#2812 - Savage Moose, Kenmore, WA - 7/9/2015

So here's the scuttlebutt I'm hearing on the Savage Moose, and the Lakepointe Bar & Grill which preceded it: The previous owner of 12 years "screwed over lots of people." So the bartender he was supposed to sell the palce to puchased another joint in Kenmore and took most the customers with her.  Under the current owners, I am informed, customers are coming back.  (All scuttlebutt completely unverified and probably unfair, but that's how scuttlebutt goes.)

Kenmore contretemps aside, the pub remains a prototypical suburban sports bar, with pull tabs, deep fried food, TVs, karaoke, trivia, etc. But even if you don't have a bar hobby, how can you not check out a place named Savage Moose?

18018 61st Ave NE, Kenmore, WA 98028 - (425) 486-8021
Est. April 2015 - Building constructed: 1966
Previous bars in this location: Lake Forest Inn, Lakepointe Bar & Grill
Reviews: yelp

#2811 #S1357 - Greenlake Ale House, Seattle - 7/3/2015

Greenlake Ale House, Seattle
Before new signage to replace BluWater

Foodie friends may mock me for missing the Outback Steakhouse in my neighborhood, but to me this just illustrates their failure to grasp the gravity of Seattle's Mid-Priced Steak Crisis. Of course you can get a lovely steak at The Met, El Gaucho, Ruth's Chris, etc. etc., but at prices you don't want to pay every day. Steaks at everyday meal prices generally taste like crap, and there are slim pickings in between. Many small western Washington cities have it all over Seattle in this mid-price category -- although one of the lessons we've learned repeatedly on our roadtrips across the state is: Don't order the steak at a place that doesn't specialize in steak.

Jak's in Seattle comes pretty close to filling that gap.  It doesn't have quite as affordable options as the small town steakhouses (or the Outback chain), but there are a couple nice corn-fed Nebraska steak options in the twenty-some dollar range. Greenlake Ale House (not to be confused with the bar of the same name on Aurora Avenue in the 90s) is a new place from the Jak's folks across the street from popular Seattle lake and park, and a tad more casual than Jak's. The bar here is pretty boring, but in addition to the steaks they have several better than average samples of modern American pub food. The hummus, steak salad, and blackened salmon sandwich we had all nicely fit just the mid-range comfort food sort of options we were hoping for.

And I'm still hoping for more options like this. We must not allow a steak gap!

7900 E Green Lake Dr N, Ste 10, Seattle, WA 98103 - (206) 294-5753
Est. 2015 - Building constructed: 1996
Previous bars in this location: Six Degrees, Bluwater Bistro
Web site: greenlakealehouse.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor - greenlaker - greenlaker - untappd

#2810 #S1356 - Burdick Brewery Taproom, Seattle - 7/3/2015

With some nice beers still available around the city, Burdick closed its South Park taproom in 2015 due to some expensive upgrades required by the city.


8103 8th Ave S #105, Seattle, WA 98108 - (206) 397-3839
Est. Nov 1, 2013 - Building constructed: 2003
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: burdickbrewery.com - facebook 
Reviews: yelp - beeradvocate - taphunter - untappd - bartrove

#2809 #S1355 - Lowercase Brewing, Seattle - 7/3/2015

Lower Case Brewing, Seattle, WA

Update: The Lowercase Brewing Tap Room moved from this location to 6235 Airport Way S in May 2016.

Lowercase Brewing is an archtypal microbrewery and taproom -- several nice beers served in a utilitarian, cinder block building, with wire spool tables and a food cart outside. It appears to be sharing or acquiring the space from a landscaping rock business, with many samples left around the grounds, and shares the facility with Burdick Brewing. This is located in a residential neighborhood of South Park, across the Duwamish River from Georgetown, where Japanese and Italian farmers grew produce they would sell in the Pike Place Market they created downtown. It is quite similar to many other taprooms in town, but feels particularly tranquil surrounded by modest, suburban homes.

Lower Case Brewing, Seattle, WA (South Park)

Lower Case Brewing, Seattle, WA (South Park)

8103 8th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108 - (206) 258-4987
Est. Jan 17, 2014 - Closed April 30, 2016 - Building constructed: 2003
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: lowercasebrewing.com - facebook
Reviews: washingtonbeerblog - craftbeermonger - twobrewreview - yelp - tripadvisor - untappd - taphunter - beeradvocate

#2808 #S1354 - Faerie Queene, Seattle - 7/3/2015

Update: The Faerie Queene closed in January 2017 and was refashioned by the owner into Pittsburgh Lunch and Superette

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While they do have a small bar, the bar is not the focus at Faerie Queene, named for the 16th century Edmund Spenser poem, and tucked away in Pioneer Square. They do not have cocktails, and do not have bar hours (open only on weekdays and only until 6pm), but they do have a small but nice selection of wines and beers. But if you find your way to Faerie Queene it probably won't be for the booze, but rather the elegant but affordable dishes created by owner and chef Una Kim. Kim grew up in the business in her family's "Noodle Ranch" in Belltown, later honed her culinary skills in San Francisco, and then made her mark back home in restaurants like Re:public, Matt's in the Market, and Spring Hill. Many of her soups, sandwiches, salads, and seafood dishes reflect her sophisticated background, but without fancy prices -- I think the most expensive item on the menu was $15.

Faerie Queene, Seattle, WA

90 Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98104 - (206) 816-0522
Est. March 2015 - Closed Dec 2017 - Building constructed: 1913
Previous bars in this location: Bahama's Disco, Board of Directors Room
Web site: thefaeriequeene.co - facebook
Reviews: seattletimes - yelp - tripadvisor - pioneersquare.org

#2488 - French Market Restaurant and Bar, New Orleans - 3/24/2014

The French Market Restaurant and Bar claims to date back to 1803, "Twelve years before Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans, The French Market Restaurant & Bar began serving outstanding seafood and ice-cold drinks to visitors and natives alike." But I don't now what form(s) that would have been in, have not found any details, and it is not included in lists of the oldest restaurants in New Orleans. But it is, of course, on the edge of the French Market itself, the oldest in America and hosting a rich mix of culture and cuisines here since the 18th century:

"As for the confusion of tongues in the market, it was simply delicious. French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and “Gumbo” contended with each other for supremacy  … There are Gascon butchers, and the Italian and Spanish fruit vendors, and the German vegetable women; there are Moors, with their strings of beads and crosses, fresh from the Holy Land . . . Chinese and Hindu, Jew and Teuton, French and Creole, Malay, Irish, and English, all uniting in an ceaseless babble of tongues that is simply bewildering." (frenchmarket.org)

Some of the buildings, including the space occupied by the Cafe Du Monde, date back to 1813, after the previous structures were destroyed in an 1812 hurricane.

Whatever the history of the French Market Restaurant, it draws in tourists with a giant vat of crawfish steaming in the front window, and a menu full of Cajun and Creole dishes with an emphasis on seafood. This was our last bar and restaurant stop of this trip to New Orleans and it concluded nicely with the blackened alligator.


1001 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 525-7879
Web site: frenchmarketrestaurant.com
Reviews: anythingispossibletravel - neworleansonline - yelp - tripadvisor - neworleansrestaurant 

#2487 - Spitfire, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

The Spitfire bar, not to be confused with the coffee shop of the same name, is a funky, cozy, neighborhood dive that appears to host some good rock shows and alternative events. But this space has an even more colorful history, from the goth bar days in the 90s though the 00s with names like Blue Crystal, to hosting Dada art shows as the Whirling Dervish, to the last lesbian bar in the city of New Orleans as Rubyfruit Jungle.

During the goth days it hosted the Cure and dragged Trent Reznor out to meet Robert Smith, as well as witnessing Eddie Vedder and Cy Young award winning pitcher Jack McDowell in a bar brawl that left Black Jack unconscious after a bouncer's left hook knocked his head into the wheel of a jeep. Later Rubyfruit Jungle moved here, and when it closed in 2012 it was the last lesbian bar in a city that a few decades ago had nine of them -- the bars apparently no longer needed as hidden community centers and furtive social gatherings relived in the local play "Last Call."

Spitfire Bar, New Orleans, LA

The names change and the themes vary, but some spaces just seem destined to always host joints with real character, and whether there's high drama or just a chill crowd of interesting people, always feel like a good place to be.

Spitfire Bar, New Orleans, LA

1135 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 524-9822
Est. June 2013 - Building constructed: year
Previous bars in this location: Blue Crystal, The Crystal, Pendragon's, Crowbar, Whirling Dervish, Rubyfruit Jungle, 1135 Decatur,
Web site: facebook - facebook - twitter
Reviews: nola.com - yelp