Bar #20: Oliver's Twist - Phinney Ridge

Oliver's Twist specializes in high-end cocktails and upscale bar food. Some friends and I tried their happy hour, where you get $2 off cocktails, and $1 off all food items and beer/wine. I started out with a Presbyterian (shown above with Ezra Brooks bourbon, ginger ale, soda water) and moved on to a Duff and Blathers (rye, averna, maraschino, orange bitters, black pepper tincture). I could make a habit of the Presbyterian--it was tasty and refreshing--but not so much The Duff and Blathers. It had a lot of strong flavors going on, with an especially spicy kick to it. Interesting, but not really the sort of thing I'd drink often.

We also ordered snacks--garlic truffled popcorn and duck fat roasted fingerling potatoes with aioli dipping sauce. Both were good and we probably would've tried more things if we weren't saving our appetites for dinner.

Since we had a group of people, we chose table seating instead of the bar. I prefer sitting at the bar to talk to people and take in the atmosphere, but there was no reason to do it here. It's not the kind of place I'd go to drink solo, but I'd come back to meet a group of friends or my lady for a drink or two and some food. 

Bar #19: Local 360 - Belltown

Local 360's hook is that 90% of their raw ingredients are sourced from within 360 miles of Seattle. This is fine for the food, but doesn't work as well for drinks. I started off with an Alpine Pils. It was one of three taps, along with the Alpine Hef and Pike Double IPA. The pilsner was fine, but with only three taps, I'm not sure why two of them are Alpine beers. Why not mix it up and have more variety (Fremont, Black Raven, etc).

It's pretty telling that I only took a picture of the food at Local 360. The place is much more of a food destination than a place to drink. There are a lot of good eats on the happy hour menu. The tête de cochon (pictured above with french toast, pig's head, soft cooked egg and maple syrup) was decadent and delicious. The kielbasa corn dog was pretty tasty as well. There were other things I would've liked to try--pulled pork, mac and cheese, deviled duck eggs--and I didn't even get a look at the full dinner menu. I'll be back for a meal at some point.

With beer and food out of the way, I moved on to an Old Fashioned ($5 using Snake River Stampede Canadian Whisky from Oregon as their well whiskey) and a house cocktail called The Pioneer Square (Ransom Old Tom Gin from Oregon, dry vermouth, lemon). The drinks were okay, but limiting spirit choices to Oregon and Washington is a little risky. If I'm gonna spend money on a fancy cocktail, I'd rather go to a place where I'm able to pick from the best of the best, not just the best of the Pacific Northwest. I'll probably stick with beer when I go there again.

The bar itself was fine, except for the uncomfortable bar stools (maybe my ass is just too skinny). There's nothing about it that makes you wanna settle in and stay awhile, but the service was knowledgeable and friendly. Overall, it's a decent spot for a couple drinks and a quick bite to eat.

Bar #18: Liberty - Capitol Hill

[Geoff Kaiser has given me the keys to Seattle Beer News for a few weeks, so I’ll be cross-posting some of my bar reviews over there. Since the focus at SBN is beer, I’ll be scrutinizing each bar’s beer selection more closely than I do here.]

A couple days ago, I paid my first visit to Liberty on 15th Avenue in Capitol Hill. I’ve lived close by for the last five years and I’ve never set foot inside until now. The reasons? First, Liberty is known for its cocktails and I’m primarily a beer drinker. But the main reason is that every time I walk by, the place is crowded with the kind of people who… well, let’s just say they don’t seem like my kind of people.

It was a good decision to go to Liberty during happy hour early in the week. It wasn’t packed and my special lady friend Francesca and I were able to snag two seats at the end of the bar. It took several minutes for me to page through the thick drink menu, which lists a crapload of cocktails by spirit (whiskey, vodka, gin, tequila), as well as house infusions (some in cool skull jars on the bar) and flights where you get four half-ounce pours of different liquors. I decided on the Holy Grail, a house-created cocktail with Maker’s Mark 46, Peychaud’s bitters and lemon verbena. It was tasty. My lady had a well gin and tonic and the gin was higher quality than most well gins.

After the cocktail, I turned my attention to the beer selection and found it left something to be desired. They have seven taps, five of which–Guinness, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Manny’s Pale Ale and PBR–can be found at almost any Seattle bar. The other two were the 3 Skulls IPA and Odin’s Gift Ruby Ale. I’ll give Liberty points for offering local beers, but feel like they could be a bit more adventurous with their choices. The bottle list was similar, with a few things I’d drink, but nothing out of the ordinary. I ended up having a couple pints of Manny’s and also sampled a few bourbons. For food, Liberty has fresh sushi, and after watching the sushi guy preparing orders, we couldn’t resist trying some. It was good, but not enough to make it a sushi destination for me.

Overall, I liked Liberty more than I thought I would. If you’re into inventive cocktails or want to sample and learn about high-quality liquor, it’s a place worth seeking out. Unfortunately, if it’s good beer you’re after, you should probably go down the block to Hopvine or Smith.

Bar #17: The Grizzled Wizard - Wallingford

When The Grizzled Wizard opened several months ago, the word was that a metal bar had opened in Wallingford. That might've been an exaggeration. The owners are metal fans, but more than anything it's a simple, neighborhood bar.

The Wizard consists of two rooms. The main room has a long bar, television, jukebox (the good kind, not one of the shitty internet ones that cost $1 a tune) and a multi-arcade game machine. The lighting is dim, with the only illumination coming from paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The other room has a pinball machine and a bunch of cool movie posters.

Drinkwise, they have a few beers on tap (including a couple local selections), canned and bottled beers and a small selection of spirits. They've also developed some house cocktails and infused vodkas with questionable stuff like Sweden Fish. The two times I've been to the bar, I stuck with tap beer like an IPA from Elliott Bay or cans of Hamm's.
Foodwise, they were only offering frozen dinners when I was there, but I hear they've since added pulled pork sandwiches and a few other real food items. The co-owners cooked at Swingside Cafe and other places, so the food is probably worth checking out.

On its website, the Wizard claims to be a "clean dive." As I've said before, I think people in Seattle are too quick to call places dives. I guess calling a bar a dive gives it some kind of cache with hipsters who want to drink PBRs and pretend they're in a seedy and dangerous place. There's nothing seedy or dangerous about this bar. That's not to say that I don't like the Wizard. The place feels comfortable and there is metal on the jukebox. It's a place I'd drink at regularly if I were still working in Wallingford.

Bar #16: Clever Bottle - Belltown

A group of us headed into Belltown to check out Clever Bottle, a place that focuses on on cocktails featuring wine and/or beer. We were there on a Friday during happy hour, and it was pretty dead. The feel of the place has more in common with the area's upscale eateries than it does with bars like Shorty's and Lava Lounge.

In addition to the non-spirits cocktail angle, there are wines by the glass, a few taps of typical local beers and a menu of small plates using high quality, local ingredients from Pike Place Market. I had a Black Velvet made with lemon, sparkling wine and Deschutes Black Butte Porter. It was decent, but nothing that'll have me rushing to mix wine and beer again in the near future.

We wondered if Clever Bottle will survive if it's so dead on a Friday late afternoon. I talked with the owner Kristen, and she said business has been good overall and usually picks up later in the evening. While it may not the best choice for a pub crawl, Clever Bottle could be a good call for a date. I could see it being a pre- or post-dinner option for people eating nearby. Despite its cute name and the limited options for beer drinkers, I could see coming back with my lady for a drink and some eats.

Bar #15: Virginia Inn - Downtown

I said I wasn't going to write up places that are more restaurant than bar, but that idea's gone out the window. From now on, I'm just going to report on every establishment that'll serve me. Recently, I visited Virginia Inn, a place that's definitely more dining spot than drinking destination. Located a block away from Pike Place Market in the area where downtown meets Belltown, the Virginia has cocktails, wine and ten or so beers on tap.

The bar area is a small percentage of the room, with table seating taking up most of the space. There are also several small outdoor tables, which tourists covet when the weather's nice. Most of the beer selections are local, which is good since it forces the tourists to drink something that isn't advertised on television. I had a couple Boundary Bay IPAs and they tasted fine.

I visited during happy hour and, oddly, there were no discounts on drinks—only on food. To encourage both eating and drinking, they offer half-price small plates if you order a beverage. For $4, I had a hummus plate that was a decent snack. They also had plates with smoked salmon, deviled eggs and pâté.

Even though I work downtown, I don't see Virginia Inn becoming a regular drinking spot. There's nothing about the bar that stands out and during the good weather months it's lousy with tourists. For me, it'll only be an occasional option for a few pints and a snack during happy hour.

Bar #14: Pony - Capitol Hill

When I started the whole EBiS thing, I was a little worried about how I was gonna handle visits to Capitol Hill's gay bars. I'm no homophobe, but I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable walking solo into a leather daddy bar or hardcore lesbian hangout. Most of my guy friends aren't eager to hit spots like these either (unless they're shithoused), so I jumped at the chance when I ran into Cavy, Pickles and Spilly at Elysian one afternoon and they suggested hitting Pony.

We went to the bar at their usual opening time of 5 pm, but we forgot that it was the day after Pride Weekend, and they had a sign saying they wouldn't be open until 7. After killing a few hours with drinks and corndogs at Unicorn, we headed back and had the bar to ourselves.

I didn't bother looking at the taps or liquor with a critical eye. Spilly told me earlier that they serve $2 tallboys of Colt 45 in paper bags and that was good enough for me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a Colt 45.

We didn't stay for long, but we did play air hockey and enjoyed some drinks on their outdoor deck. I also acted like Beavis and/or Butthead, pointing and laughing while checking out all the porntastically gay pictures on the walls and the ‘80s gay porn mags on the tables. I know, I need to grow up. Since then, I heard about the wonders that awaited in the bathroom, but my bladder didn't need emptying.

Needless to say, going to Pony the day after Pride Weekend, you’re not going to have the true Pony experience. There were no other people there, so I got no real sense of what the bar's like. Is it one of those gay bars where there's a mix of straight and gay drinkers, or is it more of a same-sex pickup scene?

Luckily, a week or so later, I drunkenly came back with a larger group when the place was more lively. There seemed to be a mix of straight and gay drinkers. We nearly got 86ed when the bouncer caught a couple of us smoking on the deck. We tried to huddle around the fire pit to keep warm, but it really was just too cold to stay out there, so we had one drink and took off.

It may not be the kinda place I'll drink at often, but I'm glad I was able to check Pony out. I'll have to recruit more friends to visit other similar spots around Capitol Hill.