Keep Yourself Warm
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Keep Warm 2023
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Seattle has a reputation for getting more rain than any other American city thanks in part to fresh transplants who learned everything they know from watching Frasier and Greyâs Anatomy. The truth is, the American South clobbers us on yearly rainfallâSeattleâs not even in the top 20! But we are number five or something for most rainy days per year.
Because of that, our restaurant sceneâs hygge levels are through the roof. From the precious Cafe Allegro, tucked in its ivy-draped U District alleyway, to Wallingfordâs A Muddy Cup with its warm tones and carved duck decoy decor, Seattle does a cozy cafe as all hell. And even though we donât have the most rain ever, itâs still gonna be a long, wet winter for at least the next four or five months, so youâre gonna need a good fleece-lined hangout. Here are some favorites for snuggly season.
Sullyâs Snowgoose Saloon
Phinney Ridge
Sullyâs is the fuckinâ comfy king. No bar in Seattle can touch the outrageous coziness levels being represented inside this old-timey Phinney Ridge tavern. With a Swiss-ski-chalet mom and a thatched-roof-pub-in-the-Irish-countryside dad, Sullyâs Snowgoose Tavern was one of Seattleâs first bars to open after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, and itâs barely changed since. Built in a residential cottage from the 1920s, the ceilingâs adorned with mountain hiking paraphernalia and stuffed geese (owner Tim Sullivan chose the name because âI like snow geeseâ), and the floorâs covered with friendly dogs begging for some of your complimentary popcorn. Clientele is mostly old guys, and despite the tweeness, thereâs a good divey crust going on here, too.
Red Onion Tavern
Madison Park
The Red Onion is cozy in a shitty divey way, with a grotty Elizabethan-era aesthetic, lookinâ like Samuel Pepys hangs out here. This bar has been open for about 500 years, too (okay, like 90), and the main attraction is the sooty fireplace with a giant iron hood in the front room, with pleather couches gathered âround. Itâs less like Hotel Sorrentoâs classy fireplace room, though, and more like where a group of Game of Thrones marauders would end up after a long day of swording peopleâs heads off. But in a friendly, camaraderie-type way. Also, thereâs beer and pool tables and a grumpy bartender. And a ghost of another bartender, or so the living bartender says.
Hannyatou
Fremont
Chef Mutsuko Soma is world-renowned for her noodle-focused restaurant Kamonegi, but her little sake bar next door rakes in at least as many points for ambiance, if not more. Hannyatou means âwisdom waterâ in Japaneseâthatâs sake!âand the place is all wooden crates and Japanese crocks, serving both Japanese bar bites along with a wide sake and shochu selection. Being here feels like youâre in a ryokan in a light novel, and thereâs nothing like hunching over the bar with a pork chop katsu sando or a bowl of mushroom-loaded soup, rounded out with a warm cup of sake. Go on a rainy day and watch the windows fog up.
Cafe Allegro
University District
I take it back; Cafe Allegro is the actual king of this list. Okay, Sullyâs is the cozy tavern night king and Allegro is the cozy coffeeshop king of the day. Down a U District alley that runs alongside ivy-covered Magus Books, look for the painted coffee cup sign above the doorway, where the ivy stops. Inside, beyond the coffee counter, is an exposed brick fox den of interconnected rooms that eventually leads you back out into the alley, up a flight of stairs, and into an even cozier unmarked coffee shop exclave. Established in 1975, Allegro is Seattleâs oldest coffeehouse, and itâs traditionally full of students and professors at work, so bring your laptop and your earbuds.
A Muddy Cup
Wallingford
Big Humboldt County vibes set the mood at A Muddy Cup, inside a quiet little house in Wallingford. Thereâs a crunchy texture here thatâs part hippie and part hunting cabin in the woods, with warm red-orange-yellow gradient walls, antique tables, thrifted oil paintings of forests, lots of houseplants, and ceramic frogs and wooden duck decoys stashed among the bookshelves. Your drink will probably come in an old jar or a wonky hand-thrown mug. They do a great dirty chai here, and I canât think of a better spot in town to read a real, paper book.
The Nook
West Seattle
In the Admiral Junction, the Nook knocks it out of the park at craft cocktails, so go here for those, sure. But the snuggly upstairs loft is the best reason to visit, regardless of what you order. Up there, youâll find a few mid-century settees tied together by a homey rug and a big marble coffee table, around which you and your friends will naturally want to congregate. Cozy cocktail classix include the Britainâs Cartel, with tobacco-y cigar-infused mezcal, CioCiaro, vanilla demerara, umami bitters, and lemon, and the Love and Loz, with gin, saffron, Chardonnay reduction, lemon, orgeat, and rose water.
White Horse Tavern
Pike Place Market
In Post Alley, the White Horse looks like a 17th-century British pub where the highwaymen might hide out from the kingâs constable. Itâs small and dark and cluttered, and the decor comprises whisky [sic] barrels subbing as tables and about a million flags and paintings and vintage liquor signs all over the walls. The menuâs handwritten and only has about 10 things on it, one of which is bullâs blood (cognac, white rum, Grand Marnier, and OJ) and none of which are food, although sometimes a platter of free piroshki or burgers suddenly appears, to soak up the English ale. They also sell antiquated books here! Charmed.
The Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel
First Hill
Donât be intimidated by the timeless Italianate Sorrento, for its lobby Fireside Room is so very toasty and inviting. The home of the long-running Silent Reading Party, where you read a book in a room full of people and donât talk to each other, this lovely parlorâs main draw (after that, of course) is the beautiful green-tiled fireplace flanked by comfy wingback leather chairs. This is the best spot in town to languish around trying to cure your hangover, ideally with some Parmesan truffle fries and an aperitivo.
The Sitting Room
Lower Queen Anne
Next to On the Boards, the Sitting Room is a private little subterranean hideyhole with ochre walls and Euro touches, warmed by light-up globes and candles. Itâs like if Paris were a city in Minnesota. Thereâs a menu of Mexican faves, and drinks are loaded with tchotchkes and served in quirky glassware. All of this is plenty cozy to begin with, but to boot, they do an aged fig-bourbon eggnog every year whose legend is told far and wide. Should be dropping any minute now. Hell yeah.