Dim Lights & Stiff Drinks - The Dive Bars of Seattle

04/20/2024

The Rickshaw pod is up. The first one to cover one of the classic Dive Bar/Chinese food/serious karaoke bars in town.

In this episode we learn about Playland! A Seattle amusement park in Bitter Lake where no one was safe. Dance Marathons! Flag Pole Sitting! And the return of Tusko!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dim-lights-stiff-drinks/id1596399685?i=1000652987504

04/07/2024

The Leny’s Place in Tangletown podcast is up. The sign sums it up quite eloquently.

In this episode: Pudding Shots! Get rich slow scams! And everything you wanted to know about Dicks! (Burgers, not the other things)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dim-lights-stiff-drinks/id1596399685?i=1000651550418

03/22/2024

This week we get our Old Fashioned on at The Diller Room at the Diller Hotel, right across the street from SAM.

Owner Rob joins us on the mic for a great conversation about the evolution of the bar and the great care that goes into every drink and every nook of the space. Best cocktails in town!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dim-lights-stiff-drinks/id1596399685?i=1000650141383

03/09/2024

Season 4 is up and running. What’s the word? Thunderbird! We kick it off at Thunderbird Tavern in Ballard.

In this episode we learn: All of your favorite 90s music was recorded in Ballard! And there’s only five t***y bars allowed in the city at any one time, and two of them are on this block.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dim-lights-stiff-drinks/id1596399685?i=1000648515172

09/27/2023

The North City Lounge pod is up and running. Shoreline’s oldest continuously operating business. Come up on a Thursday and get some Scott’s Pizza made fresh in the beer garden.

09/26/2023

Here are some pictures from the Rainier Day 10th-year anniversary. Not to be confused with 140 years of Rainier, but the same thing.

Come on down next year. It’s the best street fair of the season.

09/22/2023

09/22/2023

We recorded at The Comet tonight. Fixing cars and serving drinks at this location since 1920.

09/13/2023

Come join us this Saturday for the 145th anniversary of Rainier Brewery.

Since 1878. We’re doing an R-Day pod on location. Come get some and say hello.

09/03/2023

The Engel’s Pub episode is up and running. The second oldest “legal” bar in the State is one way to look at it.

In this episode we learn that George Brackett could care less if you remember his name. The founder of Edmonds was 1 of 20 children, he was used to people not remembering it. And the smartest person in the country, so to speak, is from Edmonds.

09/01/2023

We recorded at North City Lounge tonight. Part 3 of 3 of the North End series. Shoreline represent. North City represent. Pinehurst, Echo Lake, Ballinger, The LFP, Briarcrest. If you lived here, you’d be home now.

08/20/2023

Dim Lights is back from summer break. First stop, Engel’s Pub in Edmonds. Since 1934.

Guy in the background said he didn’t want to go in, told his gal, “it’s a dive bar!” His loss. If only he’d taken that extra step to see how killer it is.

07/25/2023

The Caroline Tavern episode is up. In it we learn:

There’s a reason that’s it’s never been robbed after all these years, going back to 1933. (spoiler, Mob bar).

And why it’s called Shoreline (it goes from shore to shore, and county line to county line. It’s massive, you’re probably in it right now)

07/07/2023

We recorded at Caroline Tavern in Shoreline tonight. Notice the zero signage? That’s right, those who don’t know won’t know, because those who know won’t tell.

It’s a witness protection bar. Snuggled in a neighborhood, anonymously.

06/21/2023

The first annual Pioneer Square Block Party was a blast! In the new pod we learn - Why a good guard dog at your business is waaay better than a security guard.

What’s a potlatch? Why exactly is that amazing firefighter sculpture in Occidental Square? And why have I never seen the band Reposado live before?

06/09/2023

Come on down and get down tomorrow with the Dim Lights crew. We’re setting up at The Meyer and broadcasting for the Pioneer Square Summer Market at Occidental Park. Great lineup of bands, food, vendors, drinks. Come get some!

12/07/2022

We recorded at The Deluxe Bar & Grill. Old school Capitol Hill. 1934, one of the first liquor licenses granted after prohibition, if not the first. And allegedly operating as a speakeasy in the 20s in the basement.

Hashbrown Harvard Exit.

11/25/2022

Come on down to the Waterwheel and get your pull. Cheers to the 365 days a year bars. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Not a problem. Waterwheel has you covered.

11/04/2022

We recorded at The DeLuxe Bar and Grill on Capitol Hill tonight. Serving it up since 1934, right after prohibition ended. Perhaps the first bar given an official license in Seattle after that.

10/23/2022

We recorded at Waterwheel Lounge in Ballard this week. In the witness protection program that is The Waterwheel.

10/15/2022

The Baranof pod is up wherever podcasts are sold. A classic dive bar in the heart of Greenwood. Lotta seedy backstory in this joint.

We find out about an actual safecracker that robbed the joint for $20 grand at a time when that was $200 grand, a blue cheese salad dressing empire you all know, (spoiler alert, turns out it’s from the Baranoff kitchen), the Greenwood Firebug, and a monster gas explosion that leveled a chunk of the neighborhood just five years ago. Do it up.

10/11/2022

The Bank will be closed on Columbo’s Day.

10/09/2022

What an amazing game. Tell your grandkids about the time you saw the three run, infield blooper that won a playoff series in a 1-8 comeback. Crazy.

It looks like a montage because of the field lines, it’s actually four pictures. Tap on it.

10/02/2022

The Back Door Pub podcast is up and running. Join us for a hangout at a classic dive bar on Lake City Way.

Bob shows off his finds from the 99 cent bins at the record store next door, we learn about the history of the place, we do a Seattle summer time wrap up quiz, and we learn that crime does pay.

Podcasts just got better – with a stream of rich content for every episode. We believe that every good story deserves to be told in the best possible way. And that’s what we do. Acast makes good stories great.

09/23/2022

We recorded at Baranof tonight. Greenwood represent. One of the jewels of the city, and the inspiration for the pod.

09/21/2022

Dim Lights first live episode was a blast! Done for a special event, the book release party for Lost Roadhouses of Seattle. Done in a packed, real roadhouse, The Shanty Tavern. In which we interview the co-authors like Terry Gross after three pints.

On the panel is the Indiana Jones of rock n’ roll, Peter “ya” Blecha, and Resident Historian Brad.

A road house in Seattle parlance is a bar on Highway 99, or Lake City Way, during prohibition, and on a well used road, but far enough from Johnny Law as to be able to rip it up.

09/03/2022

The Little Red Hen podcast is now up. Recorded on location at the only legit honkey-tonk in Seattle. Come on down and get down.

08/27/2022

Come and join us today at The Shanty Tavern from 2-5pm for the book release party of “The Lost Rodhouses of Seattle”.

Coauthors Brad “Stash Panda” Holden and Peter “ya” Blecha will be there. We will do a mini Podcast to interview the authors, Lou and Bob will be handling the DJ duties, and owners John and daughter Dayna Spacatorelli will be there providing the hospitality.

So come on down and get down in an actual roadhouse to celebrate a book about roadhouses. Hope to see you there.

08/20/2022

This week we recorded an episode at The Little Red Hen, Seattle’s best honkey-tonk. It will be up in two weeks, in the meantime here are some pictures of the giant mural on the wall. It’s so big one picture won’t capture all of it.

The murals were made in the early nineties by former Seattle PI advertising artist Ray Jefferies. He was best friends with owner Judy Olsby. Go visit and look closely, there are a bunch of little where’s Waldo things to be found. Like a couple making love in the tall grass, there is a fisherman giving a bird the bird, flipping off an eagle, John Wayne is in there, as is Judy Olsby herself, naked and riding a horse.

08/20/2022

Spoiler alert, Merchants Cafe & Saloon is the oldest bar in Seattle. In our latest podcast, we answer the question that we have been investigating in the last three episodes.

Many claim be, but there can be only one. 1890, Pioneer Square, built right after the Great Seattle Fire. We recorded the episode on neutral ground at Eastlake Zoo, many thanks to them for having us back. And thanks to our special guest Avout, owner of Shorty’s in Belltown and The Meyer in Pioneer Square, and a former owner of Jules Maes, one of the three oldest bars.