#2163 #S1148 - The Lodge, Seattle - 5/12/2013

This version of Kirkland's "The Lodge Sports Grille" sits near the city's stadiums and can be a nice place to catch a game or, if you have tickets, a pre-game drink or meal. It really depends on the event and the crowd size, but the tons of pretty cedar and fir and the large stone fireplace can provide a nice little respite from city hub-bub (not to mention the thoroughly unpleasant "Tiki Bob's" which preceded them in this space). They serve a pretty broad, standard set of contemporary sports pub food (burgers, steaks, flatbreads, salads, etc.) and have a good selection of 70 beers on tap.

166 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 538-0000
Est. May 9, 2013 - Building constructed: 1907
Previous bars in this location: Tiki Bob's Cantina
Web site: thelodgesportsgrille.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - taplister - thestranger

#2162 #S1147 - Lost Lake Cafe and Lounge, Seattle - 5/11/2013

Like the "instant dives" that various places are trying to create today, Lost Lake is an attempt to create an instantly old diner, along the lines of the venerable 5 Point, which one of the Lost Lake owners purchased in 2009, with a twist of Twin Peaks style small town mid-century diner. They serve food for 24 hours and booze for almost 24 hours (the lounge closes at 2am and re-opens at 6am). It is owned by Dave Meinert (5 Point) and Jason Lajeunesse (Neumos, Big Mario's), and promises the stiffest drinks on Capitol Hill. As if to get a head start on a dissolute edginess, it was constructed in the former location of a gay bathhouse, and it collected a lot of hype when a self righteous Google Glass user was refused service unless he removed them, commencing an online war of overwrought words.

It is a pretty place -- a bit too pretty and too new to have the sort of soul of the places that served as its models -- but it also fills its chosen niche nicely. Seattle has only a handful of 24-hour restaurants, and it is a near perfect venue and comfort food menu for a stop after closing down some of the bars and clubs on the Capitol Hill. Everything points to financial success and a long, successful run serving local hipsters. But one gets the sense that it will never feel genuine unless it also draws in a small but faithful crowd of grizzled, elderly regulars, like every one of the great old places that it imitates.

1505 10th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 323-5678
Est. May 8, 2013 - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: lostlakecafe.com - facebook
Articles ranked: seattletimes - capitolhillseattle - seattlemet - thrillist - seattlemag - thestranger - eater - yelp

#2161 - Marianna Ristoraunte, Renton, WA - 5/7/2013

"Beware Sal" says a sign in the bar. "Sal" is Salvatore Lembo, a partner in Marianna, and the person who trained primary owner Santiago Potenciano. Lembo, from Sicily, owns a winery in Tuscany and for two decades ran Firenze Ristorante Italiano in Bellevue. Potenciano, from Mexico, learned the trade starting as a busboy, learning Italian wine and food from Lembo and then travels to Italy. Potenciano then opened his own place, Vino Ristorante Italiano, in Renton. Marianna is basically an expansion of that place.

The northern Italian menu looks very good, but I only had time for a cocktail after dinner elsewhere in town. The bar is not particularly remarkable, and the restaurant is the focus here.

I learned about Lembo and Potenciano only after my visit here, but my curiosity was piqued by the "Beware Sal" sign. "He's tri-polar," the bartender explained. "But what would Italian food be without that passion?" Then he answered his own question, disdainfully concluding "It would be French food."

310 Wells Ave S, Renton, WA 98057 - (425) 271-7042
Est. Jan 2013
Web site: vinorestorante.com - facebook
Reviews: rentonreporter - yelp - urbanspoon

#2160 - Uncle Mo's Snappy Inn, Renton, WA - 5/7/2013

The Snappy Tavern has been in this address since at least the 1940s, although the current building dates back to 1954. Maurice "Uncle Mo" Leclech has owned it for many years now, and remodeled and expanded the place into Uncle Mo's Snappy Inn. It is now a fairly typical suburban neighborhood bar, with pull tabs, karaoke, jello shots, and cheap drinks.

321 Williams Ave S, Renton, WA 98057 - (425) 917-3130
Web site: facebook
Reviews: thepicaroon - yelp - seattletimes - patch

#2159 - Melrose Grill, Renton, WA - 5/7/2013

The Melrose is one of the very oldest bars in Washington state. It was constructed and opened in 1901 with a saloon in the same first floor location as today. Ben Atkinson was the owner then, building the saloon and cafe, and a 60 room hotel on the two floors above with his earnings from gold panning in the Yukon. When Washington state enacted state-wide prohibition in 1916, until federal prohibition was overturned, the lower Melrose served as a pool hall and card room. In 1928 a fire destroyed the top two floors, but the saloon and original back bar were saved and remain intact today. In 1972 the Melrose was sold to well-known local celebrity boxer  Boone Kirkman, who added a boxing ring to the bar.

The current owners took possession and reopened the Melrose Tavern as the Melrose Grill on Jan 13, 2002. It is now a nice steakhouse, slightly upscale but very reasonably priced, with the original back bar still intact and various old photos of the place.

819 Houser Way S, Renton, WA 98057 - (425) 254-0759
Est. 1901 - Building constructed: 1901
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site:  melrosegrill.com - facebook
Reviews: examiner - rentonreporter - theblackberrychronicles - yelp

#2158 #S1146 - Gastropod, Seattle - 5/7/2013

Update: Gastropod closed on Sep 11, 2015

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After Cody Morris opened a tiny brewery in December, 2008, expanding to a tiny tasting room in December 2010, he joined with chef Travis Kukull (Elemental, Tilikum Place) to expand from tiny to small, and regularly pair Kukull's imaginative food sections with Cody's adventurous brews. Here in the 1920s KR Trigger Building Sodo warehouse, I had the tasty Petit Tender Steak, which was prepared sous-vide and presented with a rhubarb steak sauce and Comte cheese scalloped potatoes, and while I forgot to note the beer, Cody's concoctions are always enjoyable and different from beers I've ever had before.

The menu changes weekly, and to give you an idea of the range, here are just a few of the recent choices:

• Sake kasu skate wing Kim Chee butter cauliflower
• Hawaiian pizza okonomiyaki
• Baby artichoke, wood sorrel, nicoise olive, Meyer lemon yogurt salad
• Nettle pasta, nettle pesto, morels, fiddle heads, salmon berry blossoms
• Rabbit-liver mousse profiteroles served with lemony French sorrel and sweet maple syrup
• Watermelon gazpacho served with roasted corn salsa
• Japanese sweet potato and green garlic soup with fried rice noodles and a wasabi and vinegar foam

3201 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134 - (206) 403-1228
Est. March 24, 2013 - Building constructed: 1923
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: gastropodsodo.com - facebook
Articles ranked: thestranger - gastrolust - seattletimes - foodspotting - ratebeer - whatsthesoup - seattlemag - seattlemet - vinewoman - thrillist - thestranger - yelp

#2157 - Bad Monkey Bar and Grill, Kent, WA - 5/5/2013

Yes, it was a double monkey bar kind of night. Unfortunately, once you get past the sign, any apparent uniqueness of this place ends, and it is indistinguishable from a thousand other suburban bars across the country.


623 Central Ave S, Kent, WA 98032 - (253) 859-4800
Building constructed: 1948
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp