Post #384240 by woofmutt on Mon, Jun 2, 2008 11:21 PM

When it comes to swell old joints my main advice would be: Drink there while you can.

If you don't like the clientele at some cool bar get a group of your friends together and hit it some night. You'll at least get the experience before the place gets turned into condos. (If you don't have a group of friends maybe you belong at that bar after all.)

(I'd be interested in the couple of locations in Renton you like but hate.)

The Stranger is a good resource for finding old Seattle area places. They regularly profile bars and have a soft spot for the old real places.

It seems a lot of neat old restaurants either never had that cool of a bar to begin with or gutted it some time ago. Generally the remodels were either to bring in more natural light with windows, make room for dancing or karaoke, or just make more room period by getting rid of booths. The Red Lotus in Auburn really is one of the coolest Chinese restaurants in the greater Seattle area but their bar looks like a frat house basement.

Most of the bars I've checked out in Burien are either not worth a visit or are complete hell holes. The one bar I know of with a fireplace is the Keg. (It's a nice, though pricey, place to be on a sleety winter night.)

The coolest old joint I've found in Burien is Angelo's a classic style Italian restaurant. The dining room is windowless, not sure about the bar. The food is actually good.