Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Downtown
OWL & THISTLE
IRISH PUB
( 206-621-7777;
www.owlnthistle.com
;
808 Post Ave; 11am-2am; Pioneer Sq)
One of
the best Irish pubs in the city, the dark, cavernous Owl & Thistle is located slap-bang
downtown but misses most of the tourist traffic (who home in on the more 'themed'
Fado) because it's hidden in Post Alley.
Aside from hosting Celtic folk bands or acoustic singer-songwriters who make pleas-
ant noises here most evenings, it serves excellent beer and possibly the cheapest fish
and chips in the city (less than $4 during happy hour). Most importantly, it's run by an
Irishman (and his wife).
SEATTLE COFFEE WORKS
CAFE
(
www.seattlecoffeeworks.com
;
107 Pike St; 7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun;
; Westlake)
S
Amid the frenetic action of downtown is a cafe where they truly
treat their coffee like wine. Seattle Coffee Works' woody interior is split in two, with a
normal walk-up counter and a 'slow bar' where they'll brew your coffee to order and
discuss its taste notes like enthusiastic oenologists.
The Obama blend (a mix of Kenyan and Indonesian beans), perfected in the wake of
the 2008 election, is an old favorite (they also tried a McCain blend but it apparently
didn't sell!).
BOOKSTORE BAR
BAR
( 206-624-4844;
www.alexishotel.com
; 1007 1st Ave; 2pm-midnight Tue-Sat, to 10pm Sun &
Mon; Pioneer Sq)
Cementing downtown's reputation as a font of good hotel bars is the
Bookstore, encased in the front window of the Alexis Hotel, which mixes books
stacked on handsome wooden shelves with whiskey - an excellent combination (ask
Dylan Thomas). There are over 100 varieties of Scotch and bourbon available, plus a
full gamut of weighty literary tomes from Melville to Twain.
Should you be peckish, the curried crawfish mac 'n' cheese goes down a treat.
