#1892 #S1067 - Essex, Seattle - 9/8/2012

Try the: Moab


I don't think you'll get your very favorite cocktails at Essex, but what you will get are very good cocktails and very different cocktails -- lots of home-made ingredients and tastes that you have never quite had before. I most enjoyed the Moab (Reposado, red pepper, pickled chile brine, lemon, salt, pepper) and the H.M.S. Theodore Roosevelt (Voyager gin, Extra Special Orange (house version of Grand Marnier), Campari, sparkling wine).  We also tried the Red Medicine (house aged rye, Delancey fernet, Rachel's Ginger Beer, rhubarb) and the George Brown (Gin, wood-roasted peach, citrus, Meyer's float), which were also interesting but not quite as good as the aforementioned.

Jordan our bartender was very friendly and happy to discuss the place and their cocktails. It is owned by Brandon Pettit and Molly Wizenberg of the adjacent, excellent pizza joint Delancey, assisted by bar manager Gary Abts (Licorous, La Bete). It has a nice, homey feel with damask wall paper featuring sperm whale silhouettes, and a small, pleasant patio out front. Along the top shelf you can see bottle after bottle of bitters and infusions, promising any number of interesting concoctions in the future. It has some very nice cheeses and small plates (though if I were there really hungry I would definitely just save the room for a Delancey pizza and Jersey Salad).


All around, it is the sort of place you want to come back to often.

1421 NW 70th St, Seattle, WA 98117 - (206) 838-1960               
Est. Aug 15, 2012 - Building constructed: 1926  
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: essexbarseattle.com - facebook
Best Reviews: link - seriouseats - meandmrpants - thestranger - seattlemag - seattlemet - thrillist - yelp

#1891 #S1066 - El Quetzal Bar, Seattle - 9/8/2011

The quetzal is a colorful bird that was sacred to ancient Mesoamericans, and the national bird and name of the currency in Guatemala. El Quetzal on Beacon Hill is a bar / gallery from Almendra Sandoval, with a lot of art (much of it erotic) and apparently quite hopping on weekend evenings (gangster rap was lingering from the previous night). It's a very cool, little space and serves some fairly good magaritas.  You can also order some fairly good Mexico City-style street food from the restaurant portion next door.

3209 Beacon Avenue South Seattle, WA 98144 - (206) 329-2970
Est. Jan 29, 2012 - Building constructed: 1927
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - thestranger - urbanspoon - yelp - tripadvisor   

#1890 #S1065 - Ambassel Restaurant, Seattle - 9/7/2011

Ambassel is a good Ethiopian restaurant with a small bar that serves very basic drinks and a web site that is a marvel of animated gifts, scrolling text, jumbled frames, and other circa 1996 web design. Some of the staff's understanding of American accents is imperfect so you may need to take care (e.g. the bartender heard our request for "menus" as "Manny's").


1224 East Jefferson Street Seattle, WA 98122 (206) 860-7074
Previous bars in this location: Simon's Place (70s)
Building constructed 1909
Web site: ambasselethiopianrestaurant.com - facebook     
Reviews: yelp

#1889 #S1064 - Zobel Restaurant, Seattle - 9/7/2011

Zobel ("gathering place" in Amharic), is one of a large number of Ethiopian restaurants in this part of the Central District of Seattle. It was created in 2003 by Enana Kassa, who immigrated from Ethiopia in 1983 and eventually established the smaller Blue Nile in the same area. The food is good and the bar is casual and just the basics.

1219 East Jefferson Street Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 323-1408
Est. 2003 - Building constructed: 1949
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: zobelrestaurant.com - facebook  
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon

#1888 #S1063 - Kickin Boot Whiskey Kitchen, Seattle - 9/6/2011

Kickin Boot Whiskey Kitchen, Seattle, WA

Update: Kickin Boot closed in October 2017

Try the:  Dark Sparrow

Kickin Boot Whiskey Kitchen is large and instantly popular, and people like to criticize big, popular places. But I'm a fan. The Matador guys (Zak Melang and Nathan Opper) have done a great job of remodeling the 1927 Henry Whyte warehouse, which once hosted Ballard Millwork, Union Wines, and then Olsen Furniture. The place is large, rustic and industrial. It is very pretty, but also rather corporate -- you won't find charming little shabby and personal touches, no items from childhood or inherited from Uncle Hank. In that sense it seems a bit out of place in Ballard and even Seattle -- it immediately feels more like a place in Dallas or Scottsdale.

Nevertheless it is a beautiful setting, and a fine alternative, I believe, to the more hole in the wall sorts of BBQ joints which pepper the Ballard area. The BBQ and choice of 5 sauces at your table are not knock your socks of good, but they are quite adequate. And the cocktails are more than adequate. The horse shoe shaped bar is the center of attention, backed by a giant triangle of whiskey in the large back window. The emphasis, as the name says, is on whiskey, and they have flights for tasting and whiskey (Buffalo Trace) on tap.

Kicking Boot Whiskey Kitchen, Seattle, 

Some BBQ purists may resent that it's an attraction as much or more for socializing and its large patio as it is for its smoked meats or sauces. But I see it as a fine bar and dinner alternative.

5309 22nd Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 783-2668
Est. Aug 16, 2012 - Building constructed: 1927
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: kickinboot.com - facebook  
Best Reviews: seattleweekly - thestranger - seattletimes - myballard - building history - seattlemet - seattlemag - thestranger - yelp

#1887 #S1062 - Cafe 56, Seattle - 9/5/2012

Update: Elliot's Seafood Cafe changed its name to Cafe 56 in early 2013.

Update: Cafe 56 is now closed

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This is a nice little casual option, particularly on sunny days at the waterfront, to the more formal main restaurant at Elliott's, and I suppose tourists and oyster lovers will enjoy the sidewalk oyster bar. But I shall miss humble Steamer's, where guys who looked like they could have been cooking on some old ship for 40 years pulled hunks of salmon and corn on the cob from under smokey hoods.

1201 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 623-4340             
Est. 2012
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: elliottsoysterhouse.com 
Best Reviews: christinecox - seattlemet - northwestwiningandining - seattleweekly - thrillist - thestranger - yelp - eater

#1886 #S1061 - Nick's Off Market, Seattle - 9/4/2011

Update: Nick's was further reconfigured into "Eetbar" in 2014, which closed in Nov 2015.

Tonight's dinner has forced me to reshuffle my list of Favorite Sandwiches in Seattle:

1. Crab BLT - Seatown Snackbar
2. Nick's Nitro Prime Dip - Nick's Off Market
3. Cuban Roast - Paseo

NOM is a substantial reconfiguration of the shortlived Amber Den. It is now less of a wine bar, less of a fern bar, more casual, with more beer choices and cocktails. The cocktails and "Northwest comfort food with a twist" are both pretty good, and the Nitro Prime Dip (prime beef, chorizo, red onion, mushrooms, pepperoncinis, pepperjack cheese, chipotle mayo and au jus) is must-try sandwich.

1556 NW 56th St, Seattle, WA 98107 - (206) 783-0131
Est. Aug 1, 2012 - Building constructed: 2000 - Closed 2014
Previous bars in this location: Amber Den
Web site: nicksoffmarket.com - facebook
Best Reviews: myballard - thrillist - bloomspot - eater - thestranger - yelp