Visiting Seattle (Spring 2016 Update)

Hey, at least with soccer there's always something happening on the field. Baseball and throwball are long stretches of standing around followed by a few seconds of activity.

 

Yeah, watching the guy writhe around on the ground like he's been shot by a sniper, only to make a miraculous recovery and sprint down the field. That's awesome entertainment. Oh, and mystery time! Apparently soccer refs can't be trusted to turn the clock on and off, but can be trusted to keep accurate track of the amount of time that they haven't been playing in his head.

 

Well, at least you were right about the "soccer season never ends" part.

 

I stopped at The Yard (4th near Pike, for those who don't know) last week and caught the Warriors Cavaliers game. I wouldn't ordinarily have gone in there, but I needed to watch the Warriors. I was pleasantly surprised by the beer selection. No, it's not Chuck's or The Beer Junction or Beveridge Place, but it's not hard to find a pretty good beer there. And there are LOTS of screens for the sporting events. Those of you who like kickball will find a screen or two in the corner, even when the big games are on.

 

Their taplist is usually very solid, and at times excellent. They usually keep it pretty up to date on their site as well: http://theyardcafe.com/

 

MIIR in Fremont has Bourbon County Regal Rye on tap

 

Think that's the Yard House? (Or something.) The Yard is up near 85th and Greenwood.

 

Sorry, my mistake. The question (#185) was from someone staying downtown and looking for a place to watch sports and have beer. That had been my problem a few days earlier, and I went to the Yard House, on 4th near Pike. Then I got confused by Bungyo's reference to The Yard, and thought it was the same place.

If the OP wants to Uber to Greenwood, more power to him.

And, for the OP, if he's still paying attention, the spot in Greenwood is a small indy establishment, which we all favor. The Yard House, downtown, is a big chain, which most of us would generally avoid. That said, it still may meet your needs, as it's got a ton of screens, and probably 50 or more beers, and is just a few blocks from your hotel.

 

it makes me so sad that i am reading this thread as a visitor and not a contributor...

 

Heck, I'd put them in the "(Almost) Universally Recommended" section, or at least something in between the two, based on my own experience. But I know this depends on more consensus and, let's face it, a certain amount of hype.

 

I spent Monday through Thursday in Seattle this week and had a pretty awesome experience. I was in town for a conference so I didn't have a ton of free time but was able to get out and explore a bit. I stayed at The Edgewater and visited Cloudburst (which was awesome), Elysian and Old Stove.

I did Uber out to chucks and that place was friggin awesome. Outside of a few great pours on draft I was able to grab a few bottles of Anian from deGarde to bring home to Michigan which was pretty great.

Only thing I'll say is I don't remember anyone in this thread saying the whole damn town is up hill. I swear I'm in pretty good shape but hot damn that was steep.

Thanks for this thread, everyone!

 

You're still welcome to chime in. Don't be a stranger.

 

If ya start at the top, it's all downhill.

 

the drumlins around seattle help burn the calories off, meaning more beer consumption and less FOMO.

 

I definitely think they deserve to be in that section, but just figured they had more of a chance making it into the highly recommended rather than jumping straight to universally.

 

Seapine is cool in the other recommended bucket and I think Black Raven should be demoted to that too. If Joe Walesmith is coming in from Chicago for a long weekend, they'd be out of their mind to go to Redmond. Isn't that what this thread is for?

My opinion would also be that Joe Walesmith would be a little misguided to go to Big Time or Naked City as well. There is simply no way I could be convinced those breweries are more worthy of attention than Seapine, Standard, Urban Family, Two Beers, or Optimism, just to name a few.

 

I like Naked City and Big Time a lot, but they're not places I'd tell people to go if they have limited time.

 

Sure, I'd tell Joe Walezsmith to go to the hypebrewers too, even if just to keep them out of my hair. But, when someone asks where to go, I'm inclined to point folks towards someplace I think they'll actually enjoy their entire visit, not just collecting walez. For example, I can never see being jammed into Reubens as more enjoyable than the funky old wood of Big Time. Of the 5 breweries @dirtylou lists a couple posts up, the only one I've been to is Two Beers. And, while I enjoy the brews from Two Beers, and their industrial ambiance is cool, if you're into that, there's no way I'd send someone there before Naked City or Big Time. Strokes for folks.

 

I'm with Lou, especially if you've never been to the places mentioned.

Good example of Urban Family. Great beers and the taproom is normally dead.

 

How many people from Chicago are likely to distinguish between the city of Seattle and the Seattle metropolitan area? There are business events in my industry that take place in Bellevue, and given Redmond is home to one of the state's largest employers, I would expect some people visiting the "Seattle area" may also find this thread useful.

Depending on the person's travel situation, driving to Redmond on a weekend isn't bad at all. Google says it's a shorter trip on mid-day Saturday to go from Pike Market to Black Raven than to travel from Pike Market to Reuben's tonight at 6pm. Isn't traffic lovely?

That said, at a minimum, I'd note that Black Raven is in Redmond.