I’ve been finding myself in Lake City lately. As gentrification oozes into Loyal Heights, my sleepy, old-person neighborhood—which now has a restaurant serving $15 pho—I’m searching for blue- collar crust whenever I go barhopping. Once Crown Hill became lousy with condos, I fled to Greenwood, then Northgate.
Now I just head straight to scruffy old Lake City Way, with its pawnshops and strip joints. It’s a comfort to know that, when the swank Bellevue stank emanating from Market Street grosses you out, there’s always Lake City, Old Ballard’s country cousin who still likes to huff cans of Dust-Off and blow shit up.
So it worried me to hear that Lake City has a cocktail bar. Yeah, Brother Barrel and other spots have cocktails, but how are you gonna tell me there’s a twinkling little lounge a few doors from the crunchy old Back Door Pub, up the road from the Shanty? Sounds… suspicious.
Then I accidentally loved it.
