Even with 71 breweries and taprooms in Seattle, brewers seem confident the Emerald City hasn’t reached market saturation, as breweries continue to come. Meanwhile, many wine-tasting rooms continue to expand into Woodinville, as winemakers project this will be a big summer for wine tourism with most COVID-19 restrictions lifted. Check out our roll call of new openings below.
Old Stove Brewing Ship Canal
600 W. Nickerson St., Seattle; 206-602-6120; oldstove.com/shipcanal
Old Stove Brewing, which already boasts a packed brewpub at Pike Place Market, has completed the first stage (a 50-seat taproom and beer garden) of its ambitious, 24,000-square-foot beer complex across from Seattle Pacific University. Co-founders Chris Moore and Brian Stan have leased four buildings on the corner of Nickerson Street and Sixth Avenue West and plopped down an indoor and outdoor drinking area. Come summer, the duo will open a second taproom with a restaurant as well as expand their beer garden, which currently has 14 picnic tables. When completed, the brewery complex could easily hold at least 500 patrons.
One warehouse might be converted into a “concert hall,” though no permits have been filed yet, according to management. By the end of the year, Old Stove also plans to brew its signature pilsner and its other best-selling suds on a 30-barrel brewing system that’s already set up in this complex. The new venue already draws many cyclists who take the South Ship Canal Trail behind the brewery from downtown. Bicyclists can also barhop here to Rooftop Brewing and Fast Penny Spirits a half-mile away.
Bickersons Brewhouse
1514 Leary Way N.W. (Ballard), Seattle; bickersonsbrewhouse.com
The Ballard Brewery District gets another taproom in the former Peddler Brewing space. It’s a 45-seat brewery, though the prime real estate is the backyard, which doubles as a beer garden and can hold 300 more. The beer garden, with covers and heaters, should ease the crowding at the other nearby breweries, which had long waitlists last summer. About 40% of the 16 taps will be devoted to IPAs, head brewer and co-owner Frank Castro promised, though there will be some lagers and malty beers for those who don’t like hoppy beers. Castro and his wife and co-owner Shaunn Siekawitch plan to keep their original Bickersons Brewhouse in Renton, but will brew most of their beers now at their Ballard facility.
The Denny Lodge
501 Fairview Ave. N. (South Lake Union); Seattle; 206-402-3046; thelodgesportsgrille.com
This local beer chain must take the Amazon busy bees to be the party-hardy type because on a recent Friday afternoon, dance music was thumping throughout the dimly lit bar and dining area. It wasn’t even happy hour yet. The Lodge recently closed its Seattle branches in Greenwood and Pioneer Square and its downtown branch is temporarily closed, but there should be plenty of foot traffic in South Lake Union with all the tech workers trickling back by summer. The Denny Lodge has ESPN and games showing on a dozen flat-screens set up at every corner. The bar boasts about 30 beers on tap, though the better deals are the cheap, mixed drinks (many around $10-$12) including a $12 Maker’s Mark Perfect Manhattan. All wine bottles are half off every Wednesday. Its massive food menu covers all things crunchy, cheesy or deep-fried — think nachos, wings, tacos and cheeseburgers.
Valdemar Estates
17409 133rd Ave. N.E., Unit 115, Woodinville; 425 364-4648; valdemarestates.com
A tapas bar with tasting room moves into the new retail strip called Wine Walk Row, located on the ground floor of the swanky three-apartment complex in downtown Woodinville. Valdemar Estates owns vineyards in Walla Walla and in Rioja, Spain, making big reds from Eastern Washington and Tempranillo from Spain. Come summer, there will be paella parties in the 60-seat patio (with an additional 75 seats inside). Expect the tapas staples: patatas bravas, albondigas meatballs and jamón ibérico. The Spanish-themed winery sits next to McQueen Champagne Bar, with at least three more tasting rooms opening soon in this Wine Walk Row strip.
Three of Cups
19255 Woodinville Snohomish Road, Unit 4, Woodinville; 425-286-6657 threeofcups.com
Another tasting room that got its permits and construction completed before the summer wine tourism rush, this boutique winery recently expanded with a second location in the north end of Woodinville. Owners Lisa Swei and Mike Metheny have six reds and whites from Eastern Washington and Oregon for patrons to sample in their new 30-seat tasting room.
The Guilt Trip Bar + Kitchen
238 Central Way, Kirkland; 425 608-8788; theguilttriprestaurant.com
This family Indian restaurant closed last year in Redmond and reopened in downtown Kirkland with a younger nightlife focus and a new menu of bar food and Indian fusion small plates. Guilt Trip is 21-and-over only on Saturday nights with DJs and soon live music. Management also plans to host ladies’ nights as well as LGBTQ nights in the future.
Ballard Hockey Bar
2248 N.W. Market St. (Ballard), Seattle; instagram.com/ballardhockeybar
On the pop-up front, some hockey fans took over the former Pho Big Bowl restaurant space. In May, this bar will open Fridays through Sundays from 4 p.m. to at least 10 p.m., along with opening on some NHL playoff nights. (Check its Instagram page for schedule). After hearing that this Ballard block will be demolished in the fall to make way for a mixed-used seven-story apartment complex, the owners of The Ballard Station took over this vacated restaurant space to run a bar pop-up for the short term, said Meredith Trudgeon, one of the managers of the Ballard Hockey Bar. The quirky, underwater-themed bar, with four 72-inch flat-screens, offers about 30 different beers in cans along with margaritas and manhattans.
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