#2351 - The Bottleneck, Vancouver, BC - 11/28/2013

A swanky little lounge, serving fancy small plates and cocktails, recently carved out of a space for storing furniture in the venerable Commodore Ballroom, which itself has been around since 1929 and hosted acts from Duke Ellington to Nirvana (insidevancouver).

870 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2C9 - (604) 739-4540
Est. May 2012
Web site: thebottleneck.ca - facebook
Reviews: vancouversun - insidevancouver - vancouverisawesome - yelp - urbanspoon

#2350 - The Morrissey, Vancouver, BC - 11/28/2013

An odd but pleasant combination of old hotel bar, alt music venue, shabby chic hipster hangout, and craft cocktail bar. I had a nice "Betty Monster" (Makers, Ramazzoti Amaro, Bittered Sling Moondog Bitters, Ardbeg Mist, Griottine cherry) and we enjoyed chatting with server Sashina.

1227 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1M5 - (604) 682-0909
Building constructed: 1906
Web site: themorrisseypub.com - facebook
Reviews: miss604 - yelp - tripadvisor - urbanspoon

#2349 - Two Parrots Perch & Grill, Vancouver, BC - 11/28/2013

A college bar sort of atmosphere, where the cocktails are mostly of the cloyingly sweet sorority party, but the staff is friendly and the crowd is fun, and if you are so inclined you can take the 2-pound burger challenge.

1202 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1M4 - (604) 685-9657
Web site: twoparrotsvancouver.com - facebook
Reviews: followmefoodie - yelp - dinehere

#2348 - Baselines Pub, Langley, BC - 11/28/2013

An oddly shaped but fairly typical sports bar, where multiple friendly people told us how much they love the Seahawks. Unfortunately we were not there for the monthly "lingerie lunch."

20340 Fraser Hwy, Langley, BC V3A 4E6 - (604) 534-2102
Est. Dec 2005
Web site: baselinespub.com

#2347 - Sazon, Bellevue, WA - 11/26/2013

The people at Sazon Mexican Kitchen seem nice, but it just seems like a slightly improved version of the utterly predictable, Azteca-style American Mexican restaurants and bars.

437 108th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 - (425) 462-2530
Est. 2013 - Building constructed: 1943
Previous bars in this location: Las Margaritas
Web site: sazonmexicankitchen.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon - downtownbellevue

#2346 #S1191 - Grog, Seattle - 11/24/2013

It would be difficult for me to not like a bar named "Grog," and it becomes even more unlikely when they have a skull in their logo and actually serve grog.

Grog is the backroom bar behind the Ballard Annex Oyster House, which formerly housed the apothecary bar of Fu Kun Wu (and its purported opium den downstairs). Before that it housed the Ballard News printing presses. The new places are the work of Zak Melang and Nathan Opper, the two people best known for the Matador chain. Most of Melang and Opper's places are instantly packed with people, but Grog is a little different. It is marketed largely as an event space and the first evening I dropped by for a cocktail the space was reserved for an art class.

The drinks too were quite different, embracing east Asian and maritime themes, and offering real grog (rum mixed with water and other flavors) and other cocktails served communally in hot teapots. I have heard that sine that time they have changed to the more common cocktail menu (and containers) used by the Oyster House bar, so it could be that this experiment is over? Obviously a return visit is in order.

5410 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 783-5410
Est. Nov 15, 2013 - Building constructed: 1908
Previous bars in this location: Fu Kun Wu
Web site: ballardannex.com
Articles ranked: seattleweekly - seattletimes - seattlemet - eatinseattle - yelp - eater - urbanspoon - tripadvisor - thestranger

#2345 #S1190 - Lamplighter Public House, Seattle - 11/24/2013

May still be temporarily closed due to electrical fire in Jan 2015.

The Sundown Tavern was apparently located on three of the four corners at this intersection, including the former laundromat building which would eventually become Sweet Lou's and now the Lamplighter Public House. New ownership assumed control in June of 2013 and would seem to want to gentrify the joint a bit. In addition to general cleanin and fixin and good beer addin, they've created patio seating out front. It's gotten less divey with each ownership iteration, and it's now a fairly typical neighborhood bar, owned by the Stedman family who also run the Magnolia Village Pub and now the more Bellevue-ish Normandy Park Ale House. I'm confident that most the neighbors like it better this way, though I have a weak spot for the divey old version with aged patrons and bartender.


820 NW 85th St, Seattle, WA 98117 - 820 NW 85th St
Est. Nov 19, 2013 - Building constructed: 1953
Previous bars in this location: Sundown Tavern/Saloon, Sweet Lou's
Web site: lamplighterseattle.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon