The Hopvine, Captiol Hill, Seattle

I feel completely ashamed that it's taken over a year of living on Capitol Hill to dub The Hopvine as the perfect neighborhood pub. Thank god it's pleasantly missing the "cool" factor this snob has come to dread.

It was moving week, and the mister and I were famished. We knew we needed to eat before we took another load to our new place, so we decided to head up to VIOS in Madison Park. They were closed (note: VIOS only breakfast and lunch). So we then drove by The Kingfish Cafe, one of our favorite (though gastronomically challenging) places to eat. Closed.

So we drove back to 15th and settled on The Hopvine because 1) we found a parking spot right in front of it and 2) we've been meaning to try it - and it did NOT disappoint us.

I am a snob, yes. But my mister is the beer snob. The Hopvine delivered us a tasty pour of some respectable breweries (Baron Oktoberfest and Big AL Hop Soup), plus AMAZING SOUP.

I know, totally random that this dive would have gourmet soups, but I tell you - the soup here was way better than anything we tasted at LARK (see review here) for way cheaper. The mister had a tequila, bacon, and juniper soup whereas I vacillated between the melon gazpatcho and the chanterelle mushroom soup and finally settled for the later. So friggen tasty! To compliment our delicious beers and soups, we also ordered the greek pizza, which was also very good...but honestly, we could have been fat and happy on just beer and soup.

Bottom Line

The best dive on Capitol Hill.

Feierabend, Seattle

Let me set the scene:
It's 80 degrees and clear skies in Seattle.
It's Memorial Day.
It's 5:30 p.m.

Despite these blaring, daunting marks against a pleasant dining experience, hubby and I found the perfect solace in our new favorite german pub.

Feierabend*, the latest installment of Chris Navarro's Seattle German pubs (PROST! and Die Bier Stube), is a welcome addition to the South Lake Union scene. With plenty of places to sit, we decided to belly up to the bar. 1 Spaten Pils and 1 Franziskaner Weissbier later (each appreciatively poured in their appropriate glass thank you very much), we were ready to order. House spätzle and frites with curry ketchup, please.

Looking around, we saw the typical (and oh so lovable) Seattlite melange. The 20-something couples with their couple friends soaking up the sunshine in style (on a great outdoor patio), the 50-something women in Teva's sipping their oversized HB liters, the single indie-cutie male reading The Stranger and ordering meat sandwiches, the lost, blonde, beautiful east-siders. All at ease, all happily hydrated at this gem of a watering hole.

Nibbling our frites (that curried ketchup is TASTY), we surveyed the bar. Liters?! Beer Boots?! Clear jars full of whiskey labeled "Whiskey!" Oh the delicious precision and attention to detail of a pub that feels like a pub, not your neighborhood Applebees.

My spätzle was sooo good. I have only had it at this one wonderful German pub (to which all other German pubs in the US will be compared) in NYC, Zum Schneider, and it was so tasty and so authentic. This is pretty close, and certainly very enjoyable. Everything on the menu looked very grub, so keep that in mind if you're in the mood for something light. Then again, you wouldn't be going to a pub if that were the case...

Bottom Line?
Mmmmmm. Beer.

~the secret snob

*Feierabend means end of workday or closing time.