#1657 #S980 - Claire's Pantry, Seattle - 12/26/2011

Pretty much exactly what you would expect for a lounge in a place named "Claire's Pantry" -- including a median age of about 68.

12360 Lake City Way Northeast Seattle, WA 98125-5447 - (206) 365-4542

Previous bars in this location: None known
Building constructed: 1972
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#1656 #S979 - Polpetta, Seattle - 12/24/2011

 Polpetta was briefly the last of three incarnations of this Italian restaurant from Sicilian "Mama Enza" Sorrentino, before exiting due to price raises by the landlord. The Polpetta version focused on a less formal cuisine, emphasis on meatballs, and like the others had a small bar stocked primarily with wine.

2128 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 694-0055
Est. 2011 - Closed Dec 31, 2011
Previous bars in this location: Sorrentino Trattoria, Enza Cucina Siciliana
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#1655 #S978 - MacLeod's Scottish Pub, Seattle - 12/23/2011

This seems like exactly the bar this space has been waiting for, and it already feels like this bar must have been here for 50 years.  The eccentric, triangular, brick structure -- a bit too elegant for the instant dive bar attempted by Harlow's -- is matched by a cozy, informally elegant interior.  They feature 50 types of whiskey with an emphasis on rare single-malt Scotch, and serve some generally high quality cocktails (I had a fine Red Hook -- rye, Punt e Mes, Luxardo Maraschino).

The bar is owned and run by Scotsman Allen Macleod, with "silent partners" Deming Maclise and James Weimann (owners of Bastille).

Historical notes:  A plaque outside the bar created by the Ballard Historical Society notes that Stephano Raggio originally built his as a three-story building featuring a crenellated turret, but the 3rd level was destroyed by fire and removed.  It was the Junction Building and originally housed the Junction Saloon on the ground floor.  The upper floors, originally business offices, were later converted to apartments.  I have found no other bars located in the building until Harlow's opened in Dec. 2010.

5200 Ballard Ave, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 687-7115
Est. 2011 - Building constructed: 1904
Previous bars in this location: The Junction Saloon, Harlow's Saloon
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#1654 #S977 - Volume, Seattle - 12/23/2011

Update: Volume closed May 3, 2015. The space subsequently hosted another club called "Stage."

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Volume is a new ultra lounge style nightclub, which means the standard sort of techno and hiphop music, VIP sections, and women with heels as long as their skirts.  It is a very young and primarily Asian crowd, and owned by the former owner of Aura.  The drinks are exactly what you would predict based on this.  But while the current club may be fairly unremarkable, it is located in what is probably the most storied bar space in Seattle, previous home of the Catwalk, the Casino, and the People's Theater.

Volume nightclub, Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA

The basement space is a remaining portion of the People's Theater, constructed in 1890, and the most notorious of Seattle's 19th century "box houses."  In these saloons with card rooms and theaters, women performers would serve drinks in between their stage acts, and if a patron was feeling particularly generous, the women would accompany them to curtained off boxes for more personalized services.  The People's Theater was eventually run by John Considine (AKA "Boss Sport"), who would battle it out for Seattle's theater and gambling audiences with such rivals as Alexander Pantages and Wyatt Earp (yes, THAT Wyatt Earp, who owned the Union Club on the next block).  He also battled Seattle Chief of Police William L. Meredith, a feud that culminated in a shootout in a drug store on 2nd and Yesler that left Meredith dead.

Considine would go on to establish theaters across the west and midwest, create the first popularly-priced vaudeville chain in the world*, co-found the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, and eventually move to Los Angeles and produce movies.  His lasting legacy to the Seattle bar and nightclub world was his leading role in establishing Seattle's "Tolerance Policy," a well-established system for paying off the police, which lasted through the 1960s.  It was this very tolerance policy that in the 1930s would allow the old People's Theater space to become the most famous open place for gay people on the west coast.

In 1930, Joseph Bellotti purchased the space, with John and Margaret Delevitti operating it, and it soon became a nationally known club for gays, unofficially known as "Madame Peabody's Dancing Academy for Young Ladies." With Delevitti paying off the police, men could dance openly with other men at The Casino (an impossibility in most other cities) and drag queens could remain largely unharrassed.  The Casino and the Double Header upstairs, which remains to this day, would attract gay visitors and various celebrities from around the country, including the likes of Rudolph Nureyev, Johnny Ray, Margot Fonteyn, and Tallulah Bankhead. The unrestrained Ms. Bankhead is cited by historical sources as entering the upper bar with her retinue, ringing a cow bell, and shouting to the assembled queens, "Avon calling all you beautiful motherf***ers!" To this day the cow bell remains hanging on the wall of the Double Header (which has a fairly compelling argument for being the oldest continually running gay bar in the United States).

Before it became the rather formulaic 21st century dance clubs Heaven and then Volume, the space also hosted The Catwalk from 1994 to 2005.  The Catwalk brought a modernized edge to the place's bawdy history, hosting various S&M and gothic events, as well as fetish fashion shows.

172 S Washington, Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 467-1828
Est. Oct. 29, 2010 - Building constructed: 1890
Previous bars in this location: People's Theater, The Casino, The Catwalk, Heaven
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*Murray Morgan, "Skid Road", 1995 p149

#1653 #S976 - Underground Asian Fusion Bistro, Seattle - 12/23/2011

About 6 months ago the friendly Korean owner of the pan-Asian restaurant upstairs moved his business into the former space of Marcus's Martini Heaven, in a basement space of the old Yesler Building, constructed right after the Great Seattle Fire.  The current owner can advise on sake and has various ideas for getting building up the bar, but at this point he could very much use the help of someone like Marcus Charles on how to attract a night-time crowd.

88 Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 326-4800
Est. 2011 - Building constructed: 1890-1893
Previous bars in this location: Marcus's Martini Heaven
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#1652 #S975 - Lalibela, Seattle - 12/23/2011

This Ethiopian restaurant has a tiny little lounge with a tiny selection of drinks.

2800 E Cherry St #A, Seattle, WA 98122-5007 - (206) 322-8565
Building constructed: 1954
Previous bars in this location: None known
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#1651 #S974 - Ras Dashen, Seattle - 12/23/2011

Ras Dashen is one of 5 Ethiopian restaurants within 1 block of Cherry and Martin Luther King Blvd.  From the web site, "There are several Ethiopian choices at the intersection of East Cherry Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, but Ras-Dashen distinguishes itself with friendly service and an atmosphere spruced up courtesy of colorful woven baskets and massive jugs."

It is a large restaurant with a small bar, in a long building that feels like a manufactured home and used to be a church.  The restaurant has been open for about 5 years, and has a slightly formal but also comfortable neighborhood feel.  The food is quite good, and I much enjoyed the Meat Combo (Beef Tips, Gored Gored, Kitfo, Quanta Fir Fir, and Qey Wot).  The bar, well, not so much.  The woman working the bar while I was there convincingly debunked the theory that you can't really mess up a Gin & Tonic.  But they do appear to feature a very strong pour for a low price, and on weekends they turn into a nightclub (perhaps with slightly more experienced bartenders).

2801 East Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 709-7626
Est. 2006 - Building constructed: 1960
Previous bars in this location: None known
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