#1652 #S975 - Lalibela, Seattle - 12/23/2011

This Ethiopian restaurant has a tiny little lounge with a tiny selection of drinks.

2800 E Cherry St #A, Seattle, WA 98122-5007 - (206) 322-8565
Building constructed: 1954
Previous bars in this location: None known
urbanspoon - yelp - seattletimes - voiceplaces  

#1651 #S974 - Ras Dashen, Seattle - 12/23/2011

Ras Dashen is one of 5 Ethiopian restaurants within 1 block of Cherry and Martin Luther King Blvd.  From the web site, "There are several Ethiopian choices at the intersection of East Cherry Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, but Ras-Dashen distinguishes itself with friendly service and an atmosphere spruced up courtesy of colorful woven baskets and massive jugs."

It is a large restaurant with a small bar, in a long building that feels like a manufactured home and used to be a church.  The restaurant has been open for about 5 years, and has a slightly formal but also comfortable neighborhood feel.  The food is quite good, and I much enjoyed the Meat Combo (Beef Tips, Gored Gored, Kitfo, Quanta Fir Fir, and Qey Wot).  The bar, well, not so much.  The woman working the bar while I was there convincingly debunked the theory that you can't really mess up a Gin & Tonic.  But they do appear to feature a very strong pour for a low price, and on weekends they turn into a nightclub (perhaps with slightly more experienced bartenders).

2801 East Cherry St, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 709-7626
Est. 2006 - Building constructed: 1960
Previous bars in this location: None known
rasdashenseattle.com - seattleweekly - centraldistrictnews - seattletimes - yelp - urbanspoon

#1650 #S973 - The Royal Room, Seattle - 12/19/2011

The Royal Room is a bar built around music, and features local artists in a 99 seat room with no cover charge Thursdays through Mondays. Tuesdays and Wednesdays feature touring national performers. They have some decent bar food and some fairly good cocktails (try "The King," a rye Manhattan).  It is owned by Seattle jazz musician Wayne Horvitz, along with Tia Matthies and Steve Freeborn of the OK Hotel, the Rendezvous, and others.


The bar space is carved out the Royal Esquire Club, the premier black social club in the Pacific Northwest.  The Royal Esquire Club was established in 1948 and moved to 5016 Rainier Ave S in 1986.  They continue to host various community based civic and social events.

5000 Rainier Ave South, Seattle, WA 98118 - (206) 906-9920
Est. Dec 16, 2011 - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars in this location: Los Pancho's Cantina, Rainier Inn/Tavern, La Esquina
theroyalroomseattle.com - facebook - seattleweekly - seattletimes - yelp

#1649 #S972 - The Sexton, Seattle - 12/17/2011

 Good southern style small plates and excellent cocktails by Marley Tomic-Beard (Spur, Bathtub Gin, Golden Beetle).

5327 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 829-8645
Est. Dec 11, 2011 - Building constructed: 1906
Previous bars at this location: Madame K's Pizza Bistro
sextonseattle.com - facebook - thrillist - seattlemet - seattleweekly - eater - seattletimes - DList - thestranger - urbanspoon - yelp

#1648 #S971 - iMusic, Seattle - 12/17/2011

This two-floored space across from the street from the Space Needle and EMP has hosted a rotating number of dance clubs (Tropix, Polly Esther, Element, Level 5). For an idea of vibe and decor of the current iMusic incarnation, you could pretty much check out any other cookie cutter, VIP section, pink and purple lighting, bouncer pat-down, velvet rope line, oontz oontz dance club anywhere. And for an understanding of the crowd you can check out this Ted Talk. The nuanced differences in these clubs -- the ethnic balance, random differences in poorly made drinks, which nights there are and are not shootings outside -- are less related to the actual club than the arbitrary set of attendees on any given night.


332 5th Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
Est. Dec 31, 2010 - Building constructed: 1929
Previous bars at this location: Tropix Cafe, Polly Esther, Level 5, Element
imusicseattle.com - facebook - yelp

#1647 #S970 - Two Beers Tasting Room, Seattle - 12/17/2011

You have to know what you're doing to find the Two Beers Tasting Room -- it's off the beaten track and not open every day (currently 3-8pm Wed-Fri and 12-4pm Sat).  But it's worthwhile and people do find it -- it was larger and more full then I expected around the Saturday lunch hour.  The service and atmosphere are friendly, the beer is quite good -- I'm adding Evolutionary IPA ("Evo") to my personal list of favorites -- including a fresh hop option, and the seats are at a beautiful wood bar and tables.

4700 Ohio Ave S, Seattle, Washington 98134 - (206) 762-0490
Est. Nov 12, 2011 (Tasting room, brewery established 2007) - Building constructed: 1942
twobeersbrewery.com - hoppytrailsbeernews - heedthehedonist - seattlest - beernews - havegrowler - seattlemet - yelp

#1646 #S969n - Kiss Cafe, Seattle - 12/16/2011

 Kiss Cafe is a funky little place in Ballard that caters to beer lovers.  The "KISS" is said to stand for "Keep It Simple, Suckas,"and they maintain this in a comfortable, small space.  It has pretty good sandwiches and soups, and they're usually served with a jar of dill pickles.  It also has choice of over 100 beers in bottles, and a wall full of custom beer bugs owned by the Ballard Drinking Team, a group of regulars who are working through 100 different beers.

2817 NW Market St, Seattle, WA 98107-4215 - (206) 789-5477
Est. 2007 - Building constructed: 1946 
ballardkisscafe.com - seattledining - seattletimes - seattleweekly - thestranger - yelp