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52 Weeks: Goofy’s Bar & Grill, Seattle, WA
Photo cred due to Yelp.com
Week 49 of 52
8519 15th Ave NW
(between 85th St & 87th St)
Seattle, WA 98117
(206) 783-5164
Mon-Fri 2 pm – 2 am
Sat-Sun 11 am – 2 am
Rank: 3/5
Type of Establishment: Dive, sports bar, pre/post-strip club home of intoxicants.
Visit: On Wednesday of this week, DSR, Amateur Hour and I decided to do a quick, impromptu dive bar crawl down 15 Ave. NW. Amateur Hour and I have lived in the neighborhood for over a year now but there were three bars practically within walking distance that we had never been to before. We decided that it was time to get to know our local haunts a little bit better.
Beers on Tap (at time of visit):
Three Skulls Poison
Sam Adams Lager
New Belgium Fat Tire
Widmer Hefe
Georgetown Manny’s Pale Ale
Mac & Jack’s Amber
Bridgeport IPA
Sam Adams Winter Lager
Rogue Dead Guy
Lagunitas Pils
Other Macros
Bottle List:
There were a few bottles on display behind the bar but nothing to speak of in this forum.
Food Options:
We had, unfortunately, decided to eat at Sweet Lou’s just prior to arriving here. The food was terrible there if I do say so myself. Luckily the beer and atmosphere redeemed that joint, but we are talking about Goofy’s here, not Sweet Lou’s. I didn’t even get a chance to glance at the menu while we were there (like I said, it was a quick bar crawl…it was a Wednesday people!) but they do have their menu on their website. I did notice that a young lady seated at the bar had ordered and received the Wednesday special, complete chicken dinner for $4.99. It wasn’t a very large portion but it looked just like home cookin’ and that made me comfortable.
Bar Opinions:
Prior to this visit, I had only ever known 2 people who had been to Goofy’s. The one guy, that mind you, was only a mere acquaintance, told me that he would always go there for drinks after tossing some (many) ones at the fine ladies of Centerfolds. Since Seattle strips clubs are 100% a joke, I didn’t really put too much weight to the complimentary words of this fellow. The other is a friend that’s from WI and often goes to Goofy’s to watch Green Bay Packers games. Apparently, Goofy’s is a Packers bar. Odd. Considering that I care very little about American Football and even less about the Packers, I cared not about any complimentary words that were spoken about the place.
Fire is always a good idea.
But…despite all that, I did feel that there were three legitimate reasons to check out Goofy’s. The first is that the place is called Goofy’s. I just really want to be able to tell people that I’m hangin’ at Goofy’s. I want friends to ask, “Who the hell is Goofy? Some fat, jovial drunkard that is always getting into crazy situations? Some ne’er-do-well high school dropout with a mild cocaine problem and a pension for the outlandish?” I’d quickly respond, “No you silly son of a bitch, it’s a bad-ass dive bar that I just walked to from my house!”
This brings me to my second reason, it’s in my neighborhood and I had never been there before. I was recently talking to a friend of a friend that I had just met and in describing what I had done that day I mentioned that I had gone to Lunchbox Lab for the first time ever. I also related to him that I found it to be ridiculous that I had never been there before, not only because it’s awesome but also because it’s about three blocks from my house. He responded, “Yeah, that always seems to happen.” Does it? Maybe I’m not alone on this one after all. Obviously, we here at BeerBlotter.com are highly interested in trying new places. That is why this column, 52 Weeks exists. So given that, why is it that there’s many places right around the corner from me that I have never before visited? I always seem to hop in the car and drive to some back-country destination to visit a new place when I could just walk up the block and be enlightened near instantly.
The third reason is that I needed to write one more 52 Weeks article before the end of the year and the idea of having the word “Goofy’s” in the headline really excited me. Hmm… maybe I should talk about the actual bar.
It is really easy to be overwhelmed the first time you step into Goofy’s. It’s kind of one of those neighborhood bars, where everyone looks at you if you aren’t a regular. That’s always a little awkward. Then there is the huge fire pit in the middle of the room. This puppy is something to behold! I immediately thought of the fire pit at Uber, but that one is small and modern and actually looks like it belongs indoors. The pit at Goofy’s looks like it should be in the back yard of a medieval castle. You could roast an entire pig over that beast! Then there is the massive wall of random paraphernalia and beer signs and pull tabs behind the bar. It’s quite busy. I think if I was on drugs I would have needed to huddle in the corner and suck my thumb, but no…just beer in the system this night.
I was quite amazed by the size of the place. There is another room at the rear of the establishment that houses the 2 pool tables and various arcade consoles. There is a few tables and high tops spread about the place…it’s a pretty laid back joint, which I wasn’t expecting. It’s quite pleasant in fact. The fire really sets the cozy mood. The beer list left much to be desired, but none of us had ever seen the Three Skulls Poison on tap before. We gave it a try, as well as a few pints of the Bridgeport IPA. We sat and chatted and had a good time. Amidst it all, there seemed to be a DJ or musician unloading some gear in the back room. We didn’t stay long enough to uncover the mystery, but I was intrigued. I think I’ll be heading back to Goofy’s another day.
