#1123 #S671 - Daniels (Lake Union), Seattle - 5/31/2010

I generally don't have high expectations for bars in steakhouses, but I extended my visit at Daniels Lake Union beyond the planned quick lunch.  This was thanks to some great conversation with customer Tim, the bartender Nick, and the fact that Daniels, like many upscale restaurants over the past 2 to 3 years, have seriously upgraded their game in cocktails.

809 Fairview Place N, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 621-8262
schwartzbros.com - seattle times - the stranger - yelp - seattle pi

#1122 #S670 - Carmelita, Seattle - 5/30/2010

Update: Carmelita has announced they will close after Sep 29, 2013.

If I made every decision based on the morality of the situation, of course I would not waste money on selfish indulgences like cocktails and this list would not exist.  Fortunately for the project, I'm not that moral, and for similar reasons, I am not a vegetarian.  I can't dispute the ethical superiority of being one, I'm just a little too selfish to give up the great joy of burned animal flesh.

This is why I'd never been to Carmelita, the very popular vegetarian restaurant in my neighborhood.  I thought about it many times, but it would just never win out when right across the street at the 74th St. Ale House I could get a juicy salmon sandwich or one of the best soups of the day in the city, often containing little treats like Cascioppo Brothers chorizo or strips sliced from the thigh of some chicken who probably never did anybody any harm.

And while I knew Carmelita served some of their own invented cocktails, I didn't even know if they had a bar, so until this day I never even bothered to stop in for a drink.  That, from a purely selfish point of view, was a big mistake.

Carmelita serves some really good cocktails.  They're neck and neck with Oliver's Twist and Stumbling Goat for the best in the neighborhood.  The Seattle Times called them one of the best happy hour in the north end and The Stranger called them "Seattle's highest-minded vegetarian restaurant," and those both appear to be on the money.  The cocktail menu includes seasonal ingredients in several tasty options, but I went for the "Mr. Carmelita" (Rye, Punt e Mes, Amaro Nonino, Angostura bitters – served up), and it was excellent (it appears to be the bartender's favorite as well, though not as popular with the customers as some of the other options).

So as long as I remain immoral enough to spend a portion of my money on  luxuries like cocktails while other people in the world are suffering, I'm planning on going to Carmelita with much more regularity.

7314 Greenwood Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103-5042 - (206) 706-7703‎
carmelita.net - seattle times - seattle pi - seattle weekly - seattle magazine - the stranger - yelp

#1121 #S669 - Tarasco, Seattle - 5/30/2010

Tarasco is one of those restaurant / bars that pops up unexpectedly in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  It is nominally Mexican -- with orange and yellow walls and a couple sombreros hanging from one wall.

And it has some fairly cool signage with a martini glass brand on the flank or replacing the eye of a Bull.  But as a bar -- or as a personality -- there's just not a lot of there there.

seattle weekly - yelp
1452 NW 70th St, Seattle, WA 98117 - (206) 782-1485

#1120 #S668 - Heads or Tails, Seattle - 5/29/2010

Update: Heads or Tails closed Jan 1, 2017.

This place has upgraded from a trash heap to a typical suburban dive.  Its previous incarnation, as the "Lazy Fish Saloon," was depressing in almost every way.  There were stacks of plywood and trash leaning against the interior walls, and 2 or 3 drunks from Aurora Ave leaning toward a fight.  Even the name was a bit shabby and dishonest -- there was a basically a foot-long fish in a two-foot-long tank:  You try being anything but "lazy" being confined in such a space.

The location is said to have hosted bars going back to 1934, although tax records date the building back to 1955, and three people were murdered here in 1994 when it was the "Far Western Pub and Grill."

The new place has cleaned up considerably, adding a back porch area (although granted, this was mainly for the smokers) and the standard dive ingredients -- diner type food, pulltabs, karaoke, and fliers for the local social clubs and semi-pro sports teams ("Seattle Stallions Football," "Ballard Elks Car Show," "9 Ways to Destroy Your Eagles Aerie").  The result seems to be a substantially larger crowd -- and I mean that in more ways than just a higher number of people. At least they must think the food is pretty dang good.

Mind you, all this doesn't mean that you still don't find the occasional dead body in the parking lot ...

12534 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133 - (206) 440-3288
facebook
yelp
Previous bars at this location:  Herb's Tavern (60s to 80s), Baluga's Tavern (80s), Rex Pub & Grill (90s), Far Western Pub (mid 90s), Ima's Smokehouse Pub (1995), Bitter Lake Pub (2000s), Dawg Tagz (2000s), Lazy Fish Saloon

#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