Our latest roll call of Seattle bar openings includes a fancy French spot and a place focusing on natural wines. The list also includes a drinking den that defies any category. But this Capitol Hill hot spot is good fun, headed by two guys who obviously don’t take themselves or the craft cocktail scene too seriously.
More details below. More 1801 E. Olive Way, Seattle (Capitol Hill); thewashseattle.
com This bar looks like a grotto adorned with hearts and fake furs, an intentionally cheesy love nest where the main floor is outfitted with shiny, Naugahyde-like booths and there’s a giant disco ball overhead. The color scheme screams neon pink and red. Imagined by interior designer Sloan Wood, the décor obeys no master or time period.
Think Southwest roadside motel meets Austin Powers. (Yeah, baby!) Co-owners Emilio Esparza and Nick Filer know how to have fun. Their john is designed to look like a tanning booth.
Their modest kitchen can whip up a Sonoran dog along with nachos and other simple bites if you get the munchies. But this dive is more of a drinking den, with snacks intended to fortify you between rounds of shots or suds. If nothing else, you should drink here so you have an excuse to check out the pink restroom.
410 Broadway E., Seattle (Capitol Hill) ; guillotine.restaurant Four blocks north sits a bar that’s the opposite of The Wash; Guillotine crafts drinks with rum, cognac and gin, and the kitchen composes French-inspired dishes like the trout almondine serv.
