#2649 - Horse and Cow Pub and Grill, Bremerton, WA - 11/2/2014

The Horse and Cow Pub and Grill, Bremerton, WA

The city of Bremerton is smack in the middle of the Kitsap Peninsula, between Seattle and the greater Olympic Peninsula, and home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on the banks of the Sinclair inlet. The shipyard was established in 1891, and for well over a century the city has waxed and waned with the fortunes of the naval economy -- which of course have tended to be diametrical to the fortunes of peace in the United States.

In 1915 the naval yard here was building submarines for Imperial Russia, only to sell them to the U.S. government in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. With America's entry into that war the workers employed at the base rose to 6,500 by 1918. The next great war brought further growth, starting with five warships damaged in the Pearl Harbor attack moved here for repairs. Soon the "Home to the Pacific Fleet" employed 32,000 shipyard workers and city's population grew to 80,000. Shortly after WWII the base was put to work recommissioning mothballed warships for the Korean conflict.

But the correlated fortunes of military seapower and the city of Bremerton diverged in 1973 when the Navy announced that the new home of the  Ohio-class Trident Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines would be Bangor, Washington, on the other side of the Kitsap Peninsula. Workers, families and businesses of Bremerton migrated westward, primarily to Silverdale, to the extent that in 1977 the city council declared the inner city a "blighted area." Recovery has come slowly, but new businesses, art works, and park areas are gradually bringing the area back to life. (The preceding historical notes were distilled primarily from historylink.org.)

As you might assume, a city based primarily on young male military and shipyard workers has had an unusually raucous history of bars and other forms of dubious moral entertainments, and one of the pleasures of having a drink in Bremerton is finding old locals who will recount wild stories from those days. By 1901 there were at least 15 saloons, and from that point, barely slowed through prohibition, and virtually until present days the naval brass tusseled with local government to curtail temptations of sailors and staff. Into this breach, in 2001, stepped Mike Looby, with a bar called the "Horse and Cow."

This Horse and Cow was an extension of a family business of bars started by Mike's father Jimmy in 1953, all with a naval submarine theme, and all named for the images tattooed on either anle by merchant sailors during the World Wars. The images were adopted from depictions of Neptune, the Roman god of the seas, in which he was accompanied by a small horse and cow, and brought sailors good luck against attacking submarines and other contemporary menaces. The first Horse and Cow was established by Jimmy in San Francisco, later moved to Hunters Point and then Vallejo. Son Mike worked there before establishing his own version in Point Loma, before both father and son closed the California locations and opened the Bremerton version on Northlake Way.

They did not hurt for lack of business. The Kitsap Sun reports 600 people arriving on Friday and Saturday nights, lined up outside waiting to get in. But the neighbors and authorities disliked the noise, drunks, and DUIs, and as per tradition, the naval base leadership fought to close or move the place, eventually threatening that any sailor who got a DUI after drinking at the Horse and Cow would be relieved from duty. As these warnings were cutting into the business, Looby sold the Northlake Way place in 2010 to Mike Stoddard, who remodeled and renamed the place "Stoddy's Bar & Grill." In the meanwhile Looby had opened a version in Guam in 2007 where the business faced less restrictions.

Cut to 2014, and a new Bremerton Horse and Cow has opened in a small brick building on a small brick road just a short walk from the ferry dock. It's a bit tamer now -- much more tame, it would appear, than the Guam version. But it still has the submarine and military theme, the burgers, the good choice of beers, and the "famous" burgers and gourmet wings with signature sauce.


536 Fourth St, Bremerton, WA 98337 - (360) 627-9843
Est. 2014 (1953 in California, 2001 in original Bremerton location)
Previous bars in this location: Melody Lane
Web site: horseandcow.com - facebook 
Reviews: kitsapsun - kitsapdailynews - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2647 - Tower Lanes Bar, Tacoma, WA - 11/1/2014

Tower Lanes, Tacoma, WA
(Photo via Google Street View)

As surprising as it may seem, what brought us to Tower Lanes was not the lounge, with its mouthwatering Bud Lite, $1.50 jello shots, or even the $2.50 pudding shots. That's all fine, assuming you don't fly into a rage if they don't let you sing karaoke over the PA system. It was not even the mini-Dennys-like diner and its tantalizing senior menu. Rather it was what happens in the evening (they are open 24 hours), as the the main lights go out on the mini golf course for glow-in-the-dark putt putt.

Established in 1957, this classic mid-century bowling alley and entertainment center was decaying to the point where people were saying your budget for the evening should include the auto insurance deductible you'd pay out of pocket after your car was broken into. Then on Aug 1, 2008 it was purchased by a new group of owners that included local bowling luminaries Jeanne Norton Naccorato (more than 20 perfect 300 games and more than 10 national titles) and Bob Hanson, the first person to roll 12 straight strikes at this very location. The new owners cleaned it up and turned it back into a family friendly place where the customers are no longer afraid to go into the bathrooms.

6323 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98406 - (253) 564-8853
Est. 1957
Web site: towerlanes.net - facebook
Reviews: tnt - yelp - tripadvisor - bowling2u   

#2646 - Harmon Brewery and Restaurant, Tacoma, WA - 11/1/2014

Harmon Restaurant, Tacoma, WA

There are basically two types of brewpubs: The informal taproom is a space is carved out of the brewery area and parking lot, where you sit at cable spool tables or picnic tables, and snack on bowls of pretzels or items from food trucks. The other type is a formal restaurant, where the brew works are visible but not prominent, there is a usually lot of shiny laquered wood, maybe a fireplace, and often a lodge theme. The menus of formal brewpubs typically contain a broad array of modern pub foods -- steaks, sandwiches, tacos, burgers, soups and seafood.

The Harmon Brewery and Restaurant on Tacoma's Pacific Avenue is decidedly the latter, as are their three "Hub" locations in the area, and even the Harmon Tap Room is really in this model. This one is in what is now called Tacoma's "brewery district," but there were no breweries here when the owners moved into the historic 1909 Harmon funiture building on the crumbling edge of Tacoma. The revival since then in the neighborhood and the city has been pretty remarkable, perhaps even too remarkable for many, as Tacoma has recently become one of the top few highest rising housing markets in the country.

But hats off to owners Pat Nagle and Carole Holder for opening the first microbrewery and first new businesses here in 1997. The city was a long ways from their days as the top producer of furniture east of the Mississippi. This part of the old building now has something of a ski lodge theme, with pleasant exposed brick and high ceilinged interior. The menu is much in line with the formal brewpub model with steaks and salads and burgers and wings and tacos and chicken strips. In addition to the companies fine selection of beers, the also offer wine a speciality cocktails that lean heavily on fruits and herbs.

1938 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, WA 98402 - (253) 383-2739
Est. Sep 1997 - Building constructed: 1909
Previous bars in this location: None known
Web site: harmonbrewingco.com - facebook
Reviews: washingtonbeerblog - peaksandpints - yelp - tripadvisor - brewpublic 

#2645 - Unicorn Sports Bar, Ruston, WA - 11/1/2014

Unicorn Sports Bar, Ruston, WA

The Unicorn is unique. Virtually hidden in a residential neighborhood less than a half mile up from the waters of Commencement Bay and just south of Point Defiance Park, the Unicorn resides in a stolid brick building that looks much as one would expect for a place that served the smelter workers and blue collar workmen who relaxed here in the mid 20th century. It was the much less inscrutably named "Seaview Tavern" when it opened here in 1934, and remained into the mid 70s. By the late 70s it was known as the equally self-explanatory name of "The Brick," before becoming the "Unicorn Tavern" at some point in the 1980s.

No longer strictly a "tavern," that part of the title now lies half-heartedly obfuscated with an inadequate layer of paint on the outer facade. Virtually all neighborhood bars want to be a "sports bar" now, and the Unicorn has embraced the name and the flatscreen televisions, but thankfully left the decades-worn concrete floors and the unexpected water feature, behind moss-flecked, copper-barked cherry trees tucked around the edge of the building.

View of Commencement Bay from the Unicorn Sports Bar

Inside it is just the sort of working class mishmash you would expect and hope for. Silver dollars lacquered into the bar with the names of customers from the mid 80s; the old smoke eaters, the corporate beer paraphernalia, the mix of craft and big corporate beers, and the old geezers raising eyebrows at the outsiders, but happy to regale you with their stories.

There's also a  young-ish, well regarded bartender named Darrel, whom we did not meet, but we learned he has won best bartender in western Washington several years running. Darrel is "legendary" according to some of the locals, and one year the winner of the Unicorn Halloween contest was a patron dressed as Darrel. I don't even know for sure that he still works there at this point, but if he does, I'd like to see him in action on a busy Saturday night. In any case, the Unicorn is well worth a few return trips.

5302 N 49th St, Ruston, WA 98407 - (253) 752-5939               
Previous bars in this location: Seaview Tavern, The Brick
Web site: facebook
Reviews: northwestmilitary - yelp - tnt 

#2644 - Stuck Junction Saloon, Sumner, WA - 10/25/2014

The name Stuck Junction, the original name of the village that would become Sumner, the use of "saloon," and the signage all hint at an old west theme, but the vibe of the place is more of a typical suburban sports bar or something more akin to an Applebees. They made a pretty good mohito, and have a sizable menu of contemporary American pub food.

The location has a fairly long history of bars, with the Mint Club here in the 40s, the Turf Tavern in the 50s through the 70s, Sharkey's from the 80s into the 2000s, then briefly The Silo and then Bottomz Up, before becoming Stuck Junction in March of 2014.


1005 Main St, Sumner, WA 98390 - (253) 826-4408
Est. March 20, 2014
Previous bars in this location: The Mint Club, Turf Tavern, Sharkey's, Bottomz Up
Web site: facebook 
Reviews: yelp

#2643 - Bumpy's, Puyallup, WA - 10/25/2014

Bumpy's Puyallup, WA

Bumpy's is a lively little dive, packed with locals even in the early day, and festooned with classic dive bar touches like pull tabs and handwritten signs on fluorescent paper. It's also a popular local lunch spot, with a range of hot dogs, burgers and pizzas and at some prices that can't be beat, including specials like $2 for two tacos on Taco Tuesdays and $5 pizzas on Sundays. As for drinks, you can get a double pour for $5.

The building appears to have been constructed circa 1946 and hosted a bar pretty much that entire time. From the 40s to the 70s at least, it was Bill's Tavern. In the 80s it was the Irish Eyes Tavern and in the 90s just the "Eyes Tavern," and the eyes remain on the neon sign today.

116 E Main Ave, Puyallup, WA 98372 - (253) 841-2931
Est. 2004
Previous bars in this location: Bill's Tavern, Irish Eyes Tavern, Eyes Tavern
Web site: bumpys.net - facebook
Reviews: northwestmilitary - yelp - tripadvisor  - windemerepc - blackfive - untappd 

#2642 - Scotty's Grub and Pub, Puyallup, WA - 10/25/2014

Scotty's Grub & Pub, Puyallup, WA

Owner Dave "Scotty" Scott dropped me a line noting that he had purchased the "2 J's Tavern" in 2012 and reluctantly changed the name to "Scotty's." The 2 J's appears to have been operating continuouslyh at this location since 1933, in a building constructed in 1890 and origionally hosting the Valley Drug Store. Scott was informed by the former mayor that this would be the oldest running business in Puyallup if he retained the 2 J's name, but a rename was felt necessary as part of seven month clean-up, remodel, and re-branding in an effort to save the place from a decaying physical strucfture and an unhealthy clientele.

Scotty's is now a comfortable neighborhood joint, cleaned up and modernized but still a bit on the divey side, with a decent selection of beers and sweetly flavored cocktail specials. Although the space is narrow, Scott added a kitchen, which serves pretty good versions of classive pub food, with an emphasis on burgers, sandwiches and flatbreads. The bar also hosts live music with an emphasis on metal. I do still wish he'd kept the old name, but I'm grateful to Scott for keeping a bar alive in this fine old building.

215 N Meridian St, Puyallup, WA 98371 - (253) 268-0246               
Est. May 3, 2013 - Building constructed: 1890
Previous bars in this location: 2J's (1933-2012)
Web site: scottysgrubandpub.com - facebook
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor - patch