Wedgwood Ale House
8515 35th Ave. NE
Seattle, Washington 98115
Tel: 206-527-2676
I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
I'm a beverage-driven man. As soon as I've had enough coffee
for the day, it isn't long before I'm craving a cool, delicious beer.
There is no better place at which to settle in for a couple
microbrews than the Wedgwood Ale House.
What is the Wedgwood Ale House like? Imagine that you and your
20-, 30-, 40-something friends are tired of listening to
ear-shattering music, ignoring fall-down drunks, or having to
fight your way through throngs of undergrads to get a pint.
You just want a nice friendly place that feels like your uncle's den.
So you decide to clear out your basement and make a hangout you
and your friends can escape to. You leave the alternating
light green/dark green linoleum tiles down, because, hey, you're not made
of money. You build yourself a horseshoe shaped bar and plop a
dozen barstools around it. You mount the TV at the
opening of the horseshoe, right above the 18 taps. You get
the best local microbrews and include a few
imports for variety. Why not throw in a hard cider?
You don't bother with bottles, because you like your beer fresh. You only
keep a little "grape juice" around to be polite. You put in
a bunch of booths around the walls and a few tables to fill out the
floor. And you put in a cool dart board. Classic jazz plays
frequently on the CD player.
Luckily you don't have to clear out your basement, because this place
already exists in Rob Paulson's Wedgwood Ale House.
It's just like your dream hangout,
except, even better, it's above ground in a storefront which lets in
plenty of Seattle daylight. Not only that, but
you can get one of the best burgers in town
-- the beef is marinated
and tastes like those you'd get in the UK.
There's even a small
side room in which you can take the whole family. (By WA state
law, minors are not permitted in places which have tavern alcohol
licenses. No, not even infants.)
The clientele is almost exclusively local, but
don't let that discourage you -- Wedgwood is a great neighborhood.
Smoking is permitted, but the smoke is not overwhelming,
at least in the earlier hours. Like all public establishments in
Washington, smoking was banned on December 8, 2005.
They now serve top shelf liquor too. Sort of like what you'd do if
you won a few grand in the lottery.