Six/Seven Lounge – Seattle, Washington, USA

As I walked down to pier 67 along Alaskan Way, I had to wonder what the management of the Edgewater Hotel thought of their most infamous guest-related incident and how much business they still got purely because it was the spot where (allegedly) Led Zepplin (and/or crew) helped a groupie get jiggy with a mudshark. Judging from the frat-boy bon(ham)homie I overheard from one of the balconies as I made my way down the long drive, the answer would seem to be “some”.

Setting aside puerile rockstar/roadie antics, I tried out the amusingly ‘classy’ Six/Seven lounge at the Edgewater for the first time during their late-afternoon happy hour (3-6pm). The décor is a pleasant 60’s chic meets industrial woodland, and the view is incomparable. The bar is perched over Puget sound, about 10 feet above the lapping tide during my visit, giving that sense of being at sea while actually sipping a cocktail on (somewhat firm, reclaimed) land.

While not the cheapest happy hour I’ve encountered by any means, it was decent for Seattle and a great deal for the food specials. A lovely malbec was $6 (reg $12) and a ½ lb of mussels in a cream, fennel and chorizo broth was only $5 (also reg $12). Anyone hoping to catch some celebrity high-jinx would have been disappointed, however – just the regular hotel-bar business talk. Time to listen to a story about a little street corner girl…

Visited: June 14, 2011

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Main Event, Baker City, OR, USA

Main Event, Baker City, OR

Baker City is trying. They have a very nice heritage downtown and is somewhat of an oasis in the wasteland of Eastern Oregon. Too bad for Baker City that no one goes to Eastern Oregon, except a few truckers and the farmers/ranchers still working the dry, scrubby hills.

Nothing special decor-wise, the Main Event is set up in the classic diner/bar style – open kitchen and eating counter on one side, long bar on the other, pool and tables at the back. The drinks were stiff, the conversation lively, and the fish sandwich the BEST I’ve ever had. Soft roll, crispy battered fish, pickley tartar…plain old delicious.

Throw on some Red Sovine, order up some dinner, and join the chat while keeping an eye on the game – no better way to spend the evening.

Visited: May 21, 2010

Pippin’s Tavern, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Pippin’s is a fabulous example of a bar that doesn’t try too hard yet succeeds on all counts:

• great side-street location, not too hard to find but tucked away from the milling throngs? Check
• friendly but not overbearing staff that know when to chat and when to leave you along? Check
• juke box that plays your selections as soon as you choose them? Check [Urge Overkill seems an appropriate choice...]
• long bar worn by passed drinks and rubbed elbows? Check
• round of 2 highballs under $10? Check

The equation is pretty simple, it’s shocking more places can’t get it as right as Pippen’s. A great neighbourhood bar in the big and windy city.

Visited: March 16, 2010

PS Lounge, Denver, Colorado, USA

As mentioned in the bar resource Old School Denver, Colfax Ave – the old Highway 40 running east-west through Denver – still boasts a number of great old watering holes and bunk houses.

Not mentioned on that site is the PS Lounge, a time warp of black Naugahyde booths and excellently dark decor. On a snowy night during the Vancouver winter Olympics, we stumbled in because the steak house across the street was closed. Our order of two bourbon and diet cokes were delivered with two complimentary alabama slammers and a complimentary rose “for the lady” (me, I guess). The men’s figure skating free program was on the TV, and the half-dozen patrons/staff joined in critiquing the skaters. Really, a neighbourhood bar doesn’t get any better. Throw on a little Vic Damone and forget the world outside.

Visited: Feb 18, 2010

Boules Bar at the Biltmore Hotel, Miami, Florida, USA

Built in 1925, the Biltmore Hotel is a hunk of old-school luxury plunked down in the middle of the Coral Gables neighbourhood of Miami, a toney locale that calls to mind 1998′s Wild Things (Who doesn’t love that brand of star-studded cinematic cheese? ) and the 1920′s heyday of the Florida land boom. Nestled in the colonnade along the biggest hotel swimming pool in the continental US, the appeal of the Boules Bar is definitely its impossibly posh setting. A Perez Prado tune and something tall and cool with a cherry should let you slip into the skin of the elite, if only until the ice melts.

Tiny bladder alert! Cascading water is the main sonic feature of this lounge, making whispered conversation difficult and a trip to the luxurious WC mandatory. Tiny wallet alert! Like most bars in Miami, cocktails start at $15 US (probably more by now). And, also common to Miami watering holes, the bar service is mediocre. If I’m paying $20 for a drink, I really don’t expect to have to tell the bartender how to make it, but such is life in the rarified vapidity of  South Florida.

Visited: December 2007

Big John’s Saloon, Catherine, KS, USA

No frills, side of the road, middle of nowhere, gold! Big John’s Saloon serves up beer (or hard liquor) and deep fried food cheap and easy like Sunday morning, although we visited on a Saturday am. This is the kind of place that you’ll find 4 trucks outside and 4 people inside. The interior is plain and unpretentious and the spotless ladies room needs a shout out. The best part really is the back-road location – we always love the hidden gem factor! Leave Hwy 70 at exit 159, head north on 183 to 55th, take a right and go until you hit Toulon, turn left and follow the road around the bend to the right. You’ll see Big John’s on the left just before you hit Catherine. When you get there, hum a little Dust in the Wind to put yourself in the right frame of mind.

Visited: August 15, 2009

Mint Bar – Sheridan, Wyoming, USA

The wild and weird west is bucked its way into my bar-lovin’ heart at The Mint Bar. Opened in 1907 on the main street of the decidedly bovine Sheridan, WY, this watering hole features a plethora of furry taxidermy and shiny burnished burl. Over a few cocktails, the unassumingly chatty owner-operator gave us the low-down on the ins and outs of the modern cattle business.  The only thing that could have improved the atmosphere would have been “Cattle Call” and a little Waylon on the jukebox.

If you don’t think that’s a fabulous way to spend a sunny Monday morning, you’d better move on down the trail, pardner.

Visited: August 10, 2009