Whiskey bars are generally inviting places, but this brown-water gem has more going for it than most.
Whiskey bars are generally inviting places, but Radiator Whiskey has more going for it than most. For starters, its Pike Place Market location, with a view onto First Avenue, is in the hub of Seattle’s buzzing downtown tourist district. Opened in 2013, it looks far older, thanks to the use of reclaimed materials, such as a set of old bleachers from a local high school used to make bar tops and tables.
Then there’s the smoked half pig face, an order-ahead menu item. Yes, it’s really half a pig’s face presented in profile on your plate — cheek and snout meat intact, tongue and ears prepared separately. Whoever eats the eyeball gets a free shot of whiskey. Gratis or otherwise, it’s the drinks that keep folks coming back.
“We specialize in American whiskeys because it’s what we love, but we still offer a fair share of single malts,” says general manager and beverage director Sara Rosales.
Radiator stocks 200 or so whiskeys with about 20 regional spirits, including a local Bainbridge Battle Point organic wheat whiskey — yet another warm reminder that, yes, we’re in Seattle. One reviewer called its profile “reminiscent of a heavily buttered slice of banana walnut bread.”
Make that organic banana walnut bread, please.
Radiator Whiskey, 94 Pike St., Suite 30, Seattle, 206.467.4268, radiatorwhiskey.com
