3645 wallingford ave n
206 547 2280
Since the pandemic shut down restaurants in 2020, Seattle restaurants have endured myriad challenges. Now, as the industry begins to recover, we’re asking how will it be changed? In this miniseries, food writer Jackie Varriano explores this issue from the perspective of those who create the magic of the dining experience — servers.
Did someone say brunch slushy? Warm and welcoming Union Saloon in Wallingford wets the whistle with a slushy Bloody Mary and a frozen Ramos Fizz at brunch. Both go down easily at this convivial combination of neighborhood watering hole and high-brow comfort-food restaurant.
Wallingford’s Union Saloon is flying criminally under the radar. The convivial combination of neighborhood watering hole and high-brow comfort food restaurant is the first solo venture for Michelle Magidow.
Lipton’s onion soup mix—and its use in making dip—holds a special place in my heart, next to Aunt Jemima’s phony maple syrup and Jif peanut butter, in the section devoted to processed foods that remind me of childhood. And while nostalgia isn’t required to enjoy the house-made onion dip, sweetened by caramelized onions and accented with thyme, at Wallingford’s new bar, Union Saloon, it certainly helps.
The expansion of our local bar and restaurant scene continued unabated in 2017, with many (many) new beer bars, wine dens and cocktail joints opening. There were so many that picking a “best” list was nearly impossible. But we conducted the thorough (and delicious) research needed to narrow it down to the below, which isn’t in any specific order.
Union Saloon is my new happy place. The cozy Wallingford spot has a horseshoe-shaped bar where you can have a full meal or just nurse a $3 Coors draft while munching kettle corn. There are two-tops for date night and booths roomy enough for six. Though custom-clad in dark sapele wood that mimics the richness of mahogany, the place isn’t fancy, but it’s no dive bar either.
Late on a Sunday afternoon, I sat at the handsome horseshoe-shaped bar that anchors Union Saloon, Wallingford's newest neighborhood bar. With its heavy wooden door, antique objects, oversize booths, shiplap walls, and exposed wood-beam ceiling, the space evokes nostalgia for the taverns of the Wild West, the creaky hulls of grand ships.
If you’ve been to Delancey in the past few months and wondered where that omnipresent, efficient-yet-friendly manager has been, here’s the scoop: Michelle Magidow has opened her own place—in quietly cheery Wallingford, where restaurants abound, but typically not ones batted around in conversation among foodies.
At the corner pub Union Saloon, The Doobie Brothers exhort you to listen to the music, the bar man entices with $6 cocktails, and this shorts-and-sandals evening comes with the promise that the sun won’t set till 9.
Wallingford’s new Union Saloon is flying criminally under the radar. The convivial combination of neighborhood watering hole and high-brow comfort food restaurant is the first solo venture for Michelle Magidow, who previously put in time at Salumi, Harvest Vine, Lark, and Delancey.