#2567 Galloping Gertie's, Lakewood, WA - 6/27/2014

Galloping Gertie's Bar & Grill, Lakewood, WA

Galloping Gertie's Bar & Grill dates itself back to when Gertie Rice opened a one-woman hamburger joint in 1952. In 1959 she moved it into its current location in the Tillikum neighborhood of the city of Lakewood, about ten miles south of where the more famous Galloping Gertie shuddered itself to death in November of 1940. The lounge was added in 1972, and one has to assume looks little different, in decor or menu, than it did that year.

You might assume that Gertie's nickname was an inevitable inheritance from the great bridge disaster, but her family says that it was primarily based on her love or horses and the racetrack. The restaurant still celebrates March as the month of she first opened for business, the month in which she passed away in 1991, and the month of her favorite holiday, St. Patricks Day.

Her bar is situated in a small strip of land pressed between American Lake and the highway, in a low income area surrounded by military bases and chain fast food joints, with the only public access via the freeway. Then suddenly the neighborhood's north end is capped by the Tacoma Country Club and Thornewood Castle.

The family sold the place after Gertie passed at the age of 83, but her daughter and son-in-law soon re-purchased it and run it to this day. The family appears to share Gertie's love of the track (the entity paying taxes on the property is "Long Shot to Place LLC").  With the National Guard's Camp Murray to the south and the massive Joint Base Lewis-McChord looming just over the highway, the diner and lounge especially cater to the military crowd. The grill half is classic American diner fare, and the bar side is a 70s dive frozen in time. Neither is particularly remarkable, but on a small stretch populated by a McDonalds, a Subway, a Jack in the Box, a Pizza Hut, a Taco Bell, a Papa Johns, and a KFC, it feels like a precious respite of humane forebearance.

15417 Union Ave SW, Lakewood, WA 98498 - (253) 584-4848
Est. July 1972 (restaurant only started in another location in 1952) - Building constructed 1958
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook - facebook
Articles ranked: tnt - nwmilitary - yelp - tripadvisor

#2566 - Pints Barn, Tumwater, WA - 6/27/2014

It's a late sunny Friday afternoon and the Pints Barn in Tumwater, Washington is rollicking. When the Old Red Barn tavern closed in 2010 after 43 years in the location, the newspaper said that it might be turned into a daycare. It's far from that now. The building and exterior were both extensively remodeled by the owners of "Pints & Quarters," a craft beer hotspot that took over an old 7-Eleven. If anything, the location is more rustic now, with wood from an old barn, antiques, and knickknacks paying tribute to local history and in particular the Olympia Brewery (which, an owner of the Old Barn used to tell his patrons, piped beer to the tavern direct from the brewery).

The menu now features modernized comfort foods and the bar itself hosts live music from country bands to underground punk shows. Inside it is packed and loud, but the servers are friendly and there's ample room on the patio, which is guarded by twin chainsaw art Bigfoot figures. The beer selection, it should go without saying, is very much improved.

It's very pleasing to see an old, locally iconic tavern like this rescued and buffed up by a new generation of barkeeps. Perhaps someday we'll even see it done with the great old brewery itself.

The Pints Barn, Tumwater, WA

114 E St SW, Tumwater, WA 98501 - (360) 628-8838
Est. year - Building constructed: 1967
Previous bars in this location: Old Red Barn Tavern
Web site: facebook - pintsbarn.com (archived)
Reviews: thurstontalk - northwestmilitary - taplist.at - yelp - tripadvisor

#2565 - Captain Jack's, Sumner, WA - 6/27/2014

Captain Jack's Bar & Grill, Sumner, WA

Captain Jack's was named for the favorite potations of owners Lee and Penny Hogenson, and you'll spot references to Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan in a several places in the bar, most strikingly, in the additions to the train mural on the side of the building. The warehouse-like structure was constructed in 1925 here across the street from the still surviving old cannery warehouse and railroad tracks, and the property is still owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The bulding housed a feed store and gas station for many years, and most recently Coco Joe's Tropical Island bar, before the Hogenson's bought it in 2008.

Captain Jack's Bar & Grill, Sumner, WA

The greater area around what is now the city of Sumner Washington, about 30 miles due south of Seattle, was home to about 2,000 citizens of the Puyallap tribe when Europeans first started to join them here in the 1850s. It was called Stuck Junction for a bit, back while the White River was known as Stuck Creek, and then was Franklin until the United State Postal Service required a name in less common use. When three leading townsmen could not agree upon a new name they each submitted a name and Sumner was the one picked out of a hat by a local boy. Thus they incorporated in 1891 under the name of "the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War working to destroy the Confederacy, free all the slaves, and keep on good terms with Europe." (wikipedia)

Captain Jack's Bar & Grill, Sumner, WA

To the southeast another 25 miles or so is Mount Rainier, and it is the reason that the city of Sumner is living on borrowed time. Rainier is an active volcano resting between eruptions, and every 500 years or so it has exploded with enough gusto to send a lahar -- a massive, speeding slurry of melted ice, mud and boulders -- all the way into Puget Sound. When it does so the next time, it is likely to wipe out the communities of Orting, Sumner and Puyallup in short order, and it may do so at time when the mountain has been quiet and given no particular warning signs.

Captain Jack's Bar & Grill, Sumner, WA

If you are going to be buried under a 100 foot wide concrete-like wall traveling 25 to 50 miles per hour, there are a lot worse places to have your last drink than Captain Jack's. The decor is nautical-cowboy-taxidermy-biker bar. (I don't know about you, but when it comes to dive bars I will take an eclectic accumulation with unique character over a carefully curated theme every time.) The many dead animals, I was informed, were shot by the owner himself. The menu is classic American roadhouse - steaks, burgers, salads, and pizza and the like. -- and the drinks, as you would gather from the name, are standard dive fare. Out back is a large, grassy beer garden with a nifty sailing ship fire pit.

Inside I sat next to a quiet fellow who looked like an elderly Kenny Stabler. and chatted with bartender Sue, in between her sniping with her husband, It seems like it would be a fun place on a weekend night, and it feels rustic and relaxed on a lazy afternoon. I would unhesitatingly put Captain Jack's among my favorite dives in the nation's lahar paths.

13501 Valley Ave E, Sumner, WA 98390 - (253) 826-0679
Est. 2008 - Building constructed: 1925
Previous bars in this location: Coco Joe's Tropical Inland
Web site: captainjacksbarandgrill.com - facebook
Reviews: waymarking - northwestmilitary - yelp - tripadvisor

#2564 #S1264 - Damn the Weather, Seattle - 6/20/2014

Damn the Weather, Seattle, WA

Try the: Calvados Old Fashioned

Damn the Weather is a very Seattle bar. From the climate-appropriate name (lifted from a prohibition era cocktail), to the owner having been the bassist for a local band (Fleet Foxes), to the setting within Pioneer Square's 1891 Delmar Building, erected immediately after the Great Seattle Fire, the theme continues with the local and seasonal food. Owner Bryn Lumsden left his position as manager of Rob Roy to open DTW after stints at Vessel and Vito's, and brought along with him Jay Kuehner (Sambar) and chef Eli Dahlin (Walrus and Carpenter). Eventually Dahlin moved on and was replaced by Brian Papenfuss (Stateside, Le Pichet, Wandering Goose, Ma'Ono).

The bar, under the State Hotel 75cent Rooms sign, sits in a portion of the old brick space most recently occupied by the New Orleans jazz bar for 27 years. This space has hosted bars on and off since at least 1894, when J.T. Slorah ran a saloon there, and again shortly after prohibition, with "The Palace" here by 1934. (It is a little unclear how many bars listed under the address of the other half of the New Orleans space extended into this one.) Today it pairs its creative dishes with one of the better cocktail programs in the city.

Damn the Weather, Seattle, WA

116 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 - (No phone)                              
Est. June 17 2014 - Building constructed: 1891
Previous bars in this location: The Palace
Web site: damntheweather.com - facebook
Articles ranked: seattlemet - thehungersouthernwanderer - seattletimes - bonappetit - thestranger - seattlemet - eater - seattlemag - eater - yelp - suzi-pratt - tripadvisor - thrillist

#2563 #S1263 - Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle - 6/18/2014

Update: Brunswick & Hunt closed Jan 31, 2020.

---

This is a very fine bar in several different ways. First, it adds a second quality cocktail location (along with Essex) just on this little out-of-the-way strip of  NW 70th Street. Second, the food is excellent (try the roasted chicken). Third, if the opening day was any indication, the service will be friendly, attentive, and competent. Finally, as the name indicates, they have done a service to the community by rescuing a trashed but fantastic antique Brunswick-Balke-Collender bar and sunk a small fortune into restoring it to its considerable glory.

It is amazing that the life this bar must have had in Winlock and elsewhere, well over a hundred years of what must have been considerable pre-prohibition saloon mayhem, decades of neglect and abuse, and many more years of irreverent treatment in everything from a Bavarian restaurant to a punk bar, has left it so intact. It's beautiful refurbished state, reflecting the grand antique painting across the room, are a welcome nod to bar history. But while you can come here for the museum quality pieces, you are likely to stay and return for the quite nice drink options (including a well-made daily punch option) and the fine food (the roasted chicken, prepared sous vide and roasted with rosemary, was quite simply my favorite chicken I've ever tasted).

Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle, WA

B&H was created by Barry Rogel (DeLuxe Bar & Grill) and Scott Rogel (The Athenian). Noticing my admiration for the antique Brunswick "San Domingo" bar, Barry kindly engaged me with the details of the purchase and restoration of the bar. It is a great pleasure to see the work invested into rescuing this fine, old piece, and to be able to admire it over a lovely cocktail and meal.

Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle, WA

Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle, WA

Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle, WA

Brunswick & Hunt, Seattle, 

1480 NW 70th St, Seattle, WA - (206) 946-1574                      
Est. June 18, 2014 - Closed Jan 31, 2020 - Building constructed: 1927
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: brunswickandhunt.com - facebook
Articles ranked: chowdownseattle - seattlemet - myballard - suzi-pratt - culturalambassador - thestranger - eater -  yelp - chowound - tripadvisor

#2562 #S1262 - Shewaber, Seattle - 6/12/2014

Shewaber, Seattle, WA

There are 50-some countries in Africa but for whatever reason I rarely seem to see any except Ethiopian/Eritrean ones in Seattle.  And there are couple dozen of these around the city -- five in three blocks on East Cherry Street -- but it wasn't that way when Zufan Abebe opened Mesob in that area. As Charles Mudede described it, "Anyone who lived near this location at that time, the late '90s, saw the grand opening as something of a godsend because there wasn't another restaurant for miles around (or what felt like miles around). That corner, and the Central District as a whole, was still in the shadow of the bleak crack years ..."

Adebe operated Mesob in an amiable small box of a building for about 15 years before the condo-rolling wheels of gentrification and development finally rolled over the place in 2013. She moved her operation a few blocks south to a prosaic strip mall building in the Little Saigon area, and carried on much as before, including the little bar, for three more years. You didn't go here for craft cocktails, but I quite liked the food, even though I don't know enough about the cuisine to critique it, and I always require a few extra napkins due to my clumsy use of the spongy injera to deliver food from fingers to mouth. It's nice to have a lot of other Ethiopian options in town now, but I do miss the lonely little blue box on Jefferson with the bar in back.

South Seattle Ethiopian restaurants

1221 S Main St, Seattle, WA 98144 - (206) 860-0403
Est. 2013 - Closed 2016 - Building constructed: 1991
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: facebook
Reviews: thestranger - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2561 #S1261 - Le Caviste, Seattle - 6/10/2014

Le Caviste, Seattle, WA

If you are even in the downtown Seattle area in the mood for unwinding in a quintessential French wine bar, Le Caviste is the bar for you. It's run by long-time, local sommelier David Butler (Le Gourmand), with all bottles chosen from small French wineries and an emphasis on Beaujolais.

Yes, it is at the base of a rather soul-less office building, and yes, at the same time it may also be "the destination for hipster French wine in Seattle, served alongside food that draws inspiration from rural France" (punchdrink). But it also a very friendly, minimally pretentious, and comfortable spot to get an affordable glass of fine wine, with just the chacuterie, cheeses and small plates your French wine appetite is looking for.

1919 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 728-2657                
Est. Dec 21, 2013 - Building constructed: 2001
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site:  lecavisteseattle.com - facebook
Articles ranked: punchdrink - seattlemet - thestranger -  jamesonfink - bonappetit - seattlemag - yelp - tripadvisor

#2560 #S1260 - Corretto Trattoria and Bar, Seattle - 6/9/2014

Corretto, Seattle, WA

Update: Corretto closed during the week of January 17, 2016.

It seemed like pretty good odds when the small Italian joint Panevino was taken over by Travis Rosenthal, the owner of Tango and rum emporium Rumba. Along with handmade pasta and some tasty small plates, Rosenthal implemented a craft cocktail program centered around coffee -- "A caffè corretto is a traditional Italian combination of espresso “corrected” with spirits, usually grappa (a grape-based brandy), some other form of brandy, or Sambuca." (sprudge)  But just over a year later Rosenthal sold it to an industry novice, But just over a year later Rosenthal sold it to an industry novice, and another half year later it was closed down completely.

416 Broadway Ave E, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 328-7817
Est. April 10, 2014 - Closed Jan 2016 - Building constructed: 1930
Previous bars in this location: Panevino
Web site: correttoseattle.com
Articles ranked: capitolhillseattle - sprudge - seattlemag - yelp

#2559 #S1259 - Revolver Bar, Seattle - 6/8/2014

Revolver Bar, Seattle, WA

"Vinyl. Booze. Food." says the web site. If you're old enough, Revolver Bar will feel like sitting in the rec room of your friend with the really cool parents in about 1975. It's a retro hipster Capitol Hill joint built around the inherited record collection of owner Gary Reynolds, of Electrokitty Recording Studio. The items that will jar you our of your rec room memories will be the modern sandwiches and snacks and the quality cocktails. I had three excellent ones from bartender Mario, and a fine bar conversation about life with patrons Mark and Jonah. (At least it seemed more pleasant than the conversation of a customer across the bar, whose discussion included observations like "That fucking fuck ... fucking, fuck her.")

1514 E Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 860-7000              
Est. May 8, 2014 - Building constructed: 1924
Previous bars in this location: Dinette
Web site: revolverbarseattle.com - facebook
Articles ranked: seattlemag - capitolhillseattle - eater - thestranger - yelp - tripadvisor

#2558 #S1258 - Chuck's Hop Shop, Seattle (Central District) - 6/8/2014

Chuck's Hop Shop, Central District, Seattle, WA

After converting a nondescript north Seattle convenience store into a locally legendary craft beer stop, Chuck Shin has now selected and remodeled a bar and shop on the opposite side of town. It is very different from the Greenwood original, capacious, shiny wood, long communal tables and electronic beer list reader boards. But many elements also remain the same -- a casual, family atmosphere (augmented with ice cream), outdoor patio (a bit nicer here than the one carved out of the mini parking lot of the original) and a huge, interesting selection of beers. In this location there are 50 brews on tap and over 1000 bottled choices. I had a nice Snipes Mountain Buckaroo Session IPA.

2001 East Union Street, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 538-0743
Est. Jan 3, 2014 - Building constructed: 1972
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: chucks85th.com - facebook
Articles ranked: seattletimes - theinfatuation - washingtonbeerblog - centraldistrictnews - capitolhillseattle - capitolhillseattle - thestranger - restaurantguru - yelp - tripadvisor - beeradvocate -  untappd

#2557 #S1257 - Aragona, Seattle - 6/4/2014

Strange pork and bean thing, Aragona, Seattle, WA

Update: Aragona closed in September 2014 and was refashioned into Italian themed Vespolina, which itself closed less than a year later. Stratton noted that while many people loved the Aragona menu, many others were slow to warm to it. Zach Geballe of the Seattle Weekly attributes the failure to a wine program too unfamiliar and ambitious for this space, despite being managed by two of the city's leading sommeliers:

"The goal was to get guests to take a chance on unfamiliar wines—to trust in the wine team’s skill in a way that is still largely uncomfortable for many diners. Setting aside the more outlandish suggestions, like drinking sherry with entrées, a list that offered few familiar touchstones was always going to challenge the staff and diners alike. Yet I can’t help but appreciate the optimism of such a move, even if in the long run it seemed unlikely to succeed. Indeed, as time passed and the restaurant struggled, the somm team that opened it departed. It was clear that the center could not hold."

Geballe adds that he has "no doubt" that the concept could have worked in a smaller space in a more hip neighborhood such as Capitol Hill or Ballard.

---

Strange ice cream thing, Aragona, Seattle, WA

Aragona is a Spanish-inspired restaurant from extolled local chef Jason Stratton. As Ronald Holden noted:

'Stratton, of course, is known to all as the "boy wonder" who took over Spinasse in its convulsive first months (when the investors dismissed founder Justin Niedermeyer), and has since continued with Artusi. To run the kitchen of the new spot, which will concentrate on Spanish fare, Stratton has turned to his longtime sidekick (and current Top Chef contestant) Carrie Mashaney.'

Strange sculpture thing, Aragona, Seattle, WA

Aragona would be recognized at a James Beard semifinalist for best new restaurant of 2014. So it was very buzzy in foodie land when Stratton took over this almost hidden space on the southern edge of tourist-filled Pike Place Market. I've lost my notes on what these food items were, but it was quite tasty while it lasted and I suppose that doesn't matter now. But we also enjoyed both the cocktails and conversation with bartender Aaron.

Strange diced thing, Aragona, Seattle, WA

96 Union St, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 682-3590
Est. Dec 9, 22013 - Closed Sep 6, 2014 - Building constructed: 1985
Previous bars in this location: Leo Melina, The Other Place, 96 Union, Harbor Place, The Islander, Thoa's
Web site: aragonaseattle.com
Articles ranked: seattleweekly - thestranger - cornichon - fb101 -  bizjournals -  foodandwine -  seattlemag - seattlemag - seattlemag - seattleappetizer -  tripadvisor - seattlerefined - thrillist - metropolismag - hansonphotogroup - katejessup