#4208 #S1699 - Olympic Bar, Seattle - 5/7/2021

Olympic Bar, Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle

Who would have predicted that the venerable Olympic Hotel would have gone steampunk? 

This is the hotel in Seattle where trains of police vehicles escort foreign dignitaries to their destinations across the city; where the University of Washington owned the land and most the property for a century even after they relocated north of Portage Bay in 1895; where WWII bond drives featuring Duke Ellington, Bob Hope, and Betty Gable rallied crowds in front of a miniature Washington Monument in "Victory Square"; where the "Presidential Suite" lived up to its name, hosting Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush; where elegant diners munched foie gras pâté and sipped from a rotating sample of seasonal teas between the buttercream walls of the Georgian Restaurant; and where, most improbably of all, some intrepid locals actually convinced the hotel to host a Ramones performance in the Georgian Room -- an event which put a quick end to the hotel's short experiment booking rock shows (though not to the antics of various rock stars staying there).

Fairmont Hotel, Seattle, looking down upon
the new "Olympic Bar"

Granted, the steampunk appellative is only moderately descriptive of the new lobby, most obviously in the wheels and arms of a large kinetic sculpture that towers over the bar, and apparent in the metal and lights wrapping around the U-shaped prow of the bar. These were designed to evoke the roaring 20s of the hotel's founding. It's pleasantly a little dark, with various Edison bulbs and table lamps glowing off the grand oak woodwork and Belgian marble floors. The lobby area is finished with bookshelves, mid-century style, white, abstract sculptures, and books with white covers.

The bar features some unique house cocktails, and on my first visit I tried the non-alcoholic "Timeless" cocktail (Seedlip Garden 108, grapefruit, Fever-Tree Tonic, rosemary, black pepper), which was smooth and refreshing. On my second visit we each tried and approved of the house special "Seattleite" (Olympic honey vodka, espresso, Amaro Montenegro, lemon). The bar menu is fairly limited but all options seem quite fine from our sampling so far, which has included the pan roasted chicken, their burger, oysters, and strawberries and cream. The Saturday we attended was the first in which they resumed their famous tea service (in the lobby for now, and reservations required).

Remaining to be opened at this writing are Marine themed restaurant/bar in the Georgian space, and a bar in the old Terrace Lounge space which they say they are not going to call a speakeasy, even though there is a doorway hidden by a bookshelf. The service was friendly and just enough visits, and Jennifer was kind enough to show us the new speakeasy/whiskey bar space (but requested we not post our photos at this time), as well as answer questions about previous bars.

The $25-million remodel has very much embraced the history of the hotel, with various letters and artifacts framed in the walkways around the upper perimeter of the lobby. They have referred to a goal of keeping the lobby "a living room for locals." It's not likely to be a regular hangout unless you're an eccentric millionaire, but I am excited to have a go-to bar in the historic location and eager for the openings of the other two spaces.

411 University St, Seattle, WA 98101 - (206) 621-1700
Est. April 30, 2021 - Building constructed: 1924
Web site: fairmont.com - facebook 
Articles ranked: eater - seattletimes - seattlepi - komo - yelp - luxurytraveladvisor 

#3933 - McSorely's Old Ale House, New York, NY - 1/2/2020

McSorley's Old Ale House, New York City

With the possible exception of Fraunces Tavern, McSorley's -- officially "McSorley’s Old Ale House" -- is the most legendary bar in New York. Immortalized in John Sloan paintings, an e.e. cummings poem, Berenice Abbott photographs, and a series of New Yorker articles in the 40s that is still relevant to the old place today, even their Facebook page reads like a history book. Patrons seem to have included virtually every notable New Yorker, as well as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Woody Guthrie, Harry Houdini, Gauguin, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Hunter S. Thompson, and Boss Tweed. The '94 Stanley Cup champion Rangers drank out of, and dented, the trophy there.

The age of the first floor of the structure and the date of McSorely's founding is the subject of considerable debate. But if it was not in fact 1854, as the owners have contended, with some evidence, it is close enough. And stepping into the bar today, it is easy to believe. The walls are crammed with memorabilia and everything is dark and worn. It's said that nothing has been removed from the walls since the day Old John McSorely died in 1910. While there may no longer be tobacco chewing or butchers dropping blood from their aprons, there's still a fresh layer of sawdust applied to the floors. There's the legendary coal burning stove, no cash register is used, and there are no bar stools. It doesn't feel quite "snug and evil" as Cummings wrote, but you can easily see how it did.

The beer choices are McSorley's Light, or McSorley's Dark -- always served two mugs at a time. If you want hard liquor, you're a little late, that hasn't been available since 1906. The menu is almost as conservative, especially for traditionalists who insist on the soda crackers and onions.

McSorley's Old Ale House, New York City

One of McSorley's most famous traditions was probably its least progressive, encapsulated in their motto "Good Ale, Raw Onions, and No Ladies." One could debate the first (McSorley's Ale is brewed by Pabst), the second obtains today, and the third ended only in 1970 and only by outside forces. Even when Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan inherited the bar on her father Daniel O'Connell's passing, she honors her promise to her father and visits the bar only on Sundays while it is closed. After legal threats, the bar finally allows women in 1970, and just 16 years later adds a women's restroom. In 1994, Teresa Maher de la Haba, daughter of the then owner, became the first female bartender at McSorley’s, and on this day in January 2020 it was Teresa who served us.

McSorely's, as absolutely no one disagrees, is a must stop in NYC. If you haven't been, I recommend going at a time like we did, being there before they open on a weekday, so that you're sure to get a seat and have plenty of time and space to taking as much as you can of the endless photos, newspaper clips, and artifacts covering the walls. Next time I'd like to catch it when it is full and lively. If you love old bars, this one is a cathedral.

15 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003 - (212) 473-9148
Est. 1854 
Web site: mcsorleysoldalehouse.nyc - facebook  
Articles ranked: newyorker 1940 - wikipedia - roadtrippers - chibarproject - Bucket List Bars video - nytimes (Matty Maher's death) - bedfordandbowery - pavementpieces (Coronavirus times) - Seton Hall history - culturetrip - irishamerica - eurocheapo  - businessinsider - irishcentral - yelp - tripadvisor 

#4207 - The Fireplace Bar, Everett, WA - 5/5/2021

Fireplace Bar, Everett, WA

"Established in 1940" is painted right on the outside of the Fireplace Bar (not to be confused with the "Fireside," another venerable Everett, Washington tavern). The date is repeated in some large window painting, and the bartender explains to me that the bar has been named the Fireplace since 1940, but there were bars in the space for years before that.

She is correct about the earlier bars, but apparently not about the "Fireplace," name, at least not according to Polk city directories, usually pretty reliable, and which make 1940 would seem an odd choice for an origin date. According to the Polks, "Brown's Tavern" was here since at least 1935 and into at least 1941 (some recall the name "Brown's Mug" in 1929, but of course this would have been during prohibition). This was followed not by the Fireplace but by "Morrow's Tavern," operated by Cliff and Esther Morrow, through 1947. It first appears as the Fireplace Tavern in the 1948 edition.

It's an interesting conjoining of brick and wooden buildings. I don't know then the bar expanded into the building just a couple feet to the east, but photographs inside the bar and labeled "1969" show that space operating as a beauty salon. Today the space adds dart boards and pinball machines and opens up to a covered porch. The bar also has skeeball, a pool table, and punch tabs, along with rotating taps with a nice beer selection. They also offer hard liquor now, hence the "Fireplace Bar" rather than "Tavern." and the food is "simple and consists mainly of classic bar favorites" (and you are welcome to bring in food from elsewhere).

The Fireplace Bar, Everett, WA

It is very much a neighborhood bar, perhaps a little too tidy to fit comfortably into the "dive" category, gay friendly, and the management stresses community, hosting "Sip and Paint" events, chili cookoffs, fundraisers for neighbors with problems, and memorials.

2320-22 Everett Ave, Everett, WA 98201 - (425) 259-9911
Est. 1947 or 1948 - Building constructed: 1929
Previous bars in this location: Brown's Tavern, Morrow's Tavern
Web site: fireplacebar.com - facebook 
Articles: yelp - king5 (videos) - liveineverett - tripadvisor - untappd 

#3549 - Genoa Bar, Genoa, NV - 6/29/2018

The Genoa Bar, Genoa, Nevada

The first Europeans to settle in the region that would later be named "Nevada" were Mormon missionaries in the Carson River Valley in 1851. There they created a supply area known as "Mormon Station," for the growing numbers of emigrants passing through. The area was renamed Genoa in 1856, and in the following year, the LDS were recalled out of the area by Brigham Young due to the "Mormon War," as the LDS clashed with a federal expedition sent by President Buchanan.

The religious make-up of the permanent residents at the time is not clear to me, but it would seem that they were not all Mormons. as a saloon called Livingston's Exchange was established in 1853. That same building appears to have hosted bars or the majority of time from that point to today. I do not know how long it has been called the Genoa Bar, but it is at least several decades. The bar that remains there today retains that old west "thirst parlor" look and feel, the walls crammed with memorabilia that looks like it may have been last dusted before the Mormons left.

I personally tend to date a single bar back only as far as it retained the same basic name, but it appears that most of Nevada dates this one back to the founding of Livingston's, and hence the oldest bar in Nevada by some measure. It's hard to disagree with the decision when you step into the place. I don't think anything I write would improve upon the photos and this description in travelnevada.com, but nevertheless I will end with a few bits from other sources, primarily the bar's own web site:

'First of all...the building was built in 1853 and I was first open for business as Livingston's Exchange, then renamed "Fettic's Exchange" in 1884 and operated by Frank Fettic. I [the bar] was well known as a "gentleman's saloon" back then and I was "kept in first-class style in every particular way." Mr. Fettic served fine wines, liquors, and cigars. According to one of his advertisements, " would be pleased to have all my old friends call, and they would be treated in the most cordial manner."

I have changed hands many times over the years and in 1963, I was bought by the Bob and Betty Carver family who ran my great establishment until 2000, when they retired and sold the bar to Willy and Cindy Webb.

The top of my bar is original from the front to mid-way where you'll see a line across it. The medallions on the ceiling above the lights are original as is the one red oil lamp which is lit every New Year's Eve. The electric lamps are also original to the bar and were oil but converted to electricity at the turn of the century. I'm kept warm in winter by the woodstove, and since it's the only source of heat, the locals often bring in firewood when I'm getting low. And, no, those are not blood stains you see on the ceiling (it's tomato juice) while there have been many rough and tumbles here, no one was ever killed. And yes, we grow our own cobwebs here too....

Many famous people have visited over the years. Among them, Mark Twain when he first reported for the Territorial Enterprise which opened in Genoa before moving to Virginia City. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt* enjoyed “cool ones”, perhaps right where you're standing. Carol Lombard and Clark Gable came here to play high stakes poker games with the local cattle barons. Among the other famous and infamous, Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, Ronnie Howard, Red Skelton, Cliff Robertson and all of our Nevada Governors have come through my doors.

When Raquel Welch visited us, she was asked to leave her bra. She agreed but insisted that all the other bras be taken down -and they were! Her's is the black leopard print hanging on the antlers though it's so dusty now, you can't really tell. It wouldn't be right to exclude anyone, so I take lingere "donations" kept in the old safe. Go ahead and peek, but remember, the custom is: if you open the door to the safe, a donation is required!

A number of movies have been filmed here including "The Shootist" with John Wayne, "Charley Varrick" with Walter Mathau and Joe Don Baker, "Honky Tonk Man" with Clint Eastwood, "Misery" with James Cann, Kathy Bates, Rob Reiner and Richard Farnsworth, and most recently, (last summer) "Till the River Runs Dry" starring Ann-Margaret....

Musicians seem to gravitate here. I've welcomed Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Slim Pickens, John Denver, and the Captain and Tennille to name just a few.'

genoabarandsaloon.com

*Footnote: The Grant and Teddy Roosevelt visits appear to be unlikely.

'Despite having owned the place for the better part of two decades, [Willie] Webb says it’s difficult to grasp how deep the history runs at the Genoa Bar. “A few years back a woman came into the bar in her Sunday best. She had to be over 90, so she of course stood out a bit,” Webb recalled. Eventually, the woman called Webb over and said, “My name is Abigail, I worked here when I was 16.” Instantly fascinated, Webb immediately began to do the math, calculating when she must’ve worked at the saloon, and finally asked what it was that she did there. “And in her little old lady Grandma voice, she says, ‘I was a prostitute!” Webb laughed. “I couldn’t believe it! She told me that they used to take men out back to a bar that no longer exists, with bathtub gin they used to distill in the basement. There weren’t any beds, so it was a literal roll in the hay,” Webb joked.'

travelnevada.com

2282 Main St, Genoa, NV 89411 - (775) 782-3870
Est. as Genoa: ? - First established as a bar: 1853 - Building constructed: 1853 
Previous bars in this location: Livingston's Exchange, Fettic's Exchange 
Web site: genoabarandsaloon - facebook 
Articles ranked: travelnevada - national trust for historic preservation - onlyinyourstate - thesheetnews - tahoesouth (video) - historical marker database - mynews4 - knpr - sierranevadageotourism - swingu - tripadvisor - travelnevada 

#4204 - The Hidden Door, Shoreline, WA - 5/2/2021

The Hidden Door, Shoreline, WA

It doesn't look like it from the outside -- and certainly not from the inside -- but this little building on the Shoreline side of the street dividing that city from Seattle, has been here since 1917 and hosted a bar since at least 1935. It has claimed to be hiding something for all of those 8+ decades, named with variations of "Hide-a-way" for 80-some years and now the "Hidden Door."

For the 25 years that I've lived some 3 miles south of it, the thing the establishment has been hiding is mostly gambling -- it was one of a string of tiny to medium sized casinos and card rooms living off the more liberal regulations north of Seattle city limit. But it's a very different place with a very different vibe in its latest incarnation. "BBQ, Booze & Bands" says their logo. Gone are the poker tables and plush carpet; in its place a homey decor that seems like your hippy friends' recording studio. Little sections of sofas, lamps, and edgy paintings. A pool table and pinball machines punctuate the roomy exterior with a music stage in the corner and sound booth across the way.

Even if the blues and rock music focus were not evident from the setup, as well as the Grateful Dead poster and psychedelic banner, it was plain when the owners had to deal with opening during a pandemic. The joint started live streaming music in May 2020, before serving any food or drink. After completing their build out they had a couple soft open days in July and officially opened their (hidden) doors on August 5th, 2020.

While the old Hideaway had a small porch overlooking the parking lot, the current version, perhaps out of COVID necessity as much as inspiration, has an expansive patio area on the parking lot below. The server was nice, and I liked my BBQ fine, but I may wait until COVID is more behind us before considering it an eating option, as I prefer to be outside and, at least on my visit, the entire patio tends to serve as one big smoking area. But I am much looking forward to having a funky new live music option whenever, God help us, some semblance of our old social life returns.

The Hidden Door, Shoreline, WA

Oh, and the door? It's not that hidden -- just in back ...

The Hidden Door, Shoreline, WA

14525 Aurora Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133 - (206) 420-7285

Est. Aug 5, 2020 - Building constructed: 1917
Previous bars in this location: Hide-A-Way Beer Parlor / Tavern / Card Room / Casino, Redbird's Hideaway
Web site: thehiddendoorbbq.com - facebook 
Reviews: yelp 

#3681 - Laki Kane, London, England - 1/27/2019

Laki Kane, London

The London district of Islington, named "Giseldone" by the Saxons in 1005 and evolving to its modern form in the 17th century, was at one time home to Cat Stevens, Douglas Adams, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, and Helena Bonham Carter. There on Upper Street is a lovey variety of bars from the stately King's Head, to the divey Slim's, to, as of 2018, a full-bore tiki bar called Laki Kane ("lucky man"). 

The creators of the bar brought some considerable tiki experience, with co-owner Georgi Radev having managed the cocktail program at the Mahiki for many years, in addition to founding and hosting the "Spirit of Tiki" festival. He and acclaimed chef Michael Moore created this new tiki bar with a serious devotion to the cocktails, food, decor and service. In addition to the many classic touches, they've added some rare, if not unique aspects, including what they describe as the first cocktail bar in the world to include all natural ingredients and zero refined sugar in their drinks.

Laki Kane tiki bar, London

They also have a rum distillery in the upper floor, where they give classes in rum making and cocktail mixing, and a button at each table to summon your server. We did not avail ourselves of the button in our visit, choosing to sit at the bar, and enjoying some well made drinks and friendly service from bartender Abi (sp?), and a sample of their thai small plates. We departed happy, and each with a souvenir mug in hand.

144-145 Upper St, London N1 1QY, United Kingdom - +44 20 7607 0766
Est. 2018
Previous bars in this location: Be At One bar
Web site: lakikane.com - facebook 
Articles ranked:  secretldn - barchick - gq-magazine - dodatenight - Big Daddy G cocktail (video) - elle.com - timeout - designmynight - dingly - lecool - yelp - tripadvisor 

Historical Note: Mary E. Thompson and the Minnehaha Saloon

Many years ago I came across this snippet of information from the book Seattle's Black Victorians, 1852-1901, by Esther Hall Mumford, via the historylink.org site: 

"In 1893, Mary Thompson, owner of Minnehaha Saloon dies. She was one of Seattle's wealthiest African American citizens at the time of her death. As the owner of the saloon and brothel, she earned a fortune in real estate, jewelry, and cash."

Particularly for someone with a hobby of studying northwest bar history, this was really damn intriguing. And yet with all my data and all my reading of Seattle history, I never found another mention of the Minnehaha, nor a shred of additional information about Mary Thompson -- not in sources of bar history, not in local black history, and not in local women's history. I found only the occasional repetition of the basic facts above. 

But recently, I found a series of newspaper stories on Mary and the bar in online issues of the Seattle Post Intelligencer that I'd somehow missed all this time. There were only a few articles, and with the first brief mention I found I was happy just to have a primary source confirming that the bar existed. But then the soap opera that unfolded about Mary's life was beyond anything I ever would have imagined.

It turned out that I actually did have a bit of the Minnehaha in my bar data -- an entry for a saloon of unknown name and inexact location belonging to E.D. Thompson in 1890. I would later find out that this was Edgar Thompson and the saloon was the Minnehaha Lodging House, located at 319 Jackson Street. The "Lodging House" portion of name referred to the rooms available on the floor above the saloon, i.e. the brothel. I have no evidence for how long the bar and brothel may have existed before then, with no mention of Minnehaha or E.D. Thompson in city guides of the preceding years.

I also confirmed the wealth of Mary Thompson, though estimates of the size of her "fortune" varied widely. In the Jan 19, 1893 Seattle PI, R.W. Stokes, her main heir, summarizes her net worth at approximately $2,000, or the equivalent of $200,000 today. But the Seattle PI estimated it at closer to $20,000 ($2 million in today's dollars), comprising the saloon, additional real estate, "considerable jewelery," a horse and carriage, and cash. (Seattle PI)  But let's back up a bit.

Edgar D. Thompson, then proprietor of the Minnehaha, died of consumption on June 29, 1890. But the inheritance of his estate (then estimated at $5,000) by his wife Mary Eddy Thompson was contested by Edgar's brother George. George maintained that at the time she married Edgar in Tacoma, Mary was actually married to another man, Caleb Eddy, from whom she never divorced. While I have not found an article on the resolution, Mary must have prevailed, as subsequent articles refer to her ownership of the saloon and other assets. 

Mary herself appears to have died in California in early 1893. Her own will leaves most of her assets and the role of executor to R.W. Stokes, a bartender at the saloon whom she describes in her will as "a husband and a friend" (despite her continued use of the Thompson surname), and also "the only one on earth I think is entitled to my affection and respect." But some thought Stokes had manipulated her into the will.

At the time she wrote her will in 1892 Mary had both a son and a daughter; but she states, 

"I have no recognized relations. None that I care to inherit any of my gains left behind. I, Mary E. Thompson, have two children living, a boy Johnne, 18 teen, a girl Maggie 17th. The girl I have not seen nor do I know that she lives or not but the boy has been around me going on three years. He has never respected me as a mother but has caused me much trouble." 

The son, the PI notes, is actually nearly 25 when she died, and was employed at the saloon. Stokes' status of executor was revoked because he could not maintain both this role and most the inheritance, and he eventually appears to have ended up with little to nothing, after failing to procure the appropriate bonds. (Seattle PI 3/31/1893)

As for the saloon, if it was in operation at all after Mary's death, the business was short-lived. The saloon was gone by the time of a news story of a fire in the building in October 1893, and it was torn down in 1894. By 1906 the area would make way for the King Street Station, where now travelers deboard Amtrak, and fans exit light rail trains on their way to Seattle Seahawks games

For several years I'd hoped for some additional information on Mary and the Minnehaha Saloon -- largely items that would fit neatly into a spreadsheet: the location, years of operation, changes in ownership. But when I finally found more answers they created so many more questions that I'll almost certainly never see answered. What was her personality like? What would Mary tell us about her experiences as a black woman making a go of it in the rough and tumble skid road area of 19th century Seattle? Was she happy in life, with her multiple husbands, few friends, and estranged children? Did her wealth help her or hinder her toward that end? Every answer just evokes a hundred more questions, but I'm glad for every little tidbit.