#1088 - Raven & Finch, Ilwaco WA - 5/2/2010

Raven & Finch is a very pleasant little wine bar with a patio looking out onto the Port of Ilwaco.  It has light food items, cigars, wine to go, mahjong on Thursdays and jazz every Saturday night, year-round.

It's especially welcoming on a blustery night in the off-season, when the tourists are few and the joint seems more out in the middle of nowhere.

(more pictures)

215 Howerton Way, Ilwaco, WA 98624 - (360) 642-7009
ravenandfinchwine.com - yelp

#1087 - Pioneer Tavern, Long Beach WA - 4/30/2010

This place is along the main highway on the Long Beach peninsula and I've passed by it many times and never been particularly tempted to go in.  But when I finally did I found the best cast of characters of any of the peninsula's bars and the nicest people of any bar in -- well, pretty much anywhere.

It's a fairly typical neighborhood bar, with a card room for Texas Hold'em and Cribbage nights (it also has a weekly "chick flick night," though chicks were a very distinct minority, and chicks below 60-years-old).  It has tavern sorts of food, and both the bartender and the assembled drinkers were cheerful and wry.

102 Pioneer Rd E, Long Beach, WA 98631 - (360) 642-2302
yelp

#1086 - Charlie's Sports Bar, Montesano WA - 4/29/2010

From the hand-painted sign out front to the Nascar promotional stuff in the windows, to the cracking paint of the VFW hall that surrounds it, nothing about Charlie's prepares you for the bar you'll find inside. I refer not to the business, but to the physical bar itself, a huge, antique, mahogany Brunswick-Balke-Collender bar that runs for 20-some feet along the back wall of the surprisingly large barroom.

Tara the bartender informed me that the bar was shipped to the west coast and its current location "some time between 1910 and 1913," and the location had been a saloon for at least a few years before that. A sign painted on the VFW hall now in the adjoining section of the building states that it was constructed in 1910 for James E. Crass, features 12" concrete walls, and has housed the Crass Tavern, Brook Saloon, a theater for 30 years, a bowling alley, doctor's office, barber shop, Golden Rule store, Smoke Shop Tavern and the VFW.

My limited records for Montesano from city guides show "Sib's Smoke Shop" at this address in the late 70s and early 80s, and "Jim's Smoke Shop" here in 1994. It also shows "The Smoke Shop" at 317 Main, which I would seem to be the 3rd portion of the building that was razed and is now a parking lot, from at least 1935 through 1970. (The 1941 Polk guide list The Smoke Shop under Cigars, but not under Beer Parlors.) City guides also list "The Brook" on Main Street under saloons in 1911. A plaque near the top of the center portion of the bar states that it was patented in 1903.

The back of this photo is lableled "Approx 1917," which
would place it during state-wide prohibition, hence a
smoke shop, but not a (licensed) saloon at the time.
(Note the Brunswick bar on the left.)

Current online listings refer to the bar as both "Charlie's Tavern" and "Charlie's Cavern," but "Charlie's Sports Bar" is what the signs out front say and which Tara confirmed was the current name.

We stopped again in Charlie's on Oct 28, 2018 to wet our whistles and get some better photos of the bar. The folks there were really friendly, and I'd recommend it to anyone passing through the area, including folks from Seattle heading to the Long Beach peninsula as we often do.


(Montesano was named the 3rd "Most Redneck City in Washington" by roadsnacks.net.)

313 S. Main St., Montesano, WA 98563                              
Est. ? - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars in this location: Crass Tavern*, Brook Saloon*, Smoke Shop Tavern*, Sib's Smoke Shop, Jim's Smoke Shop
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

*In the same building but, probably not the same section as the current Charlie's

#1085 - The Honeycomb Room, Montesano WA - 4/29/2010

There's nothing really remarkable about the Honeycomb Room other than it's name, which is in keeping with the Bee Hive Restaurant, which surrounds it. But it is a sort of classic lounge attached to a classic little diner, which stresses its pie and would be at home in Twin Peaks if it didn't press the theme a little too far. The lounge wsa built in 1971, but the building and the "Bee Hive" date back to 1940.

The Bee Hive comes with its own little, laminated newsletter, with ads for local businesses, jokes, and advice. "Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little stringy things out of it," the newsletter explains, then adds "That's how primates do it."

zevents - yelp
300 S Main St Montesano, WA 98563 - 360-249-4131

#1084 #S641 - Chungees Eat 'N Drink, Seattle - 4/28/2010

Chungee's Drink N Eat is a small Chinese restaurant with a tiny bar a bit off the beaten commercial paths of Capitol Hill. If you don't have a project to hit every bar in Seattle, I'm not sure why you'd ever choose the Chungee's bar over the other neighborhood options, but there's room for about 9 or 10 people to do so.

1830 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 323-1673
chungees.com - seattlemet - the stranger - yelp

#1083 #S640 - Mars Bar, Seattle - 4/28/2010

The Mars Bar (adjacent to and associated with Cafe Venus) is a nifty to bar with some cool and friendly bartenders and a likable and interesting set of customers, in what I think (?) was the location of the old rough and tumble punk bar "The Storeroom."  An off-duty bartender suggested I try a Corpse Reviver #2, and helped round up ingredients for the prohibition era cocktail (3/4 ounce gin, 3/4 ounce Cointreau, 3/4 ounce Lillet blanc, 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice, and 2 dashes absinthe). 

It was a tasty thing indeed, and the food (which they serve until 10pm) was really, really good as well.  And note for the future:  Pints of Manny's are just 2 bucks on Wednesday nights.

609 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 624-4516
cafevenus.com - the stranger - yelp - seattle weekly

#1082 #S639 - Amber, Seattle - (OOO)

I somehow forgot to include this back when I first went there, and frankly, I'm just as happy to forget all about it.  The title of their web page is "Seattle's Premier Restaurant, Lounge, and Bar."  I don't know if this was meant as a joke, but it's chilling to just imagine a city where this might have been true.  On the other hand, if you're a fellow who likes to dress up in your untucked, blue-striped white dress shirt and go out on the town with a pack of friends who are all wearning untucked, blue-striped white dress shirts, hoping the product in your hair will clarify what an individual you are, then this may be a nice place for you.

2214 1st Ave., Seattle, WA 98121
amberseattle.com - yelp