#1571 #S931 - Outwest, Seattle - 10/4/2011

This is West Seattle's only gay bar -- the first since Guppy's West was in the space of the current A Terrible Beauty in the early 90s.  Given a fairly substantial LGBTQ population in the neighborhood, that may be enough to sustain the business, and perhaps the crowd and age will add some character as time goes by.  Right now it is a fairly bland, boxy space with mediocre drinks.


5401 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136 - (206) 937-1540
Est. Aug 11, 2011 - Building constructed: 1925
outwestbar.com - westseattleherald - westseattleblog - sgn.org - yelp

#1570 #S930 - Pan Africa Grill, Seattle - 10/4/2011

Update: Pan Africa Grill closed March 7, 2013

As a bar, this is not much -- at least at the early date I visited.  And since this is a bar blog, I can't recommend it as a bar. But if I were reviewing restaurants this would would be one of my top three in West Seattle and in my top 20 for all of Seattle.  They have a very tasty rotation of entrees from different regions of Africa each month, along with dishes from owner Mulugeta “Mulu” Abate's native Ethiopia.

5905 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136 - (206) 971-0698
Est. Sep. 27, 2011 - Closed March 7, 2013 - Building constructed: 1926
Other bars at this location:  None known (previously Ho-win Chinese, unknown whether this had a bar; subsequently Chopstix 
panafricagrill.com - facebook - westseattleherald - westseattleblog - westseattleblog - thrillist - yelp

#1569 #S929 - Pritty Boys Family Pizzeria, Seattle - 10/3/2011

Update: Pritty Boys closed in August 2014

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This is a new, family-oriented pizza place from the owners of Branzino in the former Madrona location of Dulce Latin Bistro.  I had already had dinner when I stopped in, and was only interested in the bar -- which is not very good, overly bright, and suffers from being right across from the children's play area.  The pizza did not look like anything special to me.  However since I have subsequently learned that the chef is the same one who did the excellent pizzas at West Seattle's Phoenicia (and trained under Charles Wadpole, of Anchovies and Olives), so I definitely will be back to give the food a try.

It's probably a quite good option if you have young children with you.  You will not want to go there for the bar.

1430 34th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 257-1319
Est. May 26, 2011 - Building constructed: 1996 - Closed Aug 2014
prittypizza.com - seriouseats - eater - thrillist - yelp

#1568 #S928 - June, Seattle - 10/3/2011

Update:  June closed in Dec 2011

An upscale but casual bistro from Vuong and Tricia Loc, featuring Vietnamese-influenced French cuisine.

I had an Aaron's Cucumber cocktail, the prawns with green cocktail sauce, the burger (ground bacon and beef, Kurtwood Farms camembert, fries).

1423 34th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122-3300 - (206) 323-4000
Est. May 2010 - Building constructed: year
juneseattle.com - seattleweekly - seattleweekly - thestranger - seattletimes - seattlemag - yelp

#1567 #S927 - The Cactus (West Seattle), Seattle - 10/2/2011

The West Seattle version of this popular Mexican restaurant does not have quite the neighborhood feel of the Madison Park version, but it does have a location right on Alki looking across the beach to the water and large roll-up windows for great summertime seats.  The Mexican food and margaritas are both better than average, and the airy, modern building makes it a sort of loungey, modish counterpoint to the funky and fun Chupacabra up the road.

2820 Alki Ave SW Seattle, WA 98116-2788 - (206) 933-6000
Est. 2006 - Building constructed: 2003
cactusrestaurants.com - gayot - yelp

#1566 #S926 - Via Tribunali (Belltown), Seattle - 5/13/2011

Many of us will miss the dirty foam and neon sheep and the divey atmosphere of the back bar in the original Crocodile.  But the remodel included many things done right, including the dark and swanky Via Tribulani in the back portion.  This was Mike McConnell's fifth and most romantic of his AVPN-certified Neapolitan pizza restaurants, with a bar that seemed like a central point instead of squeezed in.  The most striking features where the very high-backed black vinyl seats and the gorgeous paintings of Mt. Vesuvius, emphasized with carefully positioned Rembrandt lighting.

 When it closed after approximately one year, Via Tribunali left the wood-fired pizza oven made from ash from Mt. Vesuvius and the mahogany bar to the owners of the Crocodile.  They continue to sell very similar pizza and fairly decent cocktails, though no longer under the volcano paintings.

2200 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 441-4618
Est. April 16, 2009 - Closed 2010 - Building constructed: 1924
facebook - seattlepi - hideousbelltown - foodbuzz - seattleweekly - seriouseats - cornichon - belltownpeople - yelp  - zagat 

#1565 #S925 - Emerald City Beer Co, Seattle - 10/1/2011

The Emerald City Beer Lab is a medium-sized tasting room for the microbrew that has moved into the historic old Rainier Brewery between Airport Way and I5. The new brewery is also lager focused, but create a variety of craft brews.  The "lab" is somewhat spare, consistent with the industrial setting, with a good sized bar, two taps, and a big screen television.  The owner and staff are casual and friendly.

The tasting room is most notable to long-time residents for its historic location.  Beer has been brewed here since 1883, and the large R from the Rainier days was a Seattle icon.  The current building was constructed by Kopp & Hemrich brewery in 1887 and has been the site of major brewing from then until 1999 (around the prohibition years) under the names Bayview Brewery, Sick's Seattle Brewing & Rainier. 

The Mountain Room  ran within the brewery from the 30's until 1999, hosting at times Jim Whitaker (the first American to climb Mt. Everest), Mickey Rooney, and the Seattle Rainiers  baseball team. The brewery and Mountain Room were closed in 1999 and "Rainier"  subsequently sold to Pabst and brewed by Miller.  In recent years, developers have converted portions of it into artists studios and rehearsal spaces.

3100 Airport Way S, Ste 8100, Seattle, WA 98134 - (206) 351-8250
Est. Aug 21, 2010 - Building constructed: 1887 (Historic Bay View / Rainier Brewery)
Other bars at this address:  La Cantina, The Mountain Room (1930s - 1999)
emeraldcitybeer.com - washingtonbeerblog - seattlepi -  king5 - seattlest - yelp