To celebrate the opening day Seahawks win and as a pre-birthday celebration for my friend, Katie, she invited me out for drinks down in Belltown. We’re both fairly adventurous and eager to try new places, so I let Katie choose the bar and she picked Twilight Lounge (mainly because of the movie and book series, I think). Unfortunately, when we arrived, we realized it wouldn’t work. Not only was it empty, without a wait staff or host in sight, but there was a “dress code” outside the door. We certainly weren’t dressed like slobs but I find it ridiculous that the Twilight Lounge would even try to enforce a dress code in a city where gortex is king. So, we laughed it off and quickly turned around and thankfully, Belltown has a great nightlife and plenty of other places to go.

After climbing the hill up to 1st Ave, we went into a bar without a dress code: Cellars. It is an urban swanky club located in the heart of the bar scene of Belltown. It is comfortable, spacious and classy, in an older Belltown building with exposed brick and high ceilings. There was a wide mix of people, from people dressed fairly nicely to others donning their Seahawks jerseys and enjoying a post-game win. It is split up into a restaurant and lounge area, so there is more than enough room for larger parties or places for those underage, I think. We easily found a seat in the lounge area and ordered our drinks.

The nice thing about Cellars Restaurant and Lounge is Happy Hour is all day on Sunday and Monday. The sign advertising it was like a beacon for me, beckoning my wallet inside. But the drinks will be luring me back. I ordered a Palmer because I grew up drinking Arnold Palmers, lemonade mixed with iced tea, and I love anything sour. The Palmer wasn’t too tart or too sweet and the alcohol only brought out the taste; exactly how a drink should be. Katie ordered a mojito, which was fantastic! Highly recommend getting one. Additionally, the wait staff were extremely attentive and nice, making sure we had enough drinks while still leaving us alone to chat and catch up.

But, beware: They’re really good at upselling, as any good wait staff should be. Katie debated throughout the entire night over getting food and it seemed that every time she mentioned it, a waitstaff could sense it and would casually ask if we wanted anything else. Finally, we ordered a garlic chicken pesto flatbread, which made me wish we had decided getting some sooner. Later, some friends joined us for the pre-birthday festivities, and ordered a caprice flatbread with mozzarella and yummy tomatoes. Both were absolutely delicious and only $5.00 with happy hour prices. Overall, Cellars was a great choice, especially for happy hour. The drinks and food were great, there is no dress code and the happy hour prices are reasonable, especially considering the quality and prime location. It definitely pays to be adventurous in Belltown.