Vito’s Restaurant and Lounge
For years Vito’s on First Hill was a dingy dive of disrepute, frequented by a mixture of irony-addicted hipsters and the truly down on their luck. Then last year, Hideout owners Jeff Scott and Greg Lundgren bought it, renovating the grisly kitchen and reupholstering the booths that line the lounge. The sexy-seedy atmosphere they maintained—the lights are so low at Vito’s, bartenders use flashlights to locate bottles—the watery drinks they did not. Vito’s now offers 18 specialty cocktails, among them popular oldies (the Corpse Reviver No. 2) and contemporary options like the Red Hook, a rye-based mixture invented at Milk and Honey on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Vito’s Restaurant and Lounge, 927 Ninth Ave, First Hill, 206-397-4053; vitosseattle.com
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Fresh simplicity defines chef Renee Erickson’s food at the Walrus and the Carpenter. It also describes the cocktail menu—the creation of her partner Jeremy Price. A lightened-up version of Le Perroquet, traditionally a dash of gin, orange juice, Campari, and champagne, omits the gin and mixes house-squeezed blood orange juice in with Campari and prosecco, a dry Italian sparkler. The result is a rosy, roundly flavored concoction that tastes just right with a late-night nosh of local cheese, honey, and tangerine. The Walrus and the Carpenter, 4743 Ballard Ave NW, Ballard, 206-395-9227; thewalrusbar.com
The Zig Zag Café
What the world learned in the last 10 months—when Tales of the Cocktail named barman Murray Stenson Bartender of the Year, when GQ dubbed it the best cocktail bar in the country—Seattle has known since Zig Zag’s early days: That the bar stools here are sacred spots, worn-in by aspiring drink slingers scribbling away as Stenson and his support team espouse wisdom on everything from maraschino to Mangalore liqueur. That the Murray quote you hear passed around by local bartenders (“there’s no such thing as the cocktail business, we work in hospitality”) sums up the service philosophy of all the employees at the red-lit bar carved into the Pike Place Market Hillclimb. To our out-of-town guests we present the Zig Zag the way we do the Market, Mount Rainier, and gloomy-gray-gorgeous Puget Sound itself—secure in the knowledge that there is nothing else like it on earth. The Zig Zag Café, 1501 Western Ave, Pike Place Market, 206-625-1146; zigzagseattle.com
Published: March 2011
Great list, Jess. There are some I haven’t been to (Sun Liquor) simply because I wasn’t sure whether they were worth it. I’ll definitely check them all out soon, even the ones I’ve been to before.
Jay, I think you lost all credibility when you tried to claim Barrio is one of the 10 best bars in Seattle. It’s an OK bar, but it’s not anywhere near the caliber of the other bars on this list. Why not just add Jillians and TGI Fridays to your list as well?
We live right across the street from Canlis and the wonderful apartment community Domaine! We love to walk right over and grab one of thier amazing drinks! We could not live in a better place! Bravo Seattle Met on your pick!!!
This list is great! It includes the main staples (Zig Zag, Canlis, Sun Liquor) that still deserve recognition of being the best, since their quality & service don’t seem to ever dip. It also includes some other really important places too like Mistral & Moshi Moshi, which I’m sure we’ll be seeing some exciting things from in the future.
The supplemental list is a nice add too, since you really can’t pick just 10 places and not give an honorable nod to some other fantastic spots.
Thanks.
i think that your list of best bars must not really be a real list of the best bars. maybe a list of the favorite bars of the writer? when bars that are fine and good like vitos or walrus and carpenter are above bars like barrio and liberty or rob roy there must be someone who is putting way to much opinion over the reality of what is a great bar in seattle. maybe they dont understand what actually makes a great bar? barrio and liberty and rob roy are not as good as vitos or warlus and carpenter? how did they put this list together? vito’s is pretty cool, but one of the best bars in town? those other bars that i mentioned have national acclaim, but the two in the top ten list? pretty much this was a decision of someone that added their favorite bars not the best bars. credibility? lost.
A city blessed with so many cocktail heavyweights might require a top 50 list, or maybe even 100. The task to choose Seattle’s top 10 (+15 more) is a daunting one and I do not envy the Seattle Met team that set out to complete it. I know all these bars myself and I enjoyed the write-ups as accurate in their brevity. I agree that they are all deserving of praise, alongside many others who are also receiving accolades in other ways. I’d happily stand behind the team of bartenders representing these top 10 as they take on any other city in the world!
Hi Jay,
A list of my favorite bars WOULD be arbitrary, and based on memories and associations I have with those places. It would include the Irish bar, for instance, where I spent my first 2 homesick months in Seattle drinking overpriced Guinness and playing darts.
This cocktail bar list, however, was created over two years of research and reporting and a whole lot of hand-wringing.
The difference between a “top 10 bar right now” (note the “right now”) and the others is that the top 10 places are, I believe, firing on all cylinders…right now. Often, it came down to service. A bar with great drinks doesn’t necessarily always welcome all kinds of people with equal enthusiasm—that’s something we look for when sending our readers places.
And it’s not all about me. I regularly ask interns and colleagues to try these bars and report back on their experiences.
Is the list subjective? Of course it is. But it’s not a list of my favorite bars. That would just be embarrassing.
I saw that article; Rob Roy and Barrio are mentioned in the same company as the Hunt Club and The Saint. How does that add up? I’m genuinely curious.
Hi Elle,
Make sure to check out this accompanying article: http://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/articles/best-bars-2011-15-more-must-visit-bars-february-2011/, where both Rob Roy and Barrio are mentioned.
Lists are subjective by nature, that’s part of the fun. However, a list within an article that in addition to service and ambience, heavily emphasizes the importance of bartender knowledge, technique, ice, etc. cannot afford to give two spots to under-stocked restaurant bars, especially with bars like Rob Roy, Barrio, etc. in town.
I’ll add this to my list of top 10 Seattle journalism oversights.
I do have to say that West Seattle is still part of Seattle and they have some awesome bars! For instance, the rookie in town, The Bridge. Great food and awesome people, employees or guests. Then there’s the Feedback Lounge, which equally matches up to The Bridge! How about The Mission, or West 5, perhaps Shadowland or Corner Pocket, maybe Angelina’s or the other awesome rookie in town Locol. Then there’s a new Irish bar opening up, A Terrible Beauty. Can’t wait for that. West Seattle is awesome, but, so is the rest of Seattle. We just don’t want to be left out of great places to go. :) We still leave the bridge to frequent downtown, try coming over it to visit our great community. Cheers to everyone and great times!!