Rotgut.org Blog

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

#2147 #S1138 - Yard House, Seattle - 4/25/2013

While places that look like this and stock a huge number of beers on tap is now a much copied trend, I suppose one has to at least give owner Steele Platt (yes, that's his name) credit for being ahead of that curve. Platt and partners started the Yard House chain in Long Beach, CA in 1996. The downtown Seattle instance has 119 different beers on tap (250 available in the original location) and a menu with 100+ food items covering a wide range of pub food based on various regions. So if you can't manage to find a beer and some food you would enjoy here, there's something very wrong with you.

On the other hand, having a beer in one of these places is like having a drink in a Cheesecake Factory. If you care nothing about the setting where you go to drink -- or if you're happy with a formulaic, chain-like feel of a typical shopping mall for a setting, where even the art seems to scream mass production -- then you can definitely find dining and beer drinking happiness at Yard House. But if the decor and vibe of a drinking place matter to you, and you value a bit of personality and interesting people over having a hundred beers to choose from, a trip to the Yard House -- like any number of places exactly like it in any sizable American city these days -- may make you may wonder what the point is.

1501 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 682-2087
Est. Feb 10, 2013 - Building constructed: 1985
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: yardhouse.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - thestranger - yelp

Sunday, February 23, 2014

#2146 #S1137 - Anchors Down, Seattle - 4/24/2013

Anchors Down wants to be a marine working class sort of bar, and they did a nice job implementing the nautical theme with port hole windows, an early 1900s bar, reclaimed wood, old rope, globes, and ship wheels. The appetizers and house cocktails are not particularly appealing to me, so whether this becomes a bar I go to repeatedly will depend primarily on the crowd it attracts, and the vibe that creates. The bar is owned by a couple of managers from Laura Olson's places, Amy Graeff (Grim's) and Cristo Williams (Auto Battery), with Olson as a silent partner. Anchors customers can order fancy hot dogs from Olson's Po Dog next door, which are delivered through a window between the places. The building is old (1906) and said to have once housed a mortuary, so I look forward to the inevitable ghost stories of the staff.

2016 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA - (206) 915-2852
Est. June 21, 2013 - Building constructed: 1906
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: thrillist - eater - myballard - seattlemag - yelp - seattlemet - thestranger

#2145 - SkyRiver Pub and Eatery, Sultan, WA - 4/21/2013

Sky River Pub & Eatery, Sultan, WA

Up in Sultan, just three miles down the highway from Bubba's Road House, is the SkyRiver Pub and Eatery. If a "pub and eatery" conjures images of expensive, finished wood, rows of microbrew taps, and platters of hot wings, the SkyRiver is going to be a bit of a surprise -- this pub is a ramshackle dive just up from the Wallace and Skykomish river. The building is very old -- in tax records it is listed as having been constructed in 1900, which usually means an unknown number of years before 1900. Patron Wayne told me it was once a lodging house for railroad workers, and has been a bar since at least the 70s -- possibly hosting hippies attending the big Sky River rock festivals. In any case, it's just the sort of place I'm hoping for when I drive through an area like this.

I was told that one of the guys in this painting
still comes into the place; he's about 60 now.
Sky River Pub & Eatery, Sultan< WA

36810 State Route 2, Sultan, WA 98294 - (360) 793-4471
Est. ? - Building constructed: 1900 or earlier
Reviews: yelp

Saturday, February 22, 2014

#2144 - The Windmill, Wenatchee, WA - 4/21/2013

The Windmill has a reputation for serving (and counting) good steaks, with the current count over 1 million served. It is not clear when the place, constructed during prohibition, first became a legal bar, but it appears to have been shortly after prohibition. From the website:

"In its early years, The Windmill was a typical “road house” of its time as it was on the northwest fringe of Wenatchee. It was said to have been frequented by counterfeiters and legend has it that the upstairs room was a meeting place for bootleggers. The Windmill had gained a “late night” reputation. Following the repeal of prohibition, The Windmill was granted an unusual state liquor license allowing the sale of unopened containers “to go”. This was evidently due to the operators practice of putting a bottle of beer in sack lunches made for State Highway Department Road Crews. The Highway Department remains our neighbor today just to the north of our building."

It was in the 1950s that the place was converted to a more upscale and family-friendly restaurant with an emphasis on steaks, and in 1962 they began counting them as they were served. The bar is nothing fancy but has some pleasant wine selections and cocktail staples. Seafood dishes and pastas offer alternatives to the steaks, in the cozy, knotty pine interior, which feels like a cafe along a mountain highway.

1501 N Wenatchee Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801 - (509) 665-9529
Est. 1934? - Restaurant earlier, Building constructed: 1931
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: thewindmillrestaurant.com - facebook
Articles/Reviews: wenatcheeworld - wbjtoday - yelp - urbanspoon - chuckslowe

#2143 - Joe's Log Cabin, Wenatchee, WA - 4/21/2013

Joe's Log Cabin, Wenatchee, WA

Joe's is basically one of those large, suburban style bars with pull tabs, pool tables, tv sports, jello shots, flavored vodkas, and pretty standard pub food (steaks, burgers, salads). It does have a bit more personality than the typical strip mall suburb version of these bars, with some nice woody interior and decor that goes beyond the standard beer company paraphernalia.

633 N Wenatchee Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801 - (509) 662-5329
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2142 - Wally's Tavern, Wenatchee, WA - 4/21/2013

Wally's Tavern, Wenatchee, WA

AKA "Wally's House of Booze," Wally's Tavern is a classic small town dive during the day, but it appears that it can get quite hopping with some interesting bands on weekend nights.

Wenatchee, WA is a town of great signs, and the Wally's sign is one that demands you check the place out.

I would love to know how old Wally's is and how long there's been a bar in this space. The very limited city guide information I have at does not list a Wally's in the 1936 or 1940 directories (or 1907), but these do list several bars of other names on Wenatchee Ave without specific addresses.