#2210 - Hitchcock, Bainbridge Island, WA - 7/1/2013

Hitchcock is known much less for its bar than for owner/chef Brendan McGill's excellent, locally-source, daily menus. The menu is largely driven by the produce of local farmers, and McGill's interest in maximizing what he can make of it. E.g. he told the Seattle Times “People think you’re just trying to be weird with your smoked duck hearts or something, but we get some beautiful heritage breed ducks from an organic farm on the island. You have to use every single part for it to be economically possible to sell them.”

Hitchcock is named for McGill's wife's family, who first settled on Bainbridge Island in the 1890s. The short distance across Elliot Bay from downtown Seattle makes Bainbridge an attractive ferry ride and day trip, with many Seattleites making the trip expressly to dine in the restaurant. McGill's food and process are popular with both locals and tourists (e.g. he won the 2013 Food and Wine magazine’s 2013 People’s Best New Chef award).  Particularly recommended is the "name-your-price tasting menu," where you provide the chef how much you are interested in spending and some basic information on your taste preferences, and they prepare a surprise, multi-course meal to match.

The drink emphasis is on the wine list, and there is not quite as much inventiveness invested in the cocktails as in the meals, but the Hitchcock bar does offer some fairly high quality cocktails to go with the excellent food.

133 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 - (206) 201-3789
Est. 2010 - Building constructed: 1941
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: hitchcockrestaurant.com
Best Articles: seattletimes - littlemisslocavore - seattleweekly - seattletimes - gastrolust - seattlemet - bainbridgereview
More articles: seattleite - heyprettything - dailymeal - seattlemag - gayot - yelp - chowhound - thestranger

#2209 - Mick Kelly's Irish Pub, Burien - 6/26/2013

This is a fairly typical, large, American, Irish bar owned by Mick Purdy and Kelly Adrian. The food and drinks are not outstanding, but it's a friendly place, and I'm inclined to reward them with my business more after reading this is a review: "I also hate it when a restaurant thinks they should tell guests how to wear their baseball hats. I was told repeatedly that turning my cap backwards was not allowed."

435 SW 152nd St Seattle, WA 98166 - (206) 246-2473
Est. Sep 15, 2005 - Building constructed: 1948
Previous bars in this location: The Shaft
Web site:  mickkellysirishpubburien.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - yelp

#2208 - Ulysses Restaurant and Lounge, Tukwila - 6/26/2013

At age 25, Ulysses Kollias migrated from Kaloskopi Parnassidos, Greece, and at 36 he founded Ulysses Restaurant and Lounge in Tukwila, which has remained run by the family ever since. The emphasis seems a bit more on the lounge side of the business, with a fairly typical suburban bar serving up inexpensive drinks, karaoke, and televisions showing sports events.

16360 42nd Ave S, Tukwila, WA 98188 - (206) 243-1875
Est. 1978 - Building constructed: 1972
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2207 #S1150 - Billy Beach Sushi and Bar, Seattle - 6/22/2013

I'm not a good judge of sushi. But not only has Billy Beach been running or worked at what seems like every modern sushi bar in Seattle (Japonessa, Wasabi Bistro, KushiBar, Rain, I Love Sushi), but this new ballard restaurant serves some very nice original and traditional cocktails. I especially enjoyed the Diesel Fuel (bourbon, Cocchi Torino, Zucca, whiskey barrel aged bitters), by bartender Cameron.

5463 Leary Ave NW Leary Ave NW, Seattle, Washington 98107 - (206) 257-4616
Est. May 1, 2013 - Building constructed: 1950
Previous bars in this location: Paratii Craft Bar
Web site: billybeachsushi.com - facebook
Reviews: onceuponabite - thrillist - ballardnewstribute - seattlemet - eater - yelp - thestranger

#2206 #S1149 - TanakaSan, Seattle - 6/22/2013

TanakaSan is a new and basically particularly inventive izakaya restaurant from Tom Douglas and his long time executive chef Eric Tanaka. "T-Doug" is the most prominent chef in Seattle, particularly in the downtown area, and Tanaka has been with him since 1993. I keep waiting for some new piece of Douglas's growing mini empire to be disappointing, but it just never happens.

Douglas and Tanaka do not refer to this place as izakaya, since that does not communicate the breadth or inventiveness of the contemporary, pan-Asian fusion menu (Douglas called it "LA punk Asian").  It is part of a large mall of shops that Douglas calls "Assembly Hall" at the base of new condo building. The bright, modern setting is not my prefered sort of setting to relax and have a cocktail, but the food is excellent and the cocktails are creative and good.

(I will have get some better pictures on a return trip.  See Foodspotting or heyprettything)


2121 6th Ave Seattle, WA 98121 - (206) 812-8412
Est. June 10, 2013 - Building constructed: 2013
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: tanakasanseattle.com - facebook
Suggested articles: seattlemet - seattletimes - eater - seattlemag - surlygourmand - gastrolust - culinaryfool
More articles: seriouseats - thestranger -

#2205 - Lake Forest Park Bar & Grill, Lake Forest Park - 6/15/2013

"This place is always hopping," says one review.  Hmm, it seemed somewhat sterile and slow when I was there, and at 10:30 on a Saturday night, no less.  But this chain does a good job of serving a fairly good, fairly standard American restaurant menu in its various locations -- Greenlake Grill, Eastlake Grill, and Bremerton.  What makes this one less interesting to me than the Seattle locations is that those have some great locations with a patio looking out upon Lake Union and across the street to Greenlake.  This one is stuck in the corner of a typical suburban shopping center, so while it is seems a decent, convenient choice for folks who live nearby, there doesn't seem to be anything in particular to tempt anyone from outside the neighborhood.

17535 Ballinger Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155 - (206) 364-1261
Est. May 21, 2009 - Building constructed: 1965
Previous bars in this location: Fandango's, Coco's
Web site: lakeforestbarandgrill.com - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - yelp

#2204 #S1148 - Chico Madrid, Seattle - 6/12/2013

Chico Madrid closed on April 13, 2014

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It's a little unclear whether to count the short-lived Chico Madrid as a bar, as it was more a cafe emphasizing charcuterie and bocadillos (Spanish baguette sandwiches).  But it did serve wines, beer, sangria, shrubs, and other largely juice-based cocktails around a horse-shoe shaped bar or counter. It was in a bright, small space at the bottom floor of an apartment meeting on one of the more moderately traveled commercial sections of Capitol Hill, and run by the people behind Honore Bakery and Fuel Coffee in the neighborhood.

711 Bellevue Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
Est. March 28, 2013 - Closed April 13, 2014 - Building constructed: 2013
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: chicomadrid.com - facebook
Reviews: seattlemet - seattletimes - seattlemag - yelp