This place used to be called the Sea Wolf. We came here for an interview with Melanie from the paper.

The name change is by far the biggest difference about the place, from what I saw. Pretty much the same crowd of mostly older gay guys, the same nice and strong drinks at good prices, the same furniture and decor.

Clara, Brandon and I had a drink, sat and talked, I played the little bar-top TaiPai type game, and then an old friend Chuck C. came in and sat with us for a bit. But we had to head out because there was one more bar to hit.

It's the same place as it was, as I said, and that's not a bad thing really, because it didn't do too much wrong. I can't say most people will want to visit, it being the type of bar it is, but it's got good drinks.

(visited 4/16/4)

This is a hot new place in Ballard. Really hot. There's a wait time for tables that can get rather long, because the food is supposed to be truly amazing. Southern Mexican (Oaxacan, specifically) cuisine. And it gets amazing write ups.

Well, we weren't there for food. But even though it was within an hour of closing time, if we had been, we would have been waiting. And there was barely room in the (admittedly tiny) bar, either. The staff was everywhere at once, taking care of the customers, and everyone seemed to be having a great time in the restaurant.

The bar was, as mentioned, very small. Just a few stools and a back counter which emptied just as we arrived. So Clara, Brandon and I laid claim to it. Clara had decided she wanted to sponsor a bar, so she stepped over and ordered the drinks. She wasn't having any more, just a ginger ale. We got the drinks and then realized it was a Mexican place, and we should have chips and salsa. So Brandon got some chips and we went and took advantage of the Salsa bar. Five different types available, or was it six? Well, we took four or so back to the bar. Some were very good. Some were okay. Their heat varied.

At some point Clara's drink was spilled. I know I didn't do it, but I can't recall if it was Brandon's fault or not. In any case, the very nice barman just replaced it with another one, and that was really nice of him.

My drink wasn't so great. Pretty strong, but not so tasty. I guess Vodka tonics aren't the tastiest in any case, so what can you do?

I ended up drinking some salsa too, cause it was hot and tasty and really fluid.

It's not really the place to try to get a drink, because it's so busy, but they are really nice. Eat here, then drink at other places after, it being Old Ballard, which I've already mentioned has a great number of good bars.

Thanks to Clara for our first official post-Quest sponsorship. She rules.

(visisted 4/16/4)

So I've run out of bars to review, because Brandon and I are slackers. I've reviewed all the places we've been to (with the exception of Mojito Cafe on Western, because I'm not sure when we went there, but I'm trying to figure it out) and until we hit some more bars, I've nothing left to do.

Meanwhile, Brandon's just slacking in not putting up reviews of even the bars we've been to. But I'm sure he's got a good reason, like NetFlix just sent him Jeepers Creepers 2 or something like that.

Anyway, I'll get him out to some more bars soon, so that he can not review them and hopefully I can. Soon. Really. I mean it.

There is a section of the city which is called Little Addis Abbaba because of the very large number of Ethiopians who reside there. There are also a delightful assortment of Ethiopian restaurant/bars there, all of which we visited during the quest. A few other such establishments hide in other parts of the city, one of them being Queen Sheba.

First, it should be noted it's not actually a bar. But it does have liquor, and Ethiopian food does rule, so we decided to go there for a drink. Joined by my brother Damon and his girlfriend Erin (who had never tasted the fine qualities of Ethiopian food) and their roommate Stacey (who has had such food) we traveled to Capitol Hill and entered the restaurant.

It's like a nicer version of all the others, really. A converted house, it would appear, with a very small lowered entryway that serves no purpose I can discern, and then a good number of tables pressed in reasonably closely in the main seating area. There are a few Ethiopian objet scattered through the place, but not much, really. The tables were were seated at featured old newspaper clippings beneath the clear surface, which were interesting to read, as they were all Seattle local things, and it was nice to see a time when a pound of ham was 9 cents.

The food (which is incidental to this review, but we had it, so I'll mention it) was excellent. Not quite Zobel, but still very good. Two combos was enough to feed all five of us.

The drink menu was not exhaustive. My brother attempted to order a Bloody Mary, which I could have told him wouldn't be available, and indeed, it was not. Brandon and I were somewhat saddened to see that our drinks came with ice, and were all mixed together for us, and Brandon didn't even get asked if he wanted Red Label or Black Label whiskey, which was very sad indeed. They were fine drinks, but not what I hope for from an Ethiopian place, which is really to have a very strange drink experience.

It's not a bad stop if you must have Ethiopian food on Capitol Hill, but for my dining and drinking pleasure, I'd just head a mile or so south to Little Addis Ababa and eat at Zobel, cause it's ever so much nicer there.

(visited on 4/27/4)

There used to be a little tavern here called the 7th Avenue, being as it was on 7th only about 15 blocks north of my house. I didn't even know it was there until a month or two into our quest, even though I'd lived that close for three and then some years by that time. At that time I went to visit someone we had met on the quest who worked there a couple nights a week, and it was a nice enough place, but just a beer and wine bar, and I never did go back.

Now there's a full service bar in the same spot. Barking Dog is a good looking place, which makes sense, because they took their time to set up the place. There's a lot of bright wood, curving angles, artfully exposed bolts and big windows. It's bright and open inside, but when it gets dark out, with all those windows just letting in the black, as it were, I'm sure it becomes a dark and moody space. There's a dining area in the front, with a large lobe of seating to one side and then more seats between the bar area and the windows. We sat at one of the several small tables in the bar area, but not at the actual bar, and it was a good spot.

The waitstaff were busy with lunch time diners, even on a Saturday. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that it's a total neighborhood place; neither of the streets that border it are even arterials. We got our drinks and chatted, and looked over their decent beer menu, with their own brews and a good amount of Belgian imports. The food looked decent as it was whisked by us and out into the restaurant. There's really no seperation between the two areas, by the way, just a divider that's not even very high. There's a wall of booze in the bar, and a flat-screen TV over it that was playing sports. But just the one, which was nice.

The drinks were fine. I wouldn't call them exceptional, but at a neighborhood joint that's new, the wells aren't going to be. There was nothing at all wrong with them. The price was fine, and in fact about a half dollar less than I thought they would be, with the bar being so shiny and new.

It's a nice sort of place, but I'm really more a Tin Hat kind of guy, so there's not need to alter my neighborhood bar of choice. Which I hardly ever visit, because I'm a terrible, terrible person.

(visited 5/8/4)