#951 - LTD Bar & Grill, Seattle - 11/30/2009

While other new and remodeled bars in the area seem to desire to help preserve Fremont's unique character (Sinners and Saints, 9 Million), the LTD is having none of that. Buy a standard selection of liquors, put a few beers on tap, slap TVs all over the place and tune them to sports and bingo! You've got another bar entirely devoid of character which would be at home in any godforsaken strip mall in the country.

The food, though from a pretty typical bar food menu, was ample and better than average. This was particularly gratifying because I had so much time for my hunger to mount while waiting for service. The web site offers the features "Long Shuffleboard Table, Pool, GoldenTee 2010, and an insane Jukebox." Maybe I've been spoiled by so many great new bars in town, but when one of your top four attractions is a golf video game, I'm not likely to be back often.

309 N. 36th Street, Seattle - (206) 632-7876
ltdbarandgrill.com - facebook - yelp

#950 - Sip, Seattle (downtown) - 11/23/2009

Update: Sip closed March 31, 2012

Sip is a swanky new (opened 11/20/09) wine bar and restaurant in the shadow of the downtown public library, following locations in Issaquah and Gig Harbor. This Sip has a very nice looking patio with a sizable stretch of grass that looks like it will be fairly irresistible when Summer arrives, and several comfortable couches and soft lighting to support its "casual but elegant" style.

It features some fairly interesting cocktails, though they were not quite as well mixed as the best cocktail bars in town, a large wine selection of course, and good food (executive chef Cody Reaves). I like the bathroom sinks -- one set for both genders just outside the bathrooms themselves. The tony decor of the interior is consistent to every last touch with the exception of a curious selection of paintings that look like they would be more at home in a Señor Frog's. Perhaps the owner's nephew is a struggling artist, whose work in anthropomorphized olives at bars has yet to be fully appreciated.

909 5th Ave., Seattle, WA 98164
siprestaurant.com - eric rivera - psbj - the stranger - yelp

#949 - Chopstix, Seattle - 11/21/2009

Update: Chopstix was renamed Keys on Main in March 2012.


A night at Chopstix is like watching two extremely homely people feverishly making out on the bus -- you'd rather not have to witness it, but at the same time can't help feeling a little happy that at least they found someone, seemingly against all odds. The place is packed, and with what seem to be all home-schooled kids getting drunk for the first time. Thus the dumb sex allusions by the piano players are all simply HEE-LARIOUS (OMG! OMG! I can't believe he said that!), and then the night turns absolutely AWESOME when they launch into a muddled piano version of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer"!

The cocktail menu is unrelentingly awful and appears to be designed by teenage girls. It bizzarely finished in the Top 5 of King TV's Best Cocktails, which must be seen as a tribute to the power of organized sorority members. (BTW, when I asked for a cocktail menu, it took the bartender a while to find one, and I had to promise to return it because it was the bar's only copy.)

I'm happy that all these people can find a bar that's safe and boring enough for them to feel like part of the party. But if you've been going to bars for more than six months and don't belong to a sorority, this is not the bar for you. On the other hand, if you love good bars, good cocktails, and good music, then Chopstix is like a night of being waterboarded.

11 Roy St., Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 270-4444
Building constructed: 1918
chopstixpianobar.com - yelp

#948 - Toulouse Petit, Seattle - 11/21/2009

It's not often that a menu has credits for woodworkers, metal artists, and glass blowers, but the owners of Peso's are justifiably proud of this very attractive, French Quarter style restaurant next door. They also rattle off some of the stats: 712 panes of glass in the windows and doors, 85,000 Italian mosaic tiles in the floor, 40,000 glass tiles in the booth platforms, and 10,000 board feet of hardwood. (My favorite touch is the long, gently bending lamp hooks.) Other numbers I witnessed include about 200 wine choices, 40 vodkas, and around 120 votive candles sparkling on the walls.

The menu is massive and comes with a large wine list and a very large menu of modestly discounted Happy Hour items (4:00-5:30 and 10pm-close). Both my food and my cocktails were very good. Toulouse staff include chef Eric Donnelly, from Sazerac and Oceanaire, and bartenders Shing Chen, from Ovio Bistro and Wild Ginger, and Miles Thomas, from Tavern Law. It is loud -- though not as loud as Peso's, and seems to play the same sort of rock music as Peso's, which seems a bit at odds with the romantic decor. Overall it is a lovely place for dinner and/or drinks, particularly when it is dark outside.

Try the: Katie Mae

601 Queen Anne Ave N., Seattle, WA 98119 - (206) 432-9069

yelp - seattle weekly - seattle magazine - seattlest

#947 - Ascada Bistro, Seattle - 11/21/2009

The former "Perche No" location now houses a small, meat market sort of nightclub, where hapless bartenders try in vain to keep up with drink orders and telephoning credit card bills via a slow, little machine. The drinks are nothing special, but it is a fairly happening little scene, particularly if you like soul/R&B, and it does have a bunch of genuine Jimi Hendrix gold records on the wall.

621 1/2 Queen Anne Ave., Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 282-1018
yelp - citysearch - seattle pi

#946 - Lowell's, Seattle - 11/18/2009

Another honest, old place in the market (next door to the Athenian), with great views of the sound and a pleasant handful of regulars at the bar. The Lowell's location opened in 1908 as the first of Manning's Cafeterias, which eventually expanded to 40 restaurants in 9 states, including the 1964 googie architecture Ballard building (the "Taj Mahal of Ballard") that later became Denny's on 15th and Market. The Pike Place Market location became Lowell's in 1957.

Overheard "And he's been getting shitfaced by closing every day since 1974."

Try the: Seattle 75

1519 Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 622-2036
eatatlowells.com - the stranger - the stranger 2- citysearch - yelp - urban spoon

#945 - Castaways, Long Beach, WA - 11/12/2009

208 Pacific Ave S., Long Beach, WA 98631 - (360) 642-4745
castawaysseafoodgrille.com - yelp - yahoo - urban spoon