#2152 #S1143 - Pie Bar, Seattle - 5/2/2013

Cocktails, good beers, delicious made-from-scratch pies, and the owners are twin sisters and two of the most charming human beings you could hope to meet. If this tiny place isn't regularly packed, there is something horribly wrong with humanity.

Alyssa Lewis was the owner of Seattle Pie Company, and her sister Natalie was a long-time bartender and bar manager in Arizona (who was previously married to a baseball player in the Seattle Mariners system). They grew up in tiny Gold Bar and reunited to create a new business together after their father passed away. In addition to the small number of spaces outside, they sell pies through a window, where they will also set pies to cool and seduce customers. They now appear to be readying to expand to a second location in Ballard.

1361 E Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 300-1100
Est. May 1, 2013 - Building constructed: 1994
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: piebarseattle.com - facebook
Articles ranked: capitolhillseattle - king5 - thrillist - citylivingseattle - seattlemet - sweettoothinseattle - seattlemag - eater - thestranger - yelp

#2151 #S1142 - Frolik, Seattle - 4/30/2013

Despite being better hidden than most speakeasies in town, the word eventually gets out that there is a rare, large, rooftop lounge space on the 5th floor of the downtown Seattle Red Lion. Now the space has been re-made into Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails, which has added some vegas-y decor and attracts even more of the d-bag element that you might expect from that. But nevertheless this is the best bar space in the downtown area to enjoy the select sunny day. They've upgraded both their food and cocktail games, added a ping pong table, shuffleboard, and fireplaces. But you'll probably only think to go there on sunny days -- and so will everyone else, so get there early.

1415 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 (Red Lion) - (206) 971-8010
Est. April 19, 2013 - Building constructed: 1973
Previous bars in this location: Red Lion Terrace Garden
Web site: seattleredlionfifthavenue.com - facebook
Article ranking: seattletimes - thrillist - cornichon - bizjournals - heedthehedonist - thestranger - eater - sunset - seattlemet - thedailymeal - worldsbestbars - dailycandy - girlpowerhour - yelp

#2150 #S1141 - Wine Tea Chocolate, Seattle - 4/28/2013

Wine Tea Chocolate was refashioned into Barrel Thief in July 2013.  While the people there were nice and I could enjoy a glass of wine and light food items, it was a little precious for my tastes, and did not really seem to have me in its target demographic -- or my gender, for that matter.

3417 Evanston Ave N, Ste 102, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 402-5492
Est. Sep 2012 - Closed July 2013 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None
Reviews: seattlemet - seattleite - thrillist - urbanspoon

#2149 #S1140 - The Sixgill, Seattle - 4/28/2013

Update: Sixgill closed April 15, 2017

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The Sixgill starts out considerably handicapped for my tastes as it is located on the ground floor of some box-ish condos that are the antithesis of what has made Fremont an attractive neighborhood. The owners (Ellen Kelly and Rick Weersing of Ballard's Noble Fir) compensate for this with a nautical theme, a lot of nice wood and books, but it still feels more like downtown Bellevue than Fremont.

But I could not complain about the drinks and food. While there is still a beer emphasis here (36 rotating taps), this place adds some very nice cocktails and food selections by Eric Stover (Ocho, Tom Douglas). I had a nice Old Sharkey (rye, green Chartreuese, Apernol and grapefruit bitters) with the house Negroni (Punt e Mes, Averna and Four Roses bourbon -- which is their well!).  I also enjoy the Steakwich (flank steak, smoked mozzarella, garlicky kale, chimichuri) and Little Fingerling Potato Skins (goat cheese fondue, bacon salt).

It's enough to bring me back in now and then despite the regrettable setting, as the boring back portion of gentrification continues to squeeze old Fremont.

3417 Evanston Ave N, #104, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 466-2846
Est. April 24, 2013 - Closed April 15, 2017 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: thesixgill.com - facebook
Articles ranked: thrillist - seattlebeernews - seattlemet - sunset - thestranger - eater - yelp

#2148 #S1139 - Tonga Lounge, Seattle - 4/27/2013

This is a small place with a slapdash polynesian theme with decor that, for all I could tell, could have all been assembled from a Hallmark store in the ten minutes before I got there. But in addition to the two balloon monkeys and a couple posters hung with push pins, they do actually have a list of tiki drinks -- although not the sort that anyone much over 21 years old would likely drink. Along with the jello shots and candy flavored liquors they feature some reasonable looking juices and smoothies, DJs, and after hours dancing for 18 and over.

4209 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105 - (206) 632-1111
Est. 2013 - Building constructed: 1923
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: tongalounge.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2147 #S1138 - Yard House, Seattle - 4/25/2013

While places that look like this and stock a huge number of beers on tap is now a much copied trend, I suppose one has to at least give owner Steele Platt (yes, that's his name) credit for being ahead of that curve. Platt and partners started the Yard House chain in Long Beach, CA in 1996. The downtown Seattle instance has 119 different beers on tap (250 available in the original location) and a menu with 100+ food items covering a wide range of pub food based on various regions.  So if you can't manage to find a beer and some food you would enjoy here, there's something very wrong with you.

On the other hand, having a beer in one of these places is like having a drink in a Cheesecake Factory. If you care nothing about the setting where you go to drink -- or if you're happy with a formulaic, chain-like feel of a typical shopping mall for a setting, where even the art seems to scream mass production -- then you can definitely find dining and beer drinking happiness at Yard House.  But if the decor and vibe of a drinking place matter to you, and you value a bit of personality and interesting people over having a hundred beers to choose from, a trip to the Yard House -- like any number of places exactly like it in any sizable American city these days -- may make you may wonder what the point is.

1501 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 682-2087
Est. Feb 10, 2013 - Building constructed: 1985
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: yardhouse.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - thestranger - yelp

#2146 #S1137 - Anchors Down, Seattle - 4/24/2013

Anchors Down wants to be a marine working class sort of bar, and they did a nice job implementing the nautical theme with port hole windows, an early 1900s bar, reclaimed wood, old rope, globes, and ship wheels. The appetizers and house cocktails are not particularly appealing to me, so whether this becomes a bar I go to repeatedly will depend primarily on the crowd it attracts, and the vibe that creates. The bar is owned by a couple of managers from Laura Olson's places, Amy Graeff (Grim's) and Cristo Williams (Auto Battery), with Olson as a silent partner. Anchors customers can order fancy hot dogs from Olson's Po Dog next door, which are delivered through a window between the places. The building is old (1906) and said to have once housed a mortuary, so I look forward to the inevitable ghost stories of the staff.

2016 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA - (206) 915-2852
Est. June 21, 2013 - Building constructed: 1906
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: thrillist - eater - myballard - seattlemag - yelp - seattlemet - thestranger