The missus and I recently checked out Hazlewood [0], Ballard's newest cocktail lounge. Located in the space formerly occupied by Fast Eddie's Lowbrow Lounge (my favorite indie-run coffee joint in Ballard, rest its soul) Hazlewood is as swanky as it is diminutive. If, say, Capitol Hill's Barca [0] were a loaf of bread, Hazlewood would be one slice.
Like any other bar, big or small, I'll have to visit a few more times to get a better reading of the joint. On the plus side, the room is nothing if not intimate. The staff is friendly enough, and we didn't have to wait long for service. The cocktails themselves were decently poured, and at $6 a pop, I suppose they're in line with what you may expect to pay at the "boutique" bars of Belltown [0] and the Hill [0]. The lighting, mostly via a room-centering crystal chandelier, is easy on the eyes. And while it would have been great to hear some music from the bar's namesake songwriter [1], the soundtrack of Brill Building [2]-era pop was terrific.
However, this was on a rainy Tuesday night. I'm guessing that if you visit on a Friday or Saturday, you won't be able to get so much as a toe inside Hazlewood. It's just too damn small, and the climb to the second-story seating is vertiginous even if you're sober. And on the subject of that second-story seating, I defy you to sit in one of the couches lining the walls and not feel like a piece of boutique merch to whomever's standing in the center of the room:
"You have a great selection of barflies here, but I'll take the Rivers Cuomo [3]-looking guy in the blazer."
"Good eye. Now, which one, exactly? There are six of them."
But these are minor problems. Hazlewood's heart seems to be in the right place, and hopefully it'll be in Ballard for a good long time, providing a safe haven for those who are dressed too well for Hattie's Hat [3] but can't bring themselves to mix with the hormonally-crazed, transient crowds of the Matador [3] and the soon-to-open Bal-Mar.
More links:
More drinking in Ballard [3]
Best neighborhood bars & clubs [3]
Ballard neighborhood guide [3]
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