If Seattleâs theaters served such divine cocktails as Tavern Law during their shows then the theater business would be booming. Food and drink should have a flair for the dramatic. Thankfully the chefs of Seattle do not play it safe and we are all better for it.
Dickâs has a picture of a steer...shame on them!
Does Tavern Law feature the same over-sweetened, overly-juicy drinks as Spur? Will I still feel like I'm taking part in the same boozed-up-sugar-and-juice-in-a-cocktail-glass craze that's been sweeping college bars since the 90s, with St. Germain taking the place of simple syrup? Will I be subjected to the same smirky, smarmy, nearly disdainful lack of customer service when I sit at the bar and watch some asshole veeerrrryyy caaaarrreefully stir my dessert-sweet drink until it's nice and tepid and then set it in front of me without a word? That sounds great.
When will people start to realize, especially bar owners, that paying $12 for a gin fizz is completely outrageous? I liked Tavern Law but what happened to the days where a "specialty cocktail" was made with ingredients that didn't push the price past $10? David and the rest of the crew behind the bar at Tavern Law know there crap but I still don't see the point in paying over $10 for a classic cocktail.
As the previous person noted, I too am going to Zig Zag as I have the past five years. Thank you Murray for keeping the $12 cocktails off of the menu at Zig Zag.
When walking into a place like Tavern Law, no one actually thinks "wow, this is just like a real speakeasy". Its a theme, and a kitschy one...although it does provide a cool atmosphere to drink great cocktails.
Which is what this place is all about, and what the Clement completely failed to discuss in this "review". The cocktails. For people who dig really well-balanced, well-made, tasty cocktails, this is already one of the best places in town. I dont care where Im drinking it, and I actually think Tavern Law has a pretty cool room to drink in upstairs. But I would never go there if it wasnt for the cocktails.
This place (like many others in town: ZigZag, Licorous, Sambar, Vessel) is all about celebrating classic cocktails that enhance the taste of the liquor, not mask it. Its worth the extra money if youre in the mood for a really good drink. I usually go to my local dive and drink whiskey and beer...but its nice to have options like this around town when one is in the mood.
Overall, I cant believe this would pass for a review. Its misinformed and spends most of its time focusing on a (pointless) tangent, instead of reviewing, or even describing the establishment in question and what it offers!
I loved this slog...as I love returning to the root of things, (crafting drinks vs. slinging them), but "Classic cocktails" are just another bar trend, sorry to say it folks. Soon (thanks to copycat theme bars like this one) we will loathe them like flavored vodkas, says the barkeep.
You and the NY Times has mistaken the neo-speakeasy as being an futile exercise in nostalgia. The speakeasy lives today as a hospitality experience with crafted food and drink, free from the "trendy tax", where anyone who is brave enough to open the door can find a low-key atmosphere to socialize.
Amen "You Gotta Be Kidding Me." Clement, I need to take a moment to review the facts of your piece:
1.You recognize it's inappropriate to review a restaurant so soon after an opening.
2. The food was tasty - all of it (the oysters weren't perfect but delicious)
3. The drinks were good, interesting but not frighteningly weird
4. The place has referenced itself as a speakeasy and you do NOT like that
This last fact was the catalyst for you to bash the place anyway you know how. My personal favorite was the bash via duck decoy. "Downstairs, some knickknacks seem like a joke: duck decoys, collections on shelves that seem hastily assembled instead of covetouslyâhow to put thisâcollected." If the duck decoyâs had been covetously collected would you have mentioned it in reverence? The way you present this argument it makes it sound like there duck decoy collection was particularly offensive.
"Tavern Law has a roulette wheel on the wall behind the bar. It is nonoperational, being mounted at a jaunty, high-visibility angle such that a marble spun on it would be ejected into space." What have your wall hangings done for you lately? When my friend has ANYTHING affixed to a wall ever served its original purpose? Did your New Kids on the Block poster actually kiss back when you were 12? Does your hipster tree wall tattoo actually provide shade?
You hate the fact that Tavern Law is capitalizing on the concept of the speakeasy because it romanticizes something that was in fact not romantic - something that came to be out of desperation. End-Stage Capitalism.
Based on the parameters of your argument you must also hate Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney created our worlds most beloved character out of One of Mans mortal enemies; The rodent. An animal that carried disease destroyed crops and dried food. We have evolved to fear and hate rodents but somehow Walt won us over. Is he just a fad too?
It is true. If you go to Tavern Law you will not get shot at. You will not die from alcohol poisoning. You will not get arrested for drinking illegally. That would be a bad business plan. No matter how volatile the time we live in is there are always optimists, there are always people who laugh, and party and drink. Speakeasies were a haven for those people as much as they were for gangsters and nâere-do-wells. Modern day cocktail enthusiasts are use the word speakeasy as a nod to a craft, a love of complex cocktail flavors and a time when drinking didnât mean as much as fast as possible. Its nostalgia and NONE of us were there. We donât know.
Don't you think he's in enough trouble, already?
Dickâs has a picture of a steer...shame on them!
I'm going to Zig Zag.
As the previous person noted, I too am going to Zig Zag as I have the past five years. Thank you Murray for keeping the $12 cocktails off of the menu at Zig Zag.
Which is what this place is all about, and what the Clement completely failed to discuss in this "review". The cocktails. For people who dig really well-balanced, well-made, tasty cocktails, this is already one of the best places in town. I dont care where Im drinking it, and I actually think Tavern Law has a pretty cool room to drink in upstairs. But I would never go there if it wasnt for the cocktails.
This place (like many others in town: ZigZag, Licorous, Sambar, Vessel) is all about celebrating classic cocktails that enhance the taste of the liquor, not mask it. Its worth the extra money if youre in the mood for a really good drink. I usually go to my local dive and drink whiskey and beer...but its nice to have options like this around town when one is in the mood.
Overall, I cant believe this would pass for a review. Its misinformed and spends most of its time focusing on a (pointless) tangent, instead of reviewing, or even describing the establishment in question and what it offers!
I loved this slog...as I love returning to the root of things, (crafting drinks vs. slinging them), but "Classic cocktails" are just another bar trend, sorry to say it folks. Soon (thanks to copycat theme bars like this one) we will loathe them like flavored vodkas, says the barkeep.
You like the food (that you've had).
You like the drinks (that you've had).
But you don't like the decorating job so you pan the whole place as superficial?...
Pot. Meet Kettle. I think you'll find you have much in common.
1.You recognize it's inappropriate to review a restaurant so soon after an opening.
2. The food was tasty - all of it (the oysters weren't perfect but delicious)
3. The drinks were good, interesting but not frighteningly weird
4. The place has referenced itself as a speakeasy and you do NOT like that
This last fact was the catalyst for you to bash the place anyway you know how. My personal favorite was the bash via duck decoy. "Downstairs, some knickknacks seem like a joke: duck decoys, collections on shelves that seem hastily assembled instead of covetouslyâhow to put thisâcollected." If the duck decoyâs had been covetously collected would you have mentioned it in reverence? The way you present this argument it makes it sound like there duck decoy collection was particularly offensive.
"Tavern Law has a roulette wheel on the wall behind the bar. It is nonoperational, being mounted at a jaunty, high-visibility angle such that a marble spun on it would be ejected into space." What have your wall hangings done for you lately? When my friend has ANYTHING affixed to a wall ever served its original purpose? Did your New Kids on the Block poster actually kiss back when you were 12? Does your hipster tree wall tattoo actually provide shade?
You hate the fact that Tavern Law is capitalizing on the concept of the speakeasy because it romanticizes something that was in fact not romantic - something that came to be out of desperation. End-Stage Capitalism.
Based on the parameters of your argument you must also hate Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney created our worlds most beloved character out of One of Mans mortal enemies; The rodent. An animal that carried disease destroyed crops and dried food. We have evolved to fear and hate rodents but somehow Walt won us over. Is he just a fad too?
It is true. If you go to Tavern Law you will not get shot at. You will not die from alcohol poisoning. You will not get arrested for drinking illegally. That would be a bad business plan. No matter how volatile the time we live in is there are always optimists, there are always people who laugh, and party and drink. Speakeasies were a haven for those people as much as they were for gangsters and nâere-do-wells. Modern day cocktail enthusiasts are use the word speakeasy as a nod to a craft, a love of complex cocktail flavors and a time when drinking didnât mean as much as fast as possible. Its nostalgia and NONE of us were there. We donât know.
I don't go to Tavern Law for the duck decoys. I donât go for the dĂ©cor at all. I go for those good looking bartenders and those delicious cocktails and because I can hear inside. I would challenge you to try again. I challenge you to let go of the semantics of the word "speakeasy" and realize, you live in Seattle, a place full of not so well dressed, often soggy Seattle types and this place is as youâve said yourself actually quite good.