#2329 - Our Place, Silverdale, WA - 10/20/2013

"Our Place" seems like an old dive transported into a ski lodge and named like a gay bar. It is actuall set in an old Lutheran church, which later served as a furniture store. As you might expect from a place with the soul of a diver bar, the food and drinks were pretty basic bar fare. But our enthusiastic server Angie made it a pleasant visit, and it seems like its probably a fun place to watch a game or get a drink on a Friday or Saturday night.

Our Place, Silverdale, 

9322 Silverdale Way NW Silverdale, WA 98383 - (360) 698-0340
Est. 1982?
Web site: ourplacepub.webs.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon 

#2328 - Old Town Pub, Silverdale, WA - 10/20/2013

Old Town Pub, Silverdale, WA

In 1911 to 1913, in the Old Town section of Silverdale, Washington, at the head of Dyes Inlet on the Kitsap peninsula, John Emel built a livery, with a dance hall and community center above that, and a top floor with lodging and likely a brothel. Emel also apparently ran a beer parlor there at some point, but there is no indication of when (although the description as a "beer parlor" indicates that it was after prohibition). I was informed that at one point it was "Pickles," a gay bar, but I haven't found any confirmation of that yet. The barn-like building is now known as the Old Town Pub (with eight people living above) and has been owned for the last two or three decades by Fred Lanouette, who once owned Seattle's "Backstage." It has a ramshackle, seaside charm, including tilting floors and armies of pigeons gathering on the pitched roof, with a classic neighborhood dive bar inside.

3473 NW Byron St Silverdale, WA 98383 - (360) 692-9132
Est. 1985? - Building constructed: 1911-1913
Previous bars in this location: Pickles, John Emel's beer parlor
Web site: facebook
Reviews: kitsapsun - yelp - yelp

#2327 - Brother Don's Bar & Grill, Bremerton, WA - 10/19/2013

Brother Don's, Bremerton, WA

Donald Tompkins, AKA Brother Don, left New Jersey to join the army in 1953, started teaching in the Bremerton area in 1960, and opened his restaurant here in 1978, in the space that was formerly Sam Fitz's Gaslight Pizza. The community of Bremerton, sitting on a shore of the Kitsap peninsula east of Seattle, was shaped by the military since it's very founding, when William Bremer sold federal government the 81 acres that would become the Puget Sound Naval Station, and then fashioned a town around it. For the next 80 years or so, military brass would clash with city government over the bars and other enticements luring Navy personnel off the base:

"It was inevitable that Bremerton would attract businesses that catered to the less-savory inclinations of young sailors and transient workers. Prostitution, gambling, drunkenness, opium, muggings -- the panoply of human temptation and weakness -- were present from the beginning. By late 1902 Bremerton had a population of about 1,700, and there were 16 saloons, all within a short walk of the navy's front gate." (historylink)

Donald Tompkins (sweater) recalls the history of Brother Don's
and other area bars for a Kitsap Historical Society tour.

After the city waxed and waned with wartime economies, the period when Don bought his restaurant and bar was one of the roughest. In addition to the usual sailors looking for a good time, Vietnam vets and biker gangs poured in "and no one could control them." Don told a group of us how one of his employees called him to tell him the Bandidos gang had filled the place, and he came down, confronted their leader, and worked out a deal that kept the situation well controlled for many years after, with Don's becoming known as one of the biggest biker bars in the northwest. There would be no flying of colors in the bar, and no more than 10 Bandidos there at any time. If there were any problems, Don had the phone number of the Bandidos sergeant at arms, who would expeditiously put an end to any issues.

The area is considerably more genteel now, and while Brother Don's feels more like a bar that serves food than a restaurant with a bar, the primary customers are not bikers but families and neighbors having some affordable burgers or pizza. The setting still feels like the 70s, but not the raucous 70s of Bremerton. Don rattled off a list of the bars that had come and gone, so many of them near his place that you could do plenty of bar hopping without a car (although he did recall the time when a patron called him one morning of asked if could see his car in the lot, and Don informed him he could see two of his cars).  Tompkins remembered the Hillside Tavern, McGill's, Bernie's, Pete's Long House, the Maple Leaf, and The Sportsman. He remembered Monica's when it was Big Jim's, and later the Sexton, and the White Pig when the locals referred to it as the Albino Swino. He recalled Brewski's where a Mr. Darwin would toss his tassels, and the Alpha Omega where girls danced in cages.

You'd never imagine that sort of history from the sedate, unremarkable setting of Brother Don's today. And while few would long for a return of those days with the associated problems, the list definitely makes a bar blogger despair of having missed the halcyon days of the port city nightlife.


4200 Kitsap Way, Bremerton, WA 98312 - (360) 377-8442
Est. 1978 - Building constructed: 1965
Previous bars in this location: Gaslight Pizza
Web site: brotherdons.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon
Bremerton history: historylink

#2326 - McCloud's Grill House, Bremerton, WA - 10/19/2013

McCloud's Grill House, Bremerton, WA

It is completely understandable that when Andy Graham bought McCloud's in June 2010, some people thought he was crazy. In various incarnations going back to when it wsa "Brad's" in the 60s, the bar had a notorious reputation, and Andy himself recounted stories of raucous fights and guys throwing bottles at the bands, who were protected by chicken wire. Graham had worked in the slightly different environs of Daniels Broiler and McCormicks in Seattle. But while he kept the name, Graham turned the capacious space into a spic and span, family friendly steakhouse and barbecue house during the day, with a rotating set of events for adults at night, ranging from line dancing lessons to jazz nights to salsa to country bands to Texas Hold'em games to, of course, karaoke. On our visit with Kitsap Historical Society, Andy also told stories about previous owner Ron Ross, whose job at 14 was to carry a large bolt around and smash stolen liquor bottles in the pockets of thieves. It is Ron's buffalo head that still hangs in the place today.

McCloud's remains a strongly themed western space, but the big barrels of peanuts and shells strewn across the floors are gone. There's a fairly typical selection of beers, wines and cocktails, along with chef Curtis Vanorsby's barbecue, which now complements the traditional steak house options. If you're unusually hungry you can take the 72oz Porter Challenge, although only one person has won it, and only one other come close.

Owner Andy Graham discusses the history of McCloud's
Grill House with members of Kitsap Historical Society's
2013 bar tour.

2901 Perry Ave #13, Bremerton, WA 98310 - (360) 373-3093
Est. year - Building constructed: 1965
Previous bars in this location: Brad's (60s), Noodles (1987), Castaways East (early 90s), Annie's Garden Buffet (late 90s), Harborside Nite Club
Web site: mccloudsgrillhouse.com - facebook
Reviews: bremertonpatriot - yelp - tripadvisor - urbanspoon

#2325 - National Tavern, Bremerton, WA - 10/19/2013

The National Tavern, AKA National Public House, National Roadhouse Pub, was built in the 30s as a family home, became the National Cafe shortly after that, then during the war years became a tavern, as Navy personnel were not looking for soup and sandwiches as they enjoyed the illegal card room in back. While it is a casual space with a spacious back yard, current owners Doug and Beverlee Hansen have it too cleaned up to be easily described as a dive. I don't know if they still feature live bands on the roof, but there's a strong selection of beers with dive bar cocktail options.

4102 F St Bremerton, WA 98312 - (360) 373-8306
Est. ? Late 40s? - Building constructed: 1944
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - urbanspoon

#2324 #S1180 - mkt, Seattle - 10/16/2013

mkt, Seattle, WA

This is a little sliver of a restaurant from Seattle's award winning chef Ethan Stowell, with this kitchen headed by Joe Ritchie (The Herbfarm, Ray's, other Stowell restaurants). The name, pronounced "market," is explained as "from Meridian, which was the traditional name for the neighborhood; the historic Keystone Building it’s housed in; and Tangletown, as the area is now known." The space is limited and the furnishings are spare, and whether it will feel cozy or cramped will probably depend on your mood coming in and perhaps how long you have to wait for one of the 28 seats. But if you find it in the virtually hidden Tangletown neighborhood near Greenlake, you will enjoy some very tasty small plates and cocktail choices.

2108 N 55th St Seattle, Washington 98103 - (206) 812-1580
Est. Sep 27, 2013 - Building constructed: 1910
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: ethanstowellrestaurants.com - facebook
Articles ranked: gastrolust - seattlemet - seattletimes - surlygourmand - yelp - seattlemag - seattleweekly - urbanspoon - thestranger - eater

#2323 - Kuhnle's Tavern, Marysville, WA - 10/14/2013

Kuhnle's Tavern, Marysville, WA

Kuhnle's ("koon lees") appears to have been in business at this location since 1918, owned and operated by the Kuhnle family for 93 years, before it was sold to two of "Kuhnle's girls" who had each worked at the bar for decades. Some say the building and bar history date back to the 1890s, but county tax records date the structure to 1913. Kuhnle's did not start out as a bar -- statewide prohibition began two years earlier in Washington -- but served in various capacities including a confectionary and tackle shop until the end of prohibition. It is still listed as a confectionary in the 1936 Polk guide but is listed under beer parlors in the 1937 edition. Some say it served as a bar unofficially even longer, and indicate a trap door and tunnel supported the trade.

Brunswick bar at Kuhnle's Tavern, Marysville, WA

Founder Edward Kuhnle and his wife Clair sold the bar to their son Kay in 1955. Kay later married his wife JoAnn, who started to help run the place in 1959 and continued until 2011, five years after Kay passed away. At that time it was sold to Tanya Buttke and Gloria Phillips, two of "K's girls" who had worked there since 1989 and 1976 respectively.

Today Kuhne's Tavern remains a comfortable neighborhood hangout, with a clientele leaning toward the older side, and a beautiful, 100-year-old Brunswick-Balke-Collender back bar. I chatted with Tanya about the place, as well as with patron Harv, who appears to be a sort of local institution, and proclaimed the bartender "the best Indian in the whole United States."

Kay Kuhnsle

204 State Ave Marysville, WA 98270 - (360) 659-9910
Est. 1936/1937? - Building constructed: 1913
Web site: kuhnles.com - facebook
Reviews: marysvilleglobe - yelp