Jules Maes Saloon (Seattle)

City/neighborhood: Georgetown

Hours: 3 p.m. to ?? daily

Alcohol: Beer, Wine, Liquor

Parking: Street parking

You may visit Jules Maes for its frontier charm, but you'll stay for the pinball. This boisterous Georgetown saloon boasts a roomful of sweet vintage pinball machines, complete with adjacent shelves for cocktails. Playing the Evel Knievel-themed pinball machine while gulping down glasses of bourbon is an evening's entertainment in itself, complete with a special bonus game: You'll need to hail a cab home after your date gets fed up with you and leaves.

Not to say that's likely to happen. Before your date makes it to the door, she could be distracted by Jules Maes' large and very respectably stocked bar. She could mingle with the saloon's noisy party crowd. She could shoot some pool, or dance to the live punk, rockabilly, soul and garage bands that play the saloon's pair of stages (one in the back of the house for large bands, one near the front door for small combos and DJs). She could even strike up a conversation with the large but friendly bikers who sometimes hang out at Jules Maes and its surrounding bars.

Just do yourself a favor: When you sober up and realize that your date is gone and you didn’t get the high score on the Evel Knievel machine, don’t blame Jules Maes, because you’ll only be cheating yourself. Partying in Georgetown — or in Seattle, for that matter — without hitting Jules Maes every now and again is unthinkable.

By Geoff Carter
NWsource staff