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Bars where Pete has had a Drink (5,608 bars; 1,754 bars in Seattle) - Click titles below for Lists:


Bars where Pete has had a drink

Sunday, May 14, 2006

#492 - Jules Maes, Seattle (Georgetown) - 5/13/2006

Jules Maes Saloon, Seattle, WA

Update: Jules Maes closed in March of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, then was pronounced permanently closed in June 2020 due to a rent increase described by owners as unsustainable.
However, it then reopened on Jan 12, 2021 under new management.


Jules Maes Saloon - Georgetown and its SoDo surroundings are now, with zero doubt, the coolest neighborhood in Seattle. The "new Ballard" was once a little premature, but it now underestimates the area. E.g. the Rainier Cold Storage building across the street** from Jules front door, which makes you believe you can't possibly be in Seattle -- or for that matter, the west coast.

Jules is in a space constructed in 1898 and which first hosted a saloon in 1907*, and few places in the country retain the flavor of the term "Saloon" any better. To be reborn with this level of shabby grandeur -- a big, late night roadhouse that creates the place to be in the middle of nowhere -- reminds one of the excitement that precedes the gentrification and inevitable of neighborhoods of character in wealthy cities.

It also features a beautiful Brunswick back bar -- the same "The Record" model seen in the Pastime Saloon in Castle Rock, WA, the Whistle Stop Ale House in Renton, WA, and the Rainier Bar and Grill in Enumclaw, WA.

This particular visit was on the night of the CD release from The Bad Things, so it was unusually rife with history -- rockabilly heels and tattoos mixing with the 30's clothing of the acid folkies that follow the Things. Georgetown is like being in an entirely different city, and this night was an entirely different era.

* Historical Notes: See Seattle's Oldest Bars
  5919 Airport Way South Seattle, WA 98108 - (206) 957-7766








































Est. 1936 (Jules Maes' bar in this location) - Building constructed: 1898
First bar in this location: 1907
julesmaes.com - seattleite - thestranger - seattleweekly - gregorspub - yelp

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My manfriend's grandmother used to cook at Jules Maes back in the fifty's and sixties. He can remember going in there and helping her with the clean up and such. He has great memories of the place. We went there recently and the service is great and the food is pretty good too.