#2352 - The Lamplighter, Vancouver, BC - 11/29/2013

Gastown's Lamplighter is said to be Vancouver's oldest bar, established in 1925 on the ground floor of the 1902 Dominion Hotel:

"In 1925, the Lamplighter, which received Vancouver’s first pub license, took over the ground floor. The pub is called the Lamplighter after John Clough, who was Vancouver’s one and only lamplighter. In 1887 John used to light the coal oil street lamps of Gastown until the same year the city introduced electric lights and John’s nightly patrols became part of history. The Lamplighter was the first establishment to serve ladies with ‘intoxicating refreshment’- although they were supposed to be escorted by men!" (gastown.org) 

Today the Lamplighter is a fairly typical north American Irish bar, with exposed brick, dark wood, televisions for watching sports, a broad selection of beers, and average modern pub food. Naturally, like every 100-year-old building investigated by ghost hunters as long as ghost hunting has existed, it has been found to be haunted. In terms of the more palpable form of spirits, I quite liked the "Sip of Cigar" cocktail (Winer's spiced whiskey, Glenlivet 12 year single malt, sweet vermouth, Angostura orange bitters, orange zest).

92 Water Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2K8 - (604) 687-4424
Est. 1925 - Building constructed: 1900 - 1901
Web site: donnellygroup.ca/the-lamplighter - facebook
Reviews: vancitybuzz - gastown.org - urbanspoon - yelp

#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