#2667 #S1294 - Himalayan Sherpa House, Seattle - 12/5/2014

Himalayan Sherpa House, Tangletown, Seattle, WA

Update: Himalayan Sherpa House closed Aug 15, 2021.

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If you drive around Seattle, perhaps letting friends and events take you from one area to the next, you'll discover a lot of distinct neighborhoods, but it is very unlikely that you'll discover "Tangletown." In addition to being off the beaten path from any one well known area to another, the surrounding streets are all cattywampus, as the roads angling off the curves of Greenlake intersect with the neat grid platted north/south and a third section of angular streets that looks like it was pasted over the top the others in some kindergarten project.

But if you do stumble upon the "microhood" where Wallingford meets Greenlake, you know there's a small cache of bars and restaurants that make it well worth firing up your Google Maps. This brief commercial stretch of 55th/56th Street has a cozy, decades old dive (Leny's), an abstrusely named, upscale restaurant from one of Seattle's most famous chefs (mkt.), a Japanese dessert bakery (Hiroki), a top notch craft beer bar (Burgundian), a brew pub, a donut shop, and a hot dog shop -- and once hosted Seattle's best tiki bar. Now you can add to that a Nepalese/Tibetan/Indian restaurant named "Himalayan Sherpa House" not simply because of the evocative description but because their family name is actually "Sherpa."

Tangletown neighborhood, near in Greenlake

The vibe is elegant and intimate, and the food and cocktails were quite pleasant.The small bar across from the white tablecloths has a limited by nice selection of wines, cocktails, and beers including a house brew that thew worked on with Boundary Bay.

2227 N 56th St, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 633-3538               
Est. Nov 9, 2014 - Building constructed: 1928
Previous bars in this location: Eva, Brie and Bordeaux
Web site: himalayansherpahouse.com - facebook
Reviews: seattlegreenlaker - eater - wallyhood - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2666 #S1293 - Spaghetti Western, Seattle - 12/3/2014

Update: Spaghetti Western closed in March 2015

I very much liked La Bete, owner, chef and CIA graduate Aleks Demitrijevic's previous restaurant in this location. So I approached Spaghetti Western with mixed feelings, including curiosity, as usual when a placed that is always packed when I try to get in suddenly closes. And that's not to mention the odd combination of BBQ with specialized Italian pasta dishes. In addition to indulging his interest in smoked meats, Demitrijevic seems to be aiming at driving more business out of the limited space -- for which the rent increased 33% in his 4 years there -- by delivering something more conducive to take-out. Preview articles have also noted an increase emphasis on cocktails, so who's complaining?

Spaghetti Bolognese at Spaghetti Western, Seattle, WA

I've lost my notes on my cocktail from this visit but I remember remember enjoying it. For food I enjoyed the spaghetti this time, although a glance at the patters of BBQ coming out of the kitchen made me revise this plan for the next visit. It seems like another swell joint in this space.

1802 Bellevue Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 329-4047
Est. Nov 11, 2014 - Closed March 29, 2015 - Building constructed: 1925
Previous bars in this location: La Bete, Chez Gaudy
Web site: facebook
Articles ranked: capitolhillseattle - seattlemet - capitolhillseattle - eater - yelp - thrillist - tripadvisor 

#2665 #S1292 - Good Bar, Seattle - 12/1/2014

"Good Bar," in the historic Furuya Building, Seattle

You had me at Sloppy Joe. But in addition to their upgraded take on that school lunch favorite, some folks from Marination Mai Kai serve a very nice selection of craft cocktails from a historic building in Pioneer Square, remodeled in fine congress with that history. The stone building know as the Pacific Commerical Building or Furuya Building was constructed in 1899-1990 and first housed the Seattle substation of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company. Soon after that it housed the main store of the M. Furuya Company, "the largest Japanese-owned commercial enterprise on the Pacific coast." It grew from two to five stories in 1905, and in 1907 hosted the Japanese Commercial Bank, later to evolve  into the Pacific Commercial Bank.

Furuyama's businesses collapses in the wake if the Great Depression, with the Pacific Commercial Bank folding in 1931. The retail business was susequently reorganized under the ownership of some employees, who moved it 1941 just before losing the business entirely a year later as they were forced into the infamous internment camps.

The top two floors, lost in the 1949 earthquake, were restored in 2013. The Good Bar owners have preserved the old vaults and much of the decor, adding a white marble bar and small kitchen that serves patrons on the ground floor and a surrounding balcony above. The have a television tucked away for some sort of special occasions, but I have never seen it on. Why they chose a name bound to confuse people is not clear to me, but my cocktails were first rate and the Sloppy Joe lived up to its reputation --  highly recommended if you go.

240 Second Avenue S., Seattle, WA - 206-624-2337
Est. Nov 22, 2014 - Building constructed: 1900
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: goodbarseattle.com - facebook
Articles ranked: eater - seattletimes - seattlemag - theinfatuation - eater - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist

#2664 #S1291 - Maekawa Bar, Seattle - 11/29/2014

Update: The Maekawa Bar closed in 2017.

The Maekawa Bar is an odd little space on the second floor of the associtead Ft. St. George restaurant. On the second floor you feel like you are sitting in the kitchen. I was here for a birthday drink or two with some friends so I did not sample the izakaya, but that had a range of Japanese beers, saki and schochu.

601 S King St, Ste 206, Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 622-0634
Est. 2003 - Closed 2017 - Building constructed: 1993
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook 
Reviews: thestranger - thestranger - seattleweekly - yelp - tripadvisor  

#2663 #S1290 - The Westy Sports and Spirits, Seattle - 11/27/2014

The Westy, West Seattle

For some time I've been looking for my go-to sports bar -- something with plenty of fans during big games, but not a mad-house where you can't find a seat; something comfortable but not coldly modern; something where the bartenders chat with you and where the food is a cut above typical bar food. I think I may have found that in The Westy (with an even more convenient option when they expanded to a second location in north Seattle). The food is mainly upgraded versions of comfort dishes, including chicken and waffles, buttermilk chicken sandwich, braised pork belly, and seared broccoli. You can get a good cocktail (although, as usual, you want to stay away from the sugary specials and themed concoctions), and they have 13 taps of good craft beer. There are plenty of flatscreen TVs in the interior of recovered wood and Edison bulbs. The one down side of watching the Seahawks game is that they are one of those places with different cable/satellite providers, and we had to humorously try to ignore the reactions of the people sitting around the one TV that was several seconds ahead of all the others (eventually that one was snapped off).

7908 35th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98126 - (206)937-8977               
Est. Nov 26, 2014 - Building constructed: 1956
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: thewestyseattle.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - theculturetrip - zagat - yelp

#2662 - Roy Tavern, Roy, WA - 11/23/2014

Roy Tavern, Roy, WA

I know very little about the history of this bar, but the building seems to date back to 1985, and if it wasn't the Roy Tavern from that date, it was by the late 90s. Today it is a rural dive bar, with a sign out front that had "tavern" covered up with "pub and eatery" and later the latter covered up as well. It is a small place with rural dive staples like pull tabs, pool, and flavored vodkas, along with country western touches like the false front and photos of local rodeo champions inside.

106 McNaught Rd S, Roy, WA 98580 - (253) 843-2680               
Building constructed: 1985
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: bikerfriendlybars - yelp

#2661 - Powder Keg Bar and Grill, Tenino, WA - 11/23/2014

Update: The Powder Keg closed in late 2015 or early 2016, and was replaced by the Old Highway 99 Company.

The Powder Keg, Tenino, WA (closed)

The Powder Keg in opened in 1995 when Jules Grele purchased and renamed the J&M Mining Company bar on Old Highway 99 just north of Tenino. Grele had previously owned the 4th Ave Tav in Olympia, and he ran the Powder Keg until he passed away in early 2012. There's not a lot remarkable about the place from the inside. The food looks like fairly standard pub food -- burgers, steaks, salads, pasta, seafood, sandwiches -- and the beer choices are fairly good. So it's the other people there that will probably determine your bar experience here, and it's clearly popular with bikers which is usually a good sign. We were also here to watch the Seahawks game, and though there weren't a lot of people there, we enjoyed exuberant fans Yvonne and Dina, who were making a lot of noise from "the cheap seats" behind us -- including a lot of yelling back and forth between the two of them and the guy everybody here calls "Jimmy the Bastard." I'm sure it's rocking a lot more on a Friday or Saturday night, but it was also an enjoyable stop on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

12743 Old Hwy 99 SE, Tenino, WA 98589 - (360) 264-5076               
Est. 1995 - Building constructed: 1975
Previous bars in this location: J&M Mining Co.
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor