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Bars where Pete has had a Drink (5,729 bars; 1,754 bars in Seattle) - Click titles below for Lists:
Bars where Pete has had a drink
Friday, December 13, 2002
Saturday, May 04, 2002
The Baranof, Seattle (Greenwood) - 5/4/2002
The Baranof, Seattle, WA The bartender in the right foreground is Dotti, who also bartended at the Rendezvous and the 74th Street Tavern. "She was a legend" |
Marie's Cafe and the Greenwood Room (Photo courtesy of Gerald Nielsen) |
Today, the Baranof bartenders are diverse in gender and age, whereas several years ago they seemed to be exclusively elderly women (I once heard a patron explaining to one what goes in a Martini). Since replacing the Bill Murray style cover acts with karaoke, the Baranof is much more populated by younger people and hipsters, which may compromise the pure divey-ness, but add a different element of fun. The Baranof remains a classic old school diner in front, and one of the city's best dive bars, as well as one of its more popular karaoke destinations.
Here are a few anecdotes about the Greenwood Room and early Baranof that I've collected from folks who worked there and/or drank there:
The fellow to my right is Doug. Doug claims to have been hired and fired by the Baranof 29 times over the past 30 years (starting when it was still Marie's). |
"I worked at Greenwood Safeway across the street, graveyard shift, and we all got off work at 7am and would head over to the Greenwood Bar in Marie’s that had a line up at 7am to open the bar, and the dance floor was busy by 8am. I was only 21 then, but it was blast from the past." -- Michael Messer
It "became Baranof when Richard Newby bought it." -- Pat Simon
Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Sunday, December 17, 2000
Saturday, October 28, 2000
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
Friday, July 21, 2000
Sunday, December 05, 1999
The Rickshaw - 12/5/1999
Ground zero for Seattle karaoke and the greatest cross-section of Americana outside of a David Lynch film.
322 North 105th Street Seattle, WA 98133 - (206) 789-0120
Est. July 7, 1976 - Building constructed 1950
web site: therickshaw.net - facebook
reviews: thestranger - surlygourmand - thestranger - yelp
Est. July 7, 1976 - Building constructed 1950
web site: therickshaw.net - facebook
reviews: thestranger - surlygourmand - thestranger - yelp
Sunday, October 31, 1999
Monday, May 10, 1999
Friday, January 01, 1982
The Java Jive - Tacoma (Nalley Valley) - 1982
For the most part, the Java Jive has retained it's glorious divey greatness from the mid-50s and 60s, when Bob Radonich purchased the Coffee Pot Restaurant and turned it into a bar and jungle-themed restaurant. It's still a great ramshackle, neon-spray-painted wonderland, and a fine place to catch a punk-ish band on the weekend, or just have a beer and share stories with the regulars. But when I was first taken there in 1982, it was even more grand, with live chimpanzees "Java" and "Jive" living in the back bar, and "Maestro Bobby Floyd" manning the keyboards.
Floyd seemed to play mostly 70s television themes, mixed in with Beatles covers and local high school fight songs. He played with a sort of rocking motion, and on this night was accompanied by the drummer "Steve and his Sexy Sticks," who would sometimes sing the guitar parts of the songs. When Bobby took a break between sets, he dine on spaghetti with fried onion rings mixed in.
Mary, the friend who first took me there, was underage, but had been there many times before, and assured us she would have no problem getting in. As the waitress went around our table, getting to Mary last, Mary simply told her, "You already checked mine," and the waitress walked off satisfied.
The Jive is nestled in the "Nalley Valley" industrial area of Tacoma, approx. 50 miles from Seattle. The restaurant was built in 1927, and purchased by Bob in 1955 and converted into a music club. It is said to have been a speakeasy at some point before that. Before they made in big, The Wailers played there several times, and The Ventures played as basically the house band. Harold Lloyd, Clara Bow, and Bing Crosby are all said to have hung out there during the early years.
The Jive narrowly escaped a fire in 1998, and when inspectors found a load of code violations in 2007 and the Jive was threatened with closure, neighbors and contractors volunteered to do the work necessary to keep the doors open.
It is just an epic bar.
2102 South Tacoma Way Tacoma, WA 98409 - (253) 475-9843
Est. 1955 - Building constructed: 1927
facebook - map - Roadside America - strangebuildings - myspace - yelp - flickr
Floyd seemed to play mostly 70s television themes, mixed in with Beatles covers and local high school fight songs. He played with a sort of rocking motion, and on this night was accompanied by the drummer "Steve and his Sexy Sticks," who would sometimes sing the guitar parts of the songs. When Bobby took a break between sets, he dine on spaghetti with fried onion rings mixed in.
Mary, the friend who first took me there, was underage, but had been there many times before, and assured us she would have no problem getting in. As the waitress went around our table, getting to Mary last, Mary simply told her, "You already checked mine," and the waitress walked off satisfied.
The Jive is nestled in the "Nalley Valley" industrial area of Tacoma, approx. 50 miles from Seattle. The restaurant was built in 1927, and purchased by Bob in 1955 and converted into a music club. It is said to have been a speakeasy at some point before that. Before they made in big, The Wailers played there several times, and The Ventures played as basically the house band. Harold Lloyd, Clara Bow, and Bing Crosby are all said to have hung out there during the early years.
The Jive narrowly escaped a fire in 1998, and when inspectors found a load of code violations in 2007 and the Jive was threatened with closure, neighbors and contractors volunteered to do the work necessary to keep the doors open.
It is just an epic bar.
Est. 1955 - Building constructed: 1927
facebook - map - Roadside America - strangebuildings - myspace - yelp - flickr
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