Hula Hula

106 1st Ave N
web / Yelp

I've avoided Hula Hula for a while because I really liked Watertown, the club that used to be in that space. The layout was cool, they had fun music nights, and the decor was great. I especially liked the iridescent purple booths. They were also the only club that I knew about that was non-smoking before there was a smoking ban. I was sad to see it go, and didn't feel like there was really a reason to check out its replacement.

But we had just come out of the King Tut exhibit and were having a couple of drinks at Bandits and needed to find some dinner. I noticed Hula Hula on Google Maps and liked what I saw on the menu. As it turns out, it was happy hour, and that entire menu was half off! I love a good happy hour like that. We shared almond stuffed dates, mac and cheese, a beet salad, and the buffalo chicken flatbread, and it was all great.

The happy hour isn't available during Key Arena events. I don't blame them.

I didn't have a woman with me to send into the ladies' room, but the men's is cool.



I really like urinals that go all the way down to the floor. My pet peeve is a row of what's become the standard size, where one has to be low in case someone's not tall enough to reach the others. It's ugly and dumb. Plus, if you get stuck using the short one, you have to aim carefully or risk peeing on the top of it. And the floors around the higher ones get filthy.

As I've mentioned before, I like when bathrooms in dark venues are also dark. It's terrible to be blinded going in and out of them when they're too bright.

Hula Hula's easy to get to from a lot of areas. From Capitol Hill, take the 8, or get home to Ballard or West Seattle on the Rapid Ride. That's a measure of a good happy hour, if you can get home on one bus. And even if you can't make it in time for happy hour, the menu's still pretty reasonable. But you should consider skipping early out of work to get there. That'll make you happy.

The Signature

530 1st Ave North

Web / Yelp

I've always maintained that it would be impossible for me to live on Queen Anne because of the serious lack of Vietnamese food. It's my favorite cuisine. I'm not even sure what my second favorite cuisine is, but it's a distant second. There was a year or so where I ate Vietnamese twice a day on weekdays and at least once on weekends. It's the best. And until The Signature opened, there was only one Vietnamese restaurant anywhere near Queen Anne and Seattle Center.

The Signature is unique for its amazing happy hour. $2 well drinks, cocktail and beer specials, and a great menu with food specials priced from $2 up to $5. It's the only serious Vietnamese food happy hour in town I know of, and it's every day from 3:00-6:00 and 8:00-Midnight.

They've also got some very lovely bathrooms. Two spacious, unisex ones, as a matter of fact.

There's art for sale, and you can lean in for a really close look at it.



If you're a reader, they've got you covered.



I have to know where they got these lightswitch covers so I can get some for my friends as Christmas gifts.



There's also a very lovely seating area just outside the bathrooms. I really wish more places had these.



Go check this place out. They're open until midnight every day except Fridays and Saturdays, when they're open until 3:30am, so you really have no excuse not to go.