#1227 #741 Sonrisa, Seattle - 9/13/2010

Update: Sonrisa closed in mid-year 2013

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Again, I'm not particularly fond of bars in malls. But Sonrisa has substantially better than average Mexican food and the Magarita Die Infierno is very tasty.

2614 NE 46th St, Seattle, WA 98105 (U Village) - (206) 524-2242
Est. 2007 - Closed 2013
Previous bars in this location: None known
Subsequent bars in this location: Eureka
sonrisamodernmex.com - seattle weekly - the stranger - yelp

#1226 #740 Viola!, Seattle - 9/12/2010

2805 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112 - (206) 322-5460
Est. 2004 - Building constructed 1925
Previous bars in this location: None known
voilabistrot.com - seattlepi - seattle times - the stranger

#1225 #739 Luc, Seattle - 9/12/2010

Update: Luc to close Aug 28, 2021

Luc is the new, more casual (and less expensive) sister restaurant to Rover's, the James Beard award wining French restaurant from Thierry Rautureau ("the Chef in the Hat"), in a klatch of fancy schmancy French cafes in Madison Valley, of which Rover's is the fanciest schmanciest.  There are even James Beard references in the Luc mens' room graffiti.

Luc, named after the chef's father, was largely funded by selling advance gift cards (Rautureau says he got the idea from Barack Obama).  It is about evenly split between restaurant and bar portion.

I had a nice Manhattan with Punt e Mes in lieu of the regular rosso vermouth, and a fantastic salmon BLT sandwich that I wish was not a special so I could count on having it again.


2800 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112 - (206) 328-6645
thechefinthehat.com - seattlemagazine - seattle times - seattle met - seattle weekly - seattle weekly 2 - the stranger - citysearch - yelp

#1224 - Papa's Pub & Grill, White Center, WA - 9/11/2010

Update: Papa's closed on Feb 5, 2012

Papa's (formerly Brewsky's) is just a few doors down from the Locker Room, and at least on the night that I went, it had a much more diverse and likable crowd.  Like pretty much any really good dive bar, it had cheap drinks, a mix of ethnicities, lots of blue collar folk, and some cocky little old ladies.

9635 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106
the stranger

#1223 - The Locker Room, White Center, WA - 9/11/2010

Update: The locker room was seriously damaged by a fire on April 21, 2021. Before it was reopened, it was totally destroyed by a second fire -- apparently caused by discarded smoking material -- on the morning of Sep 13, 2021.

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White Center's "Locker Room" was included in Mike Seeley's 10 Most Intimidating Dive Bars in Seattle (presumably in the top 7 now, as three others have gone out of business in the past 6 months) and The Stranger calls it "feared by locals."  So what is it doing with a rack of Avon catalogs in the window?

On the Saturday night that I went the street was filled with police cars, but the drama was coming from elsewhere -- the liquor-less Evo dance club up the street seems to have been the source of all the excitement and police attention in recent months.

The Locker Room, on the other hand, just had a bunch of heavyset people singing karaoke.

Historical notes:  There was a bar in this building at least as far back as the 30s, with a beer parlor, Glen's Rendezvous, owned by Glen C. Stevens listed in the 1937 and 1939 city guides. It may go back near the end of prohibition, as the building was constructed in 1933. By 1960 it was the J&W Tavern (J&W Saloon by 1980) and by 1990 it was the Locker Room.

9633 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106-2828 9633 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106 - (206) 762-9805
Building constructed: 1933
Previous bars in this location: Glen's Rendezvoux, J&W Saloon/Tavern
seattle weekly - yelp

#1222 #738 - Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, Seattle - 9/10/2010

This is a fairly classic jazz club, featuring large paintings of various jazz players from the old Pete's Poop Deck.  You go here for the music, not the cocktails (which are pretty pedestrian).  It was started in the U District in 1979 in what was around the nadir for the jazz scene in Seattle -- a city that once had a rollicking after hours scene that featured 34 jazz nightclubs just along Jackson St between 1st and 14th Avenues, and the likes of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and Patti Bown bouncing from club to club.  The current Jazz Alley location is swankier than the previous one, with small tables, two levels, and a dinner option.  They tend to get the bigger names in the related genres, and they claim to now be the third longest running jazz bar/nightclub in the country.

2033 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 441-9729
jazzalley.com - myspace - seattle weekly - urbanspoon - yelp
For a good description of the history of Seattle's jazz/swing/bebop scene, see Paul de Barros's Jackson Street After Hours

#1221 #S738 - 35th Street Bistro, Seattle - 9/9/2010

Update: The 35th Street Bistro closed Nov. 29, 2012

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This is the French/European bistro in the old Still Life space, with a small separate bar room offering better than average cocktails and appetizers.  I had a Drunken Cherry Manhattan (Makers with cherry juice in lieu of bitters), and a 35th Street Martini (vodka muddled with fresh seasonal fruit and simple syrup) and liked them both.

709 N. 35th St., Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 547-9850
Est. 2004 - Building constructed 1909 - Closed Nov 2012
35bistro.com - yelp