Seattle Bars For Each Stage of Dating
First Date Bar– Feeling each other out. You want somewhere casual, but lively. You don’t want to break the bank, because if things don’t click, you’ll never see other again. Our pick: Unicorn/Narwhal. Probably one of the least pretentious, casual bars in Seattle. There’s enough room to be in the center of things at street level(Unicorn), but a huge downstairs area(Narwhal) that you can find a secluded area if need be. It has a fun atmosphere that hopefully relaxes both of you, so you can get to know each other.
Source: Yelp
Impress The Date Bar-You decided you’re interested and want to pursue the relationship. Time to impress. You want someplace with a price point a bit higher than normal to show your date they’re different from the rest. It has to be quiet, chill with some dark lighting to set the mood for romance. Our pick: Suite 410. It’s a pretty intimate setting and it’s been around long enough to not be a crowded hot spot. There’s seats at the bar, a few along the window and just a few seatings for groups along the wall and that’s it. It’s also in downtown and not really close to anything else which might be a reason it’s relatively easy to get seats. I find the cocktails here superb.
Source: Yelp
The Test Bar -You’ve now shown your date the high end bar. Those places are reserved for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and other important life events. Now take your date to a bar to see if they’ll have a fun time. Not divey, but not too fancy. Can your date have some fun? Our pick: Rhein Haus. We’ve all bowled, mini golfed, shot pool or played video games/pinball before. Bocce is a little out of the ordinary, but such a simple game to play that anybody could play it. You can find out a lot of things in these situations. Is your date game to try something new, are they competitive, how do they handle winning, defeat or trash talking? This is also a great atmosphere for your friends to meet your date for the first time since it’s a great place for groups. Then when you’re alone with your friends, get the scoop on what they think of your date.
Source: Yelp
Seal the Deal Bar-You’ve determined after dating a while this is thee one! Now it’s time to pull out the big guns and make it special. Awh, yeah, playa! You want to ask for a committed relationship or a wedding proposal even, this is the place in Seattle. Our Pick: The Smith Tower Observatory Bar. This place will cost you an arm and a leg because you pay to go up to the observatory and then you pay for the expensive drink, but you cannot beat the views, the history and the ornate Asian-inspired décor. It just feels special. At one time The Smith Tower was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, which is funny because it’s really dwarfed now by all the more modern downtown buildings. I believe it costs $12 to go up if you’re from Washington and $19 if you’re not. Cocktails run in the $15 range. Sit down, relax, take in the view, hold your date’s hand and ask away.
Source : Yelp
Drive Off the Date Bar-This is the opposite of the Seal the Deal Bar. You’ve determined that it just ain’t gonna work out. How do you tell your date? If you take your date to this bar, they probably know what’s coming next. It’s one of those places where if you dump your date and you get a bottle broken over your head because of it, nobody will blink an eye. It’s normal here. It’s also loud enough to drown out any screaming or loud arguments Our Pick: Take your date to The 5 Point. It’s the type of bar where you don’t plan to go to, but end up there after a full night of drinking. It’s open 24 hours and although they don’t serve beer after 2:00am, I believe they start up again at 6:00am and known for morning barflies starting up early there. This bar is notable for a few things. Their signage of “We cheat tourists-n-drunks since 1929″ and “Alcoholics Serving Alcoholics since 1929” and Tom Leykis getting thrown out and assaulted outside. He required 17 stitches. They do have one cool thing in the men’s restroom though. It’s a periscope that’s set up so you can see the Space Needle while peeing. Fancy.
Source: Yelp
Also see: Seattle Coffee Places For Each Stage of Dating.
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Seattle Bars For All Occasions
As I said in my previous post-Our Seattle Bar Thoughts, there’s is a time and place for all types of bars, ranging from the high end expensive cocktail bar to the no frills cheap-ass dive bar. The type of bar we go to depends on where we are, who we’re meeting up with and what type of mood we’re in.
Perhaps we go to a certain bar if we just want a quick drink. We may go to another if we want to comfortably lounge a bit and have few. I think if you look at your own life, you looked for certain types of bars at certain periods of your life. When you’re young 20-something, you might favor a place like Ozzie’s or College Inn Pub. Maybe when you’re dating, you go to Canon or Knee High Stocking. When you have kids, you may go to Barking Dog Alehouse or The Loft. Also, the time of year plays a role. In the summer, a patio is a plus, because we Seattlelites have only a certain amount of outdoor drinking days in a year. Of course, a patio or a nice view makes no difference in the winter if it’s dreary and raining. But rest assured, there is a bar for all occasions and here are our Seattle selections:
Seattle Bars For All Occasions
- Best Bar to Watch Sports(non soccer)-The Westy. Runner Up(s): Quality Athletics, Tap House Grill
- Best Bar to Watch Soccer- Atlantic Crossing. Runner Up(s): The George and Dragon
- Best Family Friendly-Barking Dog Alehouse. Runner Up(s):Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, Chuck’s Hop Shop
- Best Dog Friendly-Beveridge Place Pub. Runner Up(s): Norm’s Eatery and Alehouse
- Best Wine Bar-Bottlehouse. Runner Up(s): Purple Cafe
- Best Beer Bar-Toronado. Runner Up(s): Brouwers, Chuck’s Hop Shop
- Best Sake Bar-Sake Nomi ( the only Sake bar in Seattle?)
Source: Yelp
- Best Speakeasy-Knee High Stocking. Runner Up(s): Bathtub Gin & Co, E Street Mercantile, The Hideout.
- Best Patio-The Innkeeper(couldn’t tell you what the inside looks like). Runner Up(s): Teddy’s Tavern(ping pong, yo), Kings Hardware, Rooftop Brewing, Naked City Brewery & Taphouse.
- Best Old Bars: J & M Cafe & Cardroom. Runner Up(s): Hattie’s Hat , Merchant Cafe
- Best Old to New-The Pinebox (former funeral home). Runner Up(s): Good Bar(former bank), Kells Irish Pub(former mortuary)
- Best (actual) Bar– Radiator Whiskey. Runner Up(s): Stoneburner, Canon , Unicorn, The Backdoor, Bathtub Gin
- Best Place to Get Your Video Game On-Add A Ball. Runner Up(s): Shorty’s, Popluxe Brewing
- Best Place to Get Your Bowling On– Garage
- Best Place to Get Your Mini Golf On-The Flatstick Pub
- Best Place to Get Your Board Game On-Café Mox
- Best For Big Groups – Unicorn/Narwhal. Runner Up(s): Optimism Brewing, Rhein Haus
- Best Dive Bar-Leny’s Place. Runner Up(s): Teddy’s Tavern , Bernard’s on Seneca, The 5 Point, Monkey Pub, Eastlake Zoo
- Best View-The Lookout. Runner Up(s): Mbar, Eastlake Bar & Grill, Westward, Little Water Cantina
Fun Facts/Myths/Folklore Bar
- Linda’s Tavern-The booth nearest the jukebox is reported to be the last time Kurt Cobain was last seen alive.
- Kells–This former mortuary is supposedly haunted. The Travel Channel’s show Ghost Adventures visited and took a photo with an image that they believe to be a mangled child. Google it. It’s creepy.
- The Pinebox–This former funeral home was supposedly the site of Bruce Lee’s funeral. Also, for those who don’t know, Bruce Lee and his son, Brandon, are buried a few blocks away at Lake View Cemetary
- Red Door Ale House-Was originally located one block east on Fremont Ave. They actually picked up the entire building and moved it one block away, so they could build new construction(where Peet’s coffee currently is) on it’s previous site.
- Merchants Café -has a lower basement that was converted into a bar/gambling parlour during prohibition. The ladies restroom on this floor is supposedly haunted by two kids who died in a fire in this area in the 30’s. This is believed to be the oldest bar in Seattle.
- Blue Moon Tavern-The first and oldest tavern in the U District became a gathering place for literary giants such as Tom Robbins, Dylan Thomas, Richard Hugo, Allen Ginsberg in the 50’s and 60’s. Supposedly Tom Robbins tried to make a collect call from the pay phone her to Pablo Picasso in Spain, but he refused the call due to the overseas charges.
Next: Best Seattle Bars for Out or Towners
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***1/19/20- NOTE: This blog post has been updated with more information HERE***
As you know Seattlites have the stereotype of being coffee drinking fools. This is no stereotype, we take our coffee seriously. And if you ask 20 different locals what their favorite coffee place is, you’ll most likely get 20 different answers. According to Bustle, there are close to 1700 coffee shops in Seattle and ranked #1 for coffee fanatics:
We wanted to provide some context on what we value in a coffee shop and our recommendations. The below are not hard and fast rules, but I think it provides a pretty accurate picture of what we enjoy about our favorite coffee shops. First of all, in Seattle when it comes to price and quality of coffee, in our opinion there’s not much differentiation. The quality of coffee in all the places we mention is great. I don’t think a coffee shop could survive in Seattle if it just had average coffee. So how we choose our favorite coffee places is really based on the following in this order:
Atmosphere-There are two types of coffee places in our opinion:
- The cozy coffee shops typically have mismatched comfy chairs and sofas, warm lighting and areas set up for conversation. You normally see friends catching up, people reading books or surfing the net. These places are normally buzzing with chatter. The walls are normally plastered with upcoming event posters, concert posters and community announcements.
Favorites: Café Allegro(University District), 7 Coffee Roasters (Ravenna), Zoka(Tangletown), Cloud City(Maple Leaf)
And
- The modern minimalist coffee shops with huge windows to let in the sunlight and/or bright lights condusive to working/studying. It usually has expensive looking chairs and tables, which aren’t always the most comfortable, and has tons of electrical outlets for laptops. It’s normally very quiet and might have a few works of abstract art on the walls . Their main clientele are students and people working remotely.
Favorites: Broadcast Coffee(Roosevelt), Milstead & Co.(Fremont), Slate(Pioneer Square)
Customer Service-If you go there often enough they remember your name and drink. They’re cheerful and attempt to make genuine small talk. And say things like, “Thanks for coming in” as you leave. One of the stereotypes of a barista from popular coffee shops is that they are coffee snobs, snooty, work at their own pace and look down their nose at drinkers who order complicated concoctions. If we come across this breed of barista, of course their shop is disqualified from our list of coffee shops we frequent.
Food options-We like places with a variety of food options. Most places will have pastries, but I really appreciate it if they have something savory too.
Speed-We understand that good coffee takes time and not about just pressing a button(sorry Starbucks), but be cognizant when there is a line out the door and maybe just pretend to show a sense of urgency.
Coffee Shop Superlatives:
Favorite Coffee Shop(Overall): Mr West Café Bar. It’s a mix of cozy and modern. They have great food options, both sweet-doughnuts, cookies, pastries and savory-avacado toast and sandwiches. They have this Apple Fagotinni that is Uh May Zing. The layout of the furniture is set up for both private working/studying along their front window, meetings for groups with some bench seatings, seating at the bar to watch the baristas and food prep and secluded areas to catch up with friends. They have music playing in which I’m always pulling Shazam out to see what obscure band it is. They also serve both beer and wine if it’s too late in the evening for coffee.
Favorite Cozy Coffee Shop: Cloud City Coffee(Maple Leaf) – When I think of a neighborhood coffee shop, this is what I picture. Their motto is “Community and Café” and it’s very much a gathering place for Maple Leaf. Expansive breakfast/lunch menu. I love their cinnamon rolls. A warning, this place is always packed. There are multiple tables that seat six, but you’ll most likely be sharing. They have a small outdoor seating area and when weather permits they have garage style doors that are opened facing south and east. There’s a small couched area with toys and books for kids and they also have a pay-on-your-honor section for coffee refills and day old pastries.
Favorite Modern Coffee Shop: Broadcast Coffee(Roosevelt) – If I want to get work done or need a place to read while enjoying quality coffee, this is my place. It has a business-like vibe. It has ample seating, tons of outlets and bright due to their huge windows. They take pride in their coffee. I once had a barista here remake my espresso 3 times because somebody left the door open as they were leaving and she felt it affected the taste of the espresso. I probably couldn’t tell but I appreciate her commitment to her craft. They even have a Coffee Roasting 101 class where they teach you how to roast coffee at home.
Favorite Coffee Drink: 1) Brazillian Latte at Kitanda Expresso(Green Lake). I’m normally a dopio espresso lover and not a real big fan of sweets in general, but for some reason I really love the Brazilian Latte. It’s a regular latte with sweet condensed milk and a cinnamon stick. It kind of reminds me of the traditional Vietnamese iced coffees that use the phin, but a hot stronger espresso version.
2) This is a bit of a cheat, because this coffee is not from a coffee shop but from Cafe Turko in Fremont. It’s their Turkish Coffee. Turkish coffee is unfiltered and has the coffee grounds freely floating around in the coffee. You’re supposed to periodically swirl your coffee so the grounds don’t settle at the bottom of the cup. Regardless, you’ll still have a layer of coffee grounds that look like mud when you finish. Because the it’s so finely ground, it’s hard to replicate at home. Check out the cool coffee presentation!
Coffee Shops that Impresses Our Out of Towners: Storyville Coffee Co in Pike Place Market and Café Allegro in the University District. Both these places would never be found if we hadn’t taken our visitors since they are both “hidden”. I think it makes our visitors feel they’re in on a little local secret. 7 Roasters also falls into this category because although it’s not hidden, it has a very local feel to it. Like a general store that you’d find in a small town in the middle of a neighborhood.
Note: I think the new La Marzocco Café and Showroom located in the Seattle Center will become a favorite of out of towners. It’s located in very touristed area, it’s huge with lots of seating, has really cool displays of all the La Marzoccos for coffee nerds, has a record shop and attached to a radio station, our beloved KEXP, a non-profit radio station kept alive by donors and supporters.
Our favorite coffee shops by neighborhood:
Downtown-Mr West Café Bar, Anchorhead Coffee Co, Pegasus Coffee, Caffe Senso Unico, Café Magliore, Cafe Hitchcock
Pike Place-Storyville Coffee Co
Ballard-Anchored Ship Coffee, Bauhaus, Mabel Coffee, Venture Coffee, Caffe Umbria
Belltown-Tempesta Coffee.
Capitol Hill-Victrola Coffee, Ghost Note Coffee, Analog Coffee, Capitol Coffee Works, Kaladi Brothers Coffee, Realfine Coffee
Eastlake-Voxx (linked review is for downtown location)
Fremont-Milstead & Co., Light House Roasters
Georgetown –Brother Joe
Green Lake-Kitanda Espresso, Revolutions Coffee
Greenwood-Preserve and Gather
International District – Eastern Cafe
Maple Leaf-Cloud City Coffee
Pioneer Square-Convoy Coffee, Cherry Street Public House, Caffé Vita, Slate Coffee Roasters, Elm Coffee Roasters, Zeitgeist Coffee , Caffe Umbria
Queen Anne- La Marzocco Café & Showroom, El Diablo Coffee
Ravenna- Seven Coffee Roasters
Roosevelt-Broadcast Coffee
South Lake Union-Espresso Vivace , Evoke Coffee, Cascade Coffee Works
Tangletown-Zoka
University-Café Allegro(Seattle’s oldest coffee shop), Herkimer Coffee
Wallingford-Fuel
Westlake-Caffe Umbria
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Battle of the North Seattle Taco Trucks
This is the 2nd installment of our Seattle Food Wars series. We’re huge fans of taco trucks. They’re typically cheap, no waiting, fast preparation and more authentic than you would get at a normal Mexican Seattle sit down restaurant. But which is the best? The four taco trucks we tried were:
El Naranjo - 7215 Wet Green Lake Dr N
El Camion –11728 Aurora Ave N
Anita’s –12245 Aurora Ave N
Taqueria La Pasadita - 2137 N Northgate Way
To keep things consistent, we ordered a pollo(chicken) burrito at each truck. The first thing you’ll notice is that they are all in low profile locations which surely leads to cheaper parking rent. El Naranjo is in a parking lot next to a Shell gas station, El Camion is in a parking lot next to Home Dept, Anita’s is in a parking lot next to Les Schwab and Taqueria La Pasdra is in the back of a Starbucks parking lot. We ordered one burrito from each location and hurried home so we can fairly compare the size and taste of each side by side.
El Naranjo-$6. Was tied for cheapest but was the most plain/basic w/refired beans, rice and chicken. They also give a free side of pickled carrots, radish, jalapeno peppers and lime along with a red and green sauce. Of the four burritos, this had the least amount of chicken. Parking is limited and there are two small benches in a covered outdoor area right next to the truck.
El Camion-$8.77. Came in the most expensive, but had the most chicken by far of the four burritos. They grill the tortilla and you can also really taste the char on the chicken. Burrito has cheese, rice, black beans, pico de gallo and sour cream. One of the things I love most about El Camion is their self serve sauce area and pickled peppers. They have a dedicated parking lot and a big tented area right next to the truck. Of the four trucks, this one tends to be the most crowded.
Anita’s-$8.66. Anita’s has a huge parking lot, so no issues parking there. It was the 2nd biggest burrito of the four and had cheese, rice, black beans, pico de gallo, sour cream. It came with a red and green sauce. There’s a covered area with about 3 or 4 benches right next to the truck.
Taqueria La Pasdra(TLP)-$6. This burrito was the most flavorful. The amount of chicken was low compared to the others, but it was really seasoned well. The tortilla was perfectly toasted and included refried beans, rice, onion, cilantro. It came with red and green sauce. There are two small benches in a tented seating area. One bad thing-it’s a bitch to get out of the lot on to Northgate Way due to all the traffic near the freeway entrance.
The results:
\
| Scale 1-10 | Size | Bang for the buck | Taste | Other | Total |
| El Naranjo | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 31 |
| El Camion | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 38 |
| Anita’s | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 32 |
| TLP | 7 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 33 |
Other=sauces, extras, ease of location, parking
The winner is El Camion!
Next we’ll try tacos.
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The Great Debate- Paseo vs Un Bien
This is the first of our Seattle Food Wars series. It’s safe to say, the most popular sandwich in Seattle is Paseo’s Caribbean Pork Roast Sandwich. With apologies to Salumi, Tats, Delicatus, Rain Shadow Meats, Mammoth, I think most locals would say Paseo is the king. But which “Paseo” sandwich? First a little history lesson about Paseo.
The Scandalous History of Paseo
Who would have ever thought that a sandwich place would have such a scandalous soap opera-like story? Here’s a short version of the history of Paseo
- Paseo opened in the late 1990s and quickly garnered attention for their Caribbean Pork Sandwich. There were lines out the door and if you arrived too late in the day, they would often run out of bread to make the sandwiches. Once the bread ran out, you were screwed. No sandwich. The place was so successful that they could afford to close down for a month every year, so the owner could take a vacation. The other thing you always had to remember, is that they were closed on Sundays and it was cash only.
- In 2014, Yelp came out with their top 100 places to eat in America. Paseo was ranked #2!!
- Over the years I took out-of-towners to Paseo and told them that I would put Paseo sandwiches up against any sandwiches in the world for best sandwich and more times than not, they agreed. If it wasn’t the best sandwich they ever had, it was in the top 2 or 3.
- In November of 2014, Paseo suddenly closed without explanation! My heart sank. I remember being at work and news spread through the office and we all wondered, how it was possible? With lines out the door every day, how could they have been in financial trouble? I won’t go into the sordid details of the closing, but you can read about it here:
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/day-after-closing-paseo-files-for-bankruptcy/
- I’m not exaggerating when I say this was front page news in the Seattle Times for at least the next 3 or 4 days after the announced closing and sleuthing by reporters as to why Paseo closed. That’s how popular this place was.
- This is where it gets good. About a month and a half later an investor bought the Paseo name, building and equipment for $91k in a court house auction. He hired the old Paseo workers, who helped him recreate the recipe and worked with the exact same bread and meat suppliers from the original Paseo. He didn’t change anything on the menu and then opened back up in January of 2015. There was much rejoicing!
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/allyoucaneat/2014/12/12/paseo-to-reopen-new-owner-plans-no-changes/
http://seattle.eater.com/2015/1/8/7518153/paseo-is-open-again
- So what does the family of the original owners of Paseo do? In July of 2016, the sons of the original owner of Paseo decided to open their own place with the original recipe and called it Un Bien.
http://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/paseo-and-un-bien-a-tale-of-two-sandwiches/
Now there’s always been a debate amongst my local friends, which Caribbean Pork Sandwich is better. Paseo with its recreated sandwich or Un Bien with the “original recipe” sandwich. Without tasting the sandwiches side by side at the same time it’s impossible to determine. Well we’re putting this damn debate to rest.
Both places are small and I don’t think either place would want the rival’s food in their establishment, so a neutral field is picked. The venue-Reuben’s Brewery. I met up with friends and we had a taste test to figure out once and for all who had the better sandwich.
The tally:
| Scale of 1-5 | Paseo | Un Bien |
| Bread | 4 | 5 |
| Onion/Cilantro | 5 | 4 |
| Pork | 3.5 | 5 |
| Sauce | 4 | 5 |
| Size | 5 | 5 |
| Overall | 21.5 | 24 |
The Winner!! Un Bien
Update 9/22/19: Un Bien just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
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