#1000! - Visions Lounge, Seattle - 3/5/2010

Visions Lounge closed in 2012 and was replaced by RView.

Project K-Bar is about hitting all bars, not just great bars -- and the K-Bar final four event was all about a group rolling into unexpected places.  In that way, the Visions Lounge was fairly representative.  To be fair, our group of 20-some strange-looking people arrived en masse just as they were closing.  On the other hand, the fact that they were closing before midnight on a Friday night pretty much tells you everything you need to know about how interesting the bar is.

The main attraction of Vision Lounge is not a regular clientele of optimologists, but rather the large set of windows looking out from the 28th floors onto... well, not much.  You have a great view of I-5, and you can kinda see the Space Needle, and kinda see Elliot Bay between two buildings, and you can definitely see one of the less attractive angles of downtown buildings.  Columbia Tower Club it is not.  More realistically, given the boring decor, uninteresting drinks, and sorry reputation of the food, the main attraction is that you are staying in the hotel and don't have to walk all of a couple blocks to get to much better bars (poor tourists can be pitied that no one told them that Sip is just around the corner).

Nevertheless, with some heavy cajoling we convinced the grumpy bartender to stay open an extra 20 minutes to experience the dubious joy of being the 1,000th bar on Project K-Bar.  For pictures of the momentous event, plus the visits to bars #997, #998, and #999 and the bus ride in between, see here, and here and here, and (if you have a facebook account) here.


515 Madison St., Seattle, WA 98104 (28th floor of the Renaissance Hotel) - (206) 583-0300
marriott.com - thestranger - seattle met - yelp - citysearch
(Photos by Kym A. & Larry J.)

#999 - The Barrel Tavern, Burien, WA - 3/5/2010

Update: The Barrel Tavern closed in 2015, was briefly replaced by an Indian restaurant, then the building was razed in October 2018.

---

The Barrel is a semi-divey bar built in an old 1963 XXX Root Beer Drive-in in Top Hat, the neighborhood between Burien and White Center (there's a nice summary of the history in the B-TownBlog). So it's the big barrel facade that really grabs you.

The menu and drinks are the basics. The Barrel has blues nights and biker crowds, so I think our group arrived at one of its down moments, and I'm interested to see what the crowd is like when it is more full of regulars and less full of K-Bar not-so-secret agents. (Picture is a Larry J. photo of one of the regulars reacting to our group.)

The Barrel Tavern, Burien/White Center, WA
(Photo from whitecenternow.com)

Technical Note: Despite most places listing this with a Seattle address, it doesn't technically count as a Seattle bar, as my best efforts to place it relative to the crazy Seattle southern city limits line puts it a tad south of the city.









11051 1st Avenue S., Burien, WA 98168 - (206) 244-7390

Closed 2015 - Building constructed 1963

Previous bars in this location: None known
thebarreltavern.com - b-townblog - city-data - seattle weekly - yelp

#998 - Mac's Triangle Pub, Seattle - 3/5/2010

This is one of four "Triangles" I have been to in Seattle, along with the old Triangle Pub in Pioneer Square, the Ould Triangle in Greenwood, and the Triangle Tavern (sometimes "Triangle Lounge") in Fremont, now closed.

This Triangle was the highlight of the of the K-Bar final four event.  The space is nice, the bartender was great, the patrons were varied and having a highly entertaining karaoke night.  (You can see a video of one of our party singing -- after another member getting serenaded for an ersatz birthday -- here).  The Triangle is also the only bar I can remember ever visiting that has a dedicated Men's Room (i.e. not unisex bathroom) that does not a have a urinal.

(Larry J. photo)
9454 Delridge Way SW., Seattle, WA 98106 - (206) 763-0714
facebook - seattle weekly - yelp - urbanspoon

#997 - Tug Tavern, Seattle - 3/5/2010

Update: The Tug Inn closed in July 2020. The following explanation was posted on their facebook page:

"Hal never owned the property. The property owner sold the land way back before COVID, but at the time it looked like they would be happy to extend a new lease for the tug while they got everything in order for at least a few years. They were going to use the field behidn the building as an HQ for their plumbing company once they got it built out. What happened next is that it turns out the permitting and construction costs on that would be waaayyyy more than expected. Because of that, they terminated teh least so that they will be able to use the tub building itself. Viola, no more tug." -- Danielle Northart, July 25, 2020

---

"The Tug has been known as a dive bar that is full of violent and crazy drunks.  This reputation is entirely false."  -- The Tug web site

As some of the yelpers make clear (and by all rights should have known, before going there and complaining), if you don't like dive bars, don't go to Uncle Hal's Tug Tavern. I do like dive bars, and while it's hard to judge a bar when you're rolling in with an unexpected party of 20-some people in black spy-wear, this one seemed like a pretty good one. There are the ramshackle personal touches -- a brown couch facing a corner, an R-rated puzzle on the wall, and a picket-fenced patio extending into the parking lot -- and there were colorful regulars.

The entourage of people in black was due to this being the first stop on the bus to celebrate the final four bars of the count to 1,000. Said one regular, who was on the phone as we arrived, "I've got to go. The Blues Brothers just came in."   (Larry J. photo)

2216 SW Orchard St., Seattle, WA 98106 - (206) 768-8852
yelp - seattle weekly - the stranger - flickr/mural

#996 - Hard Rock Cafe, Seattle - 3/4/2010

Being a Hard Rock Cafe, this place is primarily yuppie-ish 20-year-olds mingling among artifacts of the rock icons of 50-year-olds.  There is, of course, the nod to famous locals -- Hendrix, Cobain, etc. --

and among this stuff you'll actually find some items less than 50 years old.  The wood decor and lights are pleasant, the staff were all unusually nice, the bar is serviceable, and the food is fairly good.  It also looks like they're trying to book some bands that are a little more hip than Top Forty homages on the walls (with the friends of the band standing out sharply from the preppy regulars) .  It's not the sort of place I'll go often, but if you react to the term "guitar god" with reverence rather than rolling your eyes, you'll enjoy it.


116 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 204-2233
hardrock.com - yelp

#995 - Still Liquor, Seattle - 3/2/2010

Still Liquor follows the speakeasy fashion, but does so in a simple, timeless way. The large space feels fairly isolated, despite it's Capitol Hill location, thanks to the space in the old, half underground BMW paint shop, down a narrow alley, and a minimalist but elegant treatment.  Just one subtle sign tells you you're there -- no blaring neon giveaways from liquor and beer companies give away the dark windows -- Still has the self confidence to present an exterior that no one would ever find if they weren't looking for it.  And the cocktails are artful without being flamboyant -- you'll want to work your way through the entire menu of special drinks.

P.S. Has anyone EVER had a bad cocktail with muddled cucumber?

1524 Minor Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 467-4075
stillliquor.com - the stranger - yelp

#994 - The Bar, Seattle - 2/25/2010

"The Bar," an extension of Olympia Pizza that recently opened in the old Sonic Boom space next door, adds another good choice to a great little bar strip that includes Liberty and 22 Doors just a few steps away.  In addition to some pretty good cocktails, The Bar features the beautiful, old, Austrian Mahogany bar from the J&M Cafe, sure to be one of the oldest (physical) bars in Seattle (shipped to U.S. in the 1890s).

516 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
yelp