Links



Bars where Pete has had a Drink (5,608 bars; 1,754 bars in Seattle) - Click titles below for Lists:


Bars where Pete has had a drink

Saturday, March 08, 2014

#2154 #S1145 - Beer Junction, Seattle - 5/4/2013

Nice little stop to buy a pint or a growler (I had a Space Dust IPA)

4511 California Ave SW Seattle, WA 98116 - (206) 938-2337
Est. 2013 - Building constructed: 1935
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: thebeerjunction.com - facebook
Articles ranked: westseattleblog - yelp - washingtonbeer

#2153 #S1144 - Henry's on First Ave Tavern, Seattle - 5/4/2013

If you would like to know what Henry's on First in Seattle is like, just go to any recently opened large sports bar. They feel nothing like the intimate connotation that the word "tavern" has for me. There are the huge amounts of beer taps, the large range of contemporary sports bar foods (pizzas, burgers, salads, soups, tacos, fish and chips, wok dishes, etc.), plenty of TVs, the vintage photos, etc.  Henry's is run by the Restaurants Unlimited, the Seattle-based corporation that at this point counts 48 restaurants across the company under 21 brands, of varying individuality (e.g. Cutters, Palomino, Palisade, and Stanford's). Henry's, which also has locations in Portland and Plano, Texas, follows a now well-worn path in food, decor, and atmosphere, which basically takes a classic brewpub and expands the number of choices to several page menus and 100-and-some beers on tap e.g. in Seattle see the Yard House, the Tap House, Edge Grill.

Though these never make for particularly interesting bars, it can be quite convenient to have places with reliable food options and interesting beers on tap, and perhaps you can't have too many of these on game day. Henry's is in a fine old 1907 building just south of the ballparks (the original Henry's in Portland is in the old Blitz-Weinhard Brewery), and kudos for RUI for opening and sprucing up these old spaces. The bar features an iced counter for keeping beers cold, and and on days like today, when it was sunny and 75 degrees, the open side opposite First Avenue is a very pleasant setting. The cocktail menu will not be of interest to serious drinkers, and is dominated by the overly sweet options one might see at a college bar, but of course the focus is the beer and here they have any number of excellent options. I had a salad and half sandwich combo, choosing the peach, walnut, and manchego salad, which I enjoyed, and a lackluster Philly cheesesteak. Despite sourcing local beers in the ingredients (Mac and Jack braised onions and peppers, Elysian Immortal cheddar ale sauce), this Philly will not lead Seattlelites to forget Tat's, let alone get east coasters to stop whining. That was probably a poor choice on my part though, as most the food like quite reliably satisfactory.


1518 1st Ave South, Seattle, WA 98134 - (206) 624-0501
Est. 2013 - Building constructed: 1907
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: henrystavern.com
Reviews: washingtonbeerblog - washingtonbeerblog - yelp 

#2152 #S1143 - Pie Bar, Seattle - 5/2/2013

Cocktails, good beers, delicious made-from-scratch pies, and the owners are twin sisters and two of the most charming human beings you could hope to meet. If this tiny place isn't regularly packed, there is something horribly wrong with humanity.

Alyssa Lewis was the owner of Seattle Pie Company, and her sister Natalie was a long-time bartender and bar manager in Arizona (who was previously married to a baseball player in the Seattle Mariners system). They grew up in tiny Gold Bar and reunited to create a new business together after their father passed away. In addition to the small number of spaces outside, they sell pies through a window, where they will also set pies to cool and seduce customers. They now appear to be readying to expand to a second location in Ballard.

1361 E Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 300-1100
Est. May 1, 2013 - Building constructed: 1994
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: piebarseattle.com - facebook
Articles ranked: capitolhillseattle - king5 - thrillist - citylivingseattle - seattlemet - sweettoothinseattle - seattlemageater - thestranger - yelp

#2151 #S1142 - Frolik, Seattle - 4/30/2013

Despite being better hidden than most speakeasies in town, the word eventually gets out that there is a rare, large, rooftop lounge space on the 5th floor of the downtown Seattle Red Lion. Now the space has been re-made into Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails, which has added some vegas-y decor and attracts even more of the d-bag element that you might expect from that. But nevertheless this is the best bar space in the downtown area to enjoy the select sunny day. They've upgraded both their food and cocktail games, added a ping pong table, shuffleboard, and fireplaces. But you'll probably only think to go there on sunny days -- and so will everyone else, so get there early.



1415 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 (Red Lion) - (206) 971-8010
Est. April 19, 2013 - Building constructed: 1973
Previous bars in this location: Red Lion Terrace Garden
Web site: seattleredlionfifthavenue.com - facebook
Article ranking: seattletimes - thrillistcornichon - bizjournals - heedthehedonist - thestranger - eater - sunsetseattlemet - thedailymeal - worldsbestbars - dailycandy - girlpowerhour - yelp

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

#2150 #S1141 - Wine Tea Chocolate, Seattle - 4/28/2013

Wine Tea Chocolate was refashioned into Barrel Thief in July 2013.  While the people there were nice and I could enjoy a glass of wine and light food items, it was a little precious for my tastes, and did not really seem to have me in its target demographic -- or my gender, for that matter.

3417 Evanston Ave N, Ste 102, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 402-5492
Est. Sep 2012 - Closed July 2013 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None
Reviews: seattlemet - seattleite - thrillist - urbanspoon

#2149 #S1140 - The Sixgill, Seattle - 4/28/2013

Update: Sixgill closed April 15, 2017


The Sixgill starts out considerably handicapped for my tastes as it is located on the ground floor of some box-ish condos that are the antithesis of what has made Fremont an attractive neighborhood. The owners (Ellen Kelly and Rick Weersing of Ballard's Noble Fir) compensate for this with a nautical theme, a lot of nice wood and books, but it still feels more like downtown Bellevue than Fremont.

But I could not complain about the drinks and food. While there is still a beer emphasis here (36 rotating taps), this place adds some very nice cocktails and food selections by Eric Stover (Ocho, Tom Douglas). I had a nice Old Sharkey (rye, green Chartreuese, Apernol and grapefruit bitters) with the house Negroni (Punt e Mes, Averna and Four Roses bourbon -- which is their well!).  I also enjoy the Steakwich (flank steak, smoked mozzarella, garlicky kale, chimichuri) and Little Fingerling Potato Skins (goat cheese fondue, bacon salt).

It's enough to bring me back in now and then despite the regrettable setting, as the boring back portion of gentrification continues to squeeze old Fremont.

3417 Evanston Ave N, #104, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 466-2846
Est. April 24, 2013 - Closed April 15, 2017 - Building constructed: 2012
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: thesixgill.com - facebook
Articles ranked: thrillist - seattlebeernews - seattlemet - sunset - thestranger - eater - yelp

#2148 #S1139 - Tonga Lounge, Seattle - 4/27/2013

This is a small place with a slapdash polynesian theme with decor that, for all I could tell, could have all been assembled from a Hallmark store in the ten minutes before I got there. But in addition to the two balloon monkeys and a couple posters hung with push pins, they do actually have a list of tiki drinks -- although not the sort that anyone much over 21 years old would likely drink. Along with the jello shots and candy flavored liquors they feature some reasonable looking juices and smoothies, DJs, and after hours dancing for 18 and over.

4209 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105 - (206) 632-1111
Est. 2013 - Building constructed: 1923
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: tongalounge.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp

#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: wenatcheeworldwbjtoday - 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.





322 S Wenatchee Ave, Wenatchee, WA 98801 - (509) 663-1433
Web site: facebook
Reviews: trshorteyelp - yelp - wenatcheeworld

#2141 - Ducks and Drakes, Leavenworth, WA - 4/20/2013




221 8th St, Leavenworth, WA 98826 - (509) 548-0270
Web site: ducksanddrakesrestaurant.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - tofuhunter - urbanspoon