 1, 2012 - Building constructed 1920
hglodge.com -  the stranger - yelp