Type: Restaurant
Class: Average

The Blue Canal (aaah, aaah – Reference to the Blue Star in Galaxina. You probably don’t want to know) used to be Angel Thai. It has been seriously remodeled and is now a nicer Chinese restaurant. The bar is dark polished wood and what used to be a light blue motif is now a white motif with dark brown accents. Several Tatami tables sit to one side of the largish dining area. The ceiling is quite high and while I usually like that, it just makes this back room feel … empty.

I recommend sitting up front by the windows. Not only can you watch life go by, but you can also look into the kitchen. Did I mention that I really do like the look of this new place. Unfortunately, since they aren’t a Thai place anymore, they don’t have the glasses full of Trivial Pursuit cards at the bar. This is one of the stranger bar cultural phenomenomas that we have come across.

I ordered some Crab Rangoon like objects (they weren’t exactly right, but the sauce was really tasty.) Our bartender was efficient and the waitress was friendly. All in all the experience was nice, but unmemorable.

I give them a flat but shiny 3 Martini Glasses out of 5.

-B

Type: Hotel
Class: Upscale

This is the new upscale fish restaurant and “theme” place that is part of the newly opened Waterfront Marriott. The Mariott also has a normal hotel bar as well, but we didn’t learn that until we had to walk down the enormously long hallway to go to the bathroom. The hallway is so long that they have a greater at the far end, to point you to the bathroom and to let you know that you are actually at an entrance to this place. This is good since you can’t really see the restaurant from the lobby. Not even by peering down the long hall. You might guess that something was up, but you never could truly be sure.

The bar is shiny and black with a carved out section in the middle, filled with ice, that is used to display high end vodkas. The establishment is very good looking but it is definitely a restaurant first and a drinking establishment second. This is made more apparent by the older and more affluent clientele. The staff was all cute, young, and mostly female.

We got talking to the bartender and it turns out that she used to work at the Courtyard by Marriott. In fact, she just recently left there to take this job. In fact, she is the girl that Lilly (my girlfriend, did I mention) took over for. I had to thank her for getting this new job. Although, considering that she makes an extra $2 an hour here and probably makes a ton more in tips I don’t think she really needed thanking.

I mentioned that the hallway was long right? Well there are tables down the long hallway as well as a couple of fairly secluded tables with a questionable view of the pier (but mostly Alaskan Way.) You could have a fairly quiet and nice dinner or drinks down this hallway. Just don’t expect excellent service cause I can’t imagine it happening.

So the drinks were decent and priced to high, but I would expect nothing less of Todd English. Oh, I should mention that Todd English, the chef, does these sorts of theme restaurants all across the country for big name hotels. The Park Plaza in Boston has one called Bonfire. I wonder what the theme there is. So anyhow, it is kind of pretentious, looks good, and is pricey. It is not really a destination, but if you are in the neighborhood … oh who are we kidding, no one is going to be in the neighborhood of here. I give them 2 and half Martini glasses out of 5, but I didn’t really like out bartender.

-B

Type: Restaurant
Class: Midscale

Owned by the same people as El Gaucho, this place is billed as the Seattle Jeans steakhouse. This is kind of funny to me, since pretty much everywhere is jeans around here if you look techy enough.

Built into the corpse of Chez Gus they have remodeled it beautifully and kept the only interesting thing from Gus. That of course being the mechanical bulldog. It is still cool and still strange. The bar is polished red wood and behind the bar is a classy red headed bartender. If I wasn’t already dating a red head I would have been instantly in love. As it stood I admired her hair quite lovingly. She was fun and sassy and was everything perfect in a bartender.

We got talking about the quest and she was dutifully impressed and a little jealous. After that, the real conversation started. At some point it became apparent that she was a redheaded Jew who was into movies, was up on just about everything and she liked the Tick. I was flabbergasted. It was like they had bottled up all of those weird quirky things that I wanted in a woman and then boom, there she was. The funny thing is, Lilly was all of those things to me first and she is all mine.

Rippe’s is definitely an El Gaucho establishment since the menu looks almost exactly the same (in terms of format.) I hope that food is as good as I plan to come back one of these days.

I recommend Rippe’s since the bartender was excellent, the drinks were good and as usual, they were priced at $5.

-B

So I have just learned that the Camlin Hotel has been bought and the new owners are going to get rid of the Cloud Room.

I heap nothing but scorn upon TrendWest resorts who have decided that they should build penthouse suites for the few rather than keep the Cloud Room for the many.

I doubt a letter writing campaign would do anything but as it turns out their world headquarters are right here in Redmond Washington.

The secretary just came back to ask me why I wanted to talk to someone about the Camlin Purchase. I will say, that while I am sitting on hold, that Sylvia, the woman who answered the phone was very nice.

Well, Sylvia just came back on to tell me that the person I had to speak with not available, so instead I got her information.

Contact should be to:

Sonia Tolbert
1-425-498-2500 x 2687
9805 Willows RD
Redmond, WA 98052

SoniaT@trendwestresorts.com or click here

I will be sending email. I know I should write a letter, but ... well ...

So nothing will happen, but I least I will feel better.

--B

Located in the lower level of the former Edmund Meany Hotel (now a Best Western) the District takes over the space that was once Pleiades. The bar has only been open for about a month at this point, but already it shows signs of being a great establishment.

Sunken beneath street level, you enter by a set of stairs from 45th. A softly glowing blue sign at the bottom of the stairs proclaims the bar's name. To the left is a small seating area that is likely used for lunch and for private events, while to the right is the bar itself. Seating is plentiful, with several tables and a long cushioned bench to the left of the bar and several very large and almost swanky booths, along with a few more tables, to the right. At the counter there are another dozen or more bar stools split into smaller groups by cocktails stations.

The booths are soft and plush, with a good angle for reclining, although there aren't enough places to set a drink. These booths lack actual tables, although dazzlingly upholstered ottomans serve as a nice place to set your cell phone, or your feet. Small end tables on either side of the long seats provide for some drink space, but are impossible to reach from the middle of the benches.

The staff is friendly and service is quick, but the bartenders seemed to be doing most of the serving on the Friday we were there, which involved a lot of walking back and forth from behind the bar. This slowed down the drinks a little, since the bar entrance is on the very far end of the lounge from where we were sitting. Only a very small problem, though, and once the place catches on, I'm certain they'll have cocktailers working the floor to cut out the extra distance. For now, newly opened and not yet known, the system works fine.

The drinks were of a good strength, the prices very reasonable, and the 3.25 well drinks featured Smirnoff, Bacardi, and similar mid-shelf brands. Even a call Lemondrop was still under 6 dollars. Happy hour, from 4-7, promised even lower prices on drink specials. There's a full menu designed for a bar crowd available as well, but it doesn't feature happy hour pricing, unfortunately.

The space is very nice looking, a cool, dim lounge with windows high up that let in light but are too high to have to see the U District street life, probably a plus. It lets you keep the illusion that the District is located in some upscale neighborhood. Perhaps in keeping with that upscale illusion, the lounge is smoke-free, a plus to some but something to keep in mind when planning an evening out.

With low prices, a good space, and not yet packed to the gills with college kids, the District comes highly recommended.

(visited 6/6/3)

The newest bar in Fremont, Norm's takes the place of the Seattle Catch Seafood Bistro. A long, narrow space, adjacent to the Ballroom, the name of the place made me expect a fat man to be sitting at the bar drinking beer. However, it was nothing of the sort.

Several tables sit in front of the restaurant on the sidewalk, making Norm's one of the infrequent places in Seattle where you can eat out on the street. The tables were all rather small, just a couple people could sit at each, but inside there was a lot more seating. The bar is on the right, extending much of the way back into the recesses of Norm's, while there are tables, a few of them booths, on the left. It's not a large space, and it was very crowded on the night we visited, but there was no trouble getting seats at the bar.

There was only a single waitress for the entire restaurant, it appeared, so I'm thinking the service would have been kind of slow, but they haven't been open for very long and are probably a little understaffed at times. At the bar, the two bartenders made quick drinks from our orders, and served them up in large bucket glasses. The drinks were of a decent strength, but made with very cheap booze. The prices were acceptable for Fremont.

There were several TVs with the baseball game on them, located about the actual bar area.

Norm's is a smoke free establishment. What's going on with this trend, which I don't really care for, of all the new bars not allowing smoking? Do they actually think the State Legislature will get around to banning it in bars? I'm not sure, but I don't think I like it. For those who dislike smoke, though, Norm's was a minor paradise of clear air.

The food was diner style stuff, a little on the pricey side for what it was, but a little on the cheap side for where it was. Plus, I think from the descriptions on the menu that the quality is a lot higher than just normal diner food.

I don't think I'd give it a second stop, but it might appeal to some.

(visited 6/6/3)

Hey All,

Just a quick note to tell you all that 570bars.com has broken 50,000 unique IP hits. I figure that is like 35,000 people who have visited at least the front page. I say this cause I know I account for like 15 of those IP hits.

But anyhow, thank you all for being part of something strange and wonderful.

-B

As I write this, it's very early in the morning on the 19th of June. In just 11 short days, the Cloud Room will be no more.

I first went to the Cloud Room 5 years ago. I was at Care to Dance with my ex boyfriend David, and it was really lame, so we went across the street to the Camlin Hotel. David had just been to the Cloud Room a week or two earlier, and it was summer, and the weather was perfect, so he suggested we should go there, and we did.

Up in the shade, because it was afternoon, with the fountain playing and all the people around us wearing the same entry bracelets we were, I had a wonderful time. Not that the drinks were anything special, because they weren't. But it was a place above the city, a brilliant, wonderous patch of airy perfection, and it was warm and breezy and bright, and all was right with the world.

I went there every so often over the next few years, and then didn't go for a long while before I returned for a birthday bar crawl. And again, it was summer, the light was long and low, and it was wonderful.

And on the quest, we were there on an early spring day, with the weather cloudy and the air chill, but Brandon and I still went outside in the cool night air and sipped our drinks, standing because all the chairs were wet, and looking out over the Hill. And even if it wasn't perfect, for that time, all was right with the world.

Last month rumors swirled that the Cloud Room was closing, the Camlin was being bought, and they were true. Rumor had it they were gone by the middle of August, and that was false. I've already been there once since I heard they were closing, and I'm going again, at least once more, and maybe several times. I want all to be right with the world once or twice before the Cloud Room is gone.

For all of you who've ever been there, and been charmed by the place like everyone is, you should go back and raise a drink to your memories. It's not often you get a chance to say the final goodbye, but when it comes, it's precious. We all have that chance with the Cloud Room. Take it. You have until the night of the 30th, and then it's over forever.

Okay, I know I said they would be done months ago, but the way we had to do them was so very slow. But Brandon discovered a much quicker way, and now both the Brandon Reviews and Jason Reviews are complete, so that you can read through either of our review lists without interruption.