#2030 - 907 Grill, Snohomish, WA - 2/5/2013

907 1st St Snohomish, WA 98290 - (360) 568-8202                      
Est. Dec 2012
Previous bars in this location:  Sports Page Grill and Bar
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2029 #S1115 - Grub, Seattle - 2/1/2013

Update: Grub closed Feb 15, 2015


Grub was opened in the old Ototo Sushi space on upper Queen Anne by Sharon Woo Fillingim (Le Reve Bakery, Jimmy's Table, Cool Hand Luke). It has a small, open bar, but they are primarily a family-friendly restaurant selling "American fusion, including Asian, Spanish and French flavors." It should probably not be your first choice in the area when you are just looking for a bar -- it was noisy with children even on this 9pm Saturday visit, and it's a little too bright and limited in spirits. But the food is very good, so it is a nice stop for a fairly nice cocktail with a non-intimate but quite tasty lunch or dinner. Both my appetizer (seared sea scallops with roasted tomatillo salsa and smoked cumin chili oil) and my salmon entree were very pleasing, and the "Cori's Sour Cherry Old Fashioned" (Bulliet rye, house-made cherry syrup, orange bitters) and Manhattan were well made.

7 Boston St, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 216-3628
Est. Aug 2012 - Closed Feb 15, 2015 - Building constructed: 1968
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: letsgogrub.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - cornichon - seattlemag - urbanspoon - yelp - thestranger - bizjournals - thrillist

#2028 #S1110 - Brass Tacks, Seattle - 1/29/2013

Update: Brass Tacks closed Nov 4, 2018.

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Brass Tacks is pretty much perfect for Georgetown. First, it brings the neighborhood some unique and fine cocktails, with a tantalizing set of infusions lining the shelves behind the bar. Second, it brings some unique and fine food choices, from chef Chris Opsata, formerly of Urban Enoteca (Would I like some candied bacon with winter spice and pomegranate? Is that a trick question?)  Third,all this arrives not in some shiny, sleek modern form, but in a woody warehouse, with various gewgaws and gimcracks -- an expansive, quirky, blue-collar extension of the funky Ground Control deli and bar next door.

I drank a "Georgetown" (Old Overholt, Punt e Mes, Maraschino, and cherry) with the lamb meatballs (chickpea, curried cucumbers, and mint), with one or two other cocktails that I can no longer recall, but recall enjoying quite a bit. With a casual vibe, woodwork done by the owners, and such intriguing possibilities on the menu and behind the bar, I expect to make repeated trips here.

6031 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA 98108 - (206) 397-3821
Est. Jan 25, 2013 - Closed Nov 4, 2018 - Building constructed: 1929
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: georgetownbrass.com - facebook
Ranked Best Reviews: seattleweekly - seattletimes - seattlemet - seattlemag - thrillist - eater - yelp - thestranger

#2027 - Cactus Moon Saloon, Everett, WA - 1/26/2013

An expansive sports bar in a suburban strip mall is not a type of bar I get particularly enthused about. But this place has more personality than most modern sports bars, nice folks, and a pleasant vibe.

717 128th St SW A116 Everett, WA 98204 - (425) 745-9855
Web site: thecactusmoonsaloon.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2026 - Jimmy Jacks, Everett, WA - 1/26/2013

It's a damp Saturday afternoon and most the small number of patrons at Jimmy Jack's Classic Rock Cafe seems to mostly in their 80s. Pretty Katrina the bartender is giving a long list of specials over the phone to a customer who calls the restaurant for them every day. She has to check the prices on a couple of them, with others the customers chime in with help. The food is old school American comfort food -- the kind you would serve if your customers were white suburban retirees, and the drinks are simple and stiff -- the kind you would probably drink if you lived nearby and this was your bar.

There's a stage and lots of empty space, so it's clearly a different sort of place on a Friday or Saturday night. I'll need to drop by sometime when I can see that side as well.
13428 Washington 99 Everett, WA 98204 - (425) 745-1590
jimmyjacks.com

#2025 #1109 - Mamnoon, Seattle - 1/24/2013

Mamnoon ("thankful") comes from ex-Microsofties and first-time restauranteurs Wassef and Racha Haroun, and serves excellent Syrian and Lebanese dishes with find cocktails devised by Andrew Bohrer. Ordering by the numbers, the Mamnoon #1 (High West oat whiskey, Araku coffee liqueur, cardamom bitters) was good and the Mamnoon #5 (Jonny Drum Bourbon, fig paste, bitters, Nux Alpina walnut liqueur) was excellent.

It's a unique and first rate restaurant stop, but this blog focuses on bars, it is not an ideal stop as for just cocktails, despite the quality drinks. The lounge area is rather cut off -- not just from the diners but from the actual service bar creating the drinks, and it feels significantly lower energy than the open dining portions of the restaurant. So go when you are in the mood for a very different sort of meal, and enjoy the cocktails; but if you are going out just for a drink, I would continue on to Still Liquor, just around the corner on Minor.

1508 Melrose Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 906-9606
Est. Nov 20, 2012 - Building constructed: 1928
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: mamnoonrestaurant.com - facebook  
Reviews: seattlemet - seattletimes - seattlemag - seattleweekly - capitolhillseattle - surlygourmand - yelp

#2024 #1108 - Duos, Seattle - 1/22/2013

Update: The Duos Lounge closed December 20, 2014

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A new restaurant and lounge from a somewhat upscale catering company, the Duos Lounge features tastay small plates and cocktails. I was not strongly impressed by the latter, but I did have a very pleasant chat with the bartender, and I did very much enjoy my three small plates: Manchego Pisto and corn dogs (with Chipotle honey mustard), with an apple and walnut salad.

2940 SW Avalon Way Seattle, WA 98126 - (206) 452-2452
Est. Jan 3, 2013 - Building constructed: 1947
Previous bars in this location: Cafe Revo, Avalon
Web site: duoslounge.com - facebook
Reviews: thrillist - yelp

#2023 #1107 - Shanik, Seattle - 1/21/2013

Shanik, Seattle

Update: Shanik closed March 21, 2015

Shanik ("SHAW-nuk") is a new Indian restaurant in South Lake Union from Meeru Dhalwala, the owner of Vancouver BC's much celebrated Vij's. The food is very good -- a shift further from traditional preparations than Vij's, from what I have heard. However, the pretty bar at the rear is wine and beer only and basically just a waiting area for the restaurant. I would like to see it grow into something more -- I liked the food quite a bit, but this is a bar blog, and it's almost to be expected now that any high reputation restaurant with a bar at all is going to have to feature some pretty solid craft cocktail options. At least for now it is a good place for dinner, but you'll want to slip over to Re:public for a nightcap.

Shanik, Seattle

Shanik, Seattle

500 Terry Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 - (206) 486-6884              
Est. Dec 5, 2012 - Closed Mar 21, 2015 - Building constructed 2011
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: shanikrestaurant.com
Best Reviews: thestranger - seattlemet - seattlemag - seattleweekly - seattletimes - nytimes - seattlemag - gastrolust - bizjournals - seriouseats - seattleweekly - yelp

#2022 - Fiesta Del Mar, Burien, WA - 1/20/2013

This bar location does not have genial history. Over the years as the Bull Pen Tavern II, the Flame Tavern, and various sports bars it has been known for drunkeness and violence, including the murder of a bouncer with an assault rifle, and, most notoriously, as the last place one Brenda Ball was seen before she died at the hands of Ted Bundy. So perhaps one should admire anyone with the chutzpah to try and clean it up and make a decent go of it here.

Sal Hernandez and Jose Baries are giving it a go -- commissioning ocean-themed murals around the exterior and interior of the building, and serving Mexican seafood, along with margaritas, mariachi bands, and salsa dancing. On this lazy Sunday evening it was not possible to tell how they are doing -- with Mexican karaoke blasting in the nearly empty, cavernous space. The lackluster food and margaritas are not likely to draw me back soon, but it may be a hopping place on a Friday or Saturday night, and I wish them good luck.

12803 Ambaum Boulevard Southwest Burien, WA 98146 - (206) 466-5251
Est. October 2011 - Building constructed: 1928
Previous bars in this location: Bull Pen Tavern II, Flame Inn Tavern, Mario's Sports Bar, MVP Sports Club, Twigg's Sports Bar
Web site: facebook
Reviews: b-townblog - yelp

#2021 - Elmer's Pub, Burien, WA - 1/20/2013

Elmer's is large and bright and has a rock stage, but on this Sunday evening I believe I was the only customer under the age of 70. The location appears to have hosted the Burien Tavern from at least the 40s to 80s, and become Elmer's sometime around 1990? It is purportedly cleaned-up by new owners who took over last year, and is said to be popular with bikers -- though the crowd I saw were more likely to have rolled up on their Rascal scooters.

15027 Ambaum Blvd SW, Burien, WA 98166 - (206) 439-1007
Previous bars at this location: The Burien Tavern (listed at 15029), Bartenetti Burien Tavern and Pizza
Web site:  facebook
Reviews: seattleweekly - thestranger - yelp

#2020 - Poker Pete's Pizza, Kalama, WA - 1/20/2013

Had a nice chat  here with Bob, a local who commutes to Portland.

168 North 1st Street Kalama, WA 98625 - (360) 673-3240
Reviews: urbanspoon  - yelp

#2019 - Chinook Room, Columbia Inn, Kalama, WA - 1/20/2013

Overheard in the Chinook Room:

"He falls down and gets a 15-yard penalty. I don't think that boy should even be playing ball. Tom Brady is the biggest, little sissy."
"Bill, sometimes you are the biggest dumbshit."

The Columbia Inn and Chinook Room sports bar in back are more interesting on the outside than the inside. The food, drinks, and decor are bland, but you tend to stop for the cool signage and the charming little town.

The population of Kalama peaked in 1874, booming and then declining as the Northern Pacific Railroad created a terminus there, then moved their headquarters to Tacoma. From the 1880s to 1908, the second largest ferry in the world took train cars across the Columbia River from Kalama to Oregon. The ferry is gone but port-related businesses still employ about 1,000 people from the area (the current population of Kalama is around 2,500).

 In 1962, Elvis stayed at the adjacent motel, while driving from L.A. to Seattle to film "It Happened at the World's Fair." A sign on the side of the restaurant notes this and a visit from Jack Benny.

698 Northeast Frontage Road, Kalama, WA - (360) 673-7600
Reviews: yelp - elvishistory

#2018 - Icehouse, Vancouver, WA - 1/19/2013

For a description see Three Monkeys Pub.

7804 Northeast Highway 99 Vancouver, WA 98665 - (360) 573-0454

#2017 - Three Monkeys Pub, Vancouver, WA - 1/19/2013

Just over the river from hipster Portland, Vancouver, Washington bars seem like they are lost in time. There are hair bands on the big screen, and The Macarena is still huge. This is very evident in the classic suburban strip mall pub the Three Monkeys. The space has no particular personality, but a lively crowd is there doing Jaegar bombs, jello shots, and whip cream in flavored vodkas.

7917 Northeast Highway 99 Vancouver, WA 98665 - (360) 828-7006

#2016 - The Florida Room, Portland, OR - 1/19/2013

For Seattlelites, you might envision Portland's Florida Room as something midway between Unicorn and the Blue Moon. It has the colors of Unicorn, the carnival scenes painted on the tables, mid-century modern signage, the diveyness of the Blue Moon, condiments in six pack cartons, and various paintings with the Hamms Bear painted into them.

435 North Killingsworth Street Portland, OR 97217 - (503) 287-5658
Est. 2006

Web site: facebook
Reviews:  portlandmercury - eater - wweek - portlandhamburgers - barfly - portlandmonthly - urbanspoon - yelp