#780 - Red Fin, Seattle (downtown) - 3/12/2009

Update: Red Fin closed in July 2013

---

There are certain people you work with in corporations who are assholes, but not to everybody. If you're in their select group -- equal to or above them in the reporting chain, or perceived as an ally, as opposed to most other departments -- they may seem like perfectly friendly people. But to people below them, people they unilaterally decide are internal competitors, people who are not their gender, etc. etc. -- these people they treat like shit. And while it's tempting to ignore that if you happen to get into one of the groups they don't treat like shit, I don't think you should forget the fact that they are assholes toward a lot of other people.

There are bars like that too. Red Fin is like that. They give the impression of place created by 30-somethings who made a good chunk of money in software, and picked up enough foodie pretensions and acquaintances that they feel like they could make it just catering just to their crowd, and are pained to sacrifice any time and effort for outsiders.

Thus, when I sat down at the bar, without knowing anyone and without a backwards baseball cap, the bartender some 15 feet away reading a magazine felt it a higher priority to finish his article, chat with a friend, and lazily peruse some wine labels, before eventually checking to see if perhaps I might have sat down at his bar because I was interested in having a drink. And it wasn't just one person either -- other workers wandered into the bar area and lazily prepared drinks without so much as a nod to the customer who was sitting there twiddling his thumbs behind an empty bar counter.

In their defense, Red Fin is less of a bar than a downtown sushi joint, and pretension and attitude are the primary products of many a downtown sushi joint. But if you'd prefer to avoid assholes altogether -- whether or not you are lucky enough to be in the group that doesn't experience the asshole side -- I strongly suggest skipping Red Fin.

612 Stewart St., Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 441-4340
Est. 2005 - Closed 2013
Previous bars in this location: None known
Subsequent bars in this location: Millers Guild
redfinsushi.com - yelp - citysearch

#779 - Suite 410, Seattle (downtown) - 3/12/2009

This may be my favorite downtown Seattle bar. Now, that's a fairly low bar (so to speak), and there's nothing really unusual or spectacular about this bar. But it's a small, fairly hidden, internally dark and swanky place -- "like a New York bar," as Benji the bartender put it. The crowd is comfortably balanced between hip and pretentious, young and old, and the vibe is romantic. I think I'll wind up here often.

410 Stewart St, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 682-4101
(suite410.com, facebook, Seattle Weekly, yelp)

#778 - Oliver's (Mayflower Hotel), Seattle (downtown) - 3/12/2009

Oliver's is one of those rare fine bars that out-of-towners may know better than the locals.  It has classic hotel bar touches -- high ceilings, maritime sconces, and big curtained windows looking out on a busy part of downtown.  It also has the sort of cocktails that make the crowd, beyond the serendipitous hotel visitors, comprised largely of mixologists from other bars looking for a quiet, quality cocktail away from any thongs of hipsters and foodies. It is also the first bar in Seattle where passersby could see bartenders making cocktails, and it was situated in the location of the first hotel cocktail bar in the city.

Some Oliver's history via the Seattle Times:

'When Oliver's opened on June 26, 1976, it was one of the most controversial bar debuts in Seattle. The state had just lifted an esoteric law that banned cocktail lounges from having windows (to prevent the public from seeing folks imbibing). Oliver's put in floor-to-ceiling pane windows to showcase its bar in all its glory. "There were some ticked-off women," said Steve Johansson, the beverage director for the bar and hotel. "Women would walk by and say, 'Oh my God! Look at that. They're drinking and smoking at the bar.' "  Those scandalous windows now serve as one of the city's great people-watching spots downtown, especially during Christmas, when you can see the 12-story-high Christmas tree across the street.

The view is majestic when there are snowflakes floating and Christmas carols in the air. In 1977, Oliver's hired a lad named Murray Stenson, who went on to become one of America's most respected bartenders. Stenson will serve as guest bartender at Oliver's on Thursday. Oliver's, said Stenson, "may have been the first bar in the city to have an espresso machine at the bar. It was a spectacular, 4-foot-tall, copper and brass Italian espresso maker."'

Note that the window law applied strictly to hard liquor, as much older bars like the Central Tavern had unobstructed windows.

The previous bar, the Carousel Room (compete with merry-go-round horses hanging from the ceiling) was the first to take advantage of 1948's Initiative 171 allowing hotels, restaurants, trains, boats and clubs (but not taverns) to sell liquor by the glass (Class H licenses), and thereby became Seattle's first licensed cocktail bar since prohibition.  (See historylink.org)

405 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 623-8700
Est. June 26, 1976 - Building constructed: 1927
Previous bars in this location: None (Bartell Drugs 1929-1946, The Carousel Room 1949-1974)

#777 - Boud's Pinehurst Pub, Seattle - 3/9/2009

A nifty neighborhood bar. The decor is utterly undistinguished (assuming you don't count Cassie, the sexy, Helen-Huntish bartender), but it's a very pleasant cross section of patrons. I'll be swinging by again.

11753 15th Ave NE
Other bars at this location: Cross Roads Tavern (50s-80s), Spot Too (90s)
myspace, yelp - the stranger