Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Eating Seattle: Buckley's

It was suddenly fall in Seattle this weekend, and Ed and I were craving afternoon beers. And since the Seachickens were playing we had the perfect excuse to stop into a pub to watch the game, nosh on some bar chow and sip a couple of local brews.

We found our way to Buckley's, a much-loved pub on a quiet corner of Lower Queen Anne. Until 2004, the space that Buckley's now occupies was one of those constant-rotation restaurant locations--you know, like the space that Mioposto now occupies. There's something about certain spaces when combined with certain concepts, I guess, that makes it tough to keep steady business. Anyways, Buckley's seems to have figured out what the neighborhood was after: this fun, raucous neighborhood pub was packed.



And not just with forty-year-old dudes in Seahawks jerseys, either. There were groups of women, a family of five, young 30-something guys with dates, and us, a couple with an eight-month-old baby. Ed and I were happy to be in a real (read: not "baby-friendly") pub with real sports fans watching a really good football game.

We ordered a plate of wings and a bacon-cheeseburger to share. Ed's obsessed with finding good wings in Seattle (got ideas? post in comments) and so far, well, we're still looking. These were fine, but the skin was a little flabby. And let's be honest, when you've decided to eat wings you don't need an obvious reminder that you are, in fact, eating the skin of a chicken. Gross.

The burger, however, rocked. Have you noticed how many restaurants fail to season their burger meat? I don't get it--there's nothing more disappointing than an undersalted piece of beef. Buckley's doesn't make this mistake: Their burgers--8oz of nicely seasoned beef cooked medium--rock. The bacon was great too, and the brioche bun doesn't hurt matters either.

We also had a couple of pints of a great German beer, Hacker-Pschorr weisse, which they've got on tap right now. It's got a great bright flavor and a real fresh hoppy taste. Get your butt in there and try one.

Buckley's on Queen Anne in Seattle
[where: 98119]

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I did get off my butt and go there.The owner, Tim I guess, was rude borderline paranoid. The help was friendly...to the regulars and to top it off I got sick afterwards. I am servesafe qualified with over 2 decades in this biz. I know a rotten egg undernieth when I see one.

Anonymous said...

The Brews are cold the wings are great, but the sweat potato fries are the best!