Ask Lea: Pub Crawl I Say!

Dear Lea,
I have some friends coming in from out of town, and I want to show them around Bellevue. We’re going to do the whole Lucky Strike – Joey’s thing, but I want to think of something else we can do on Friday or Saturday night that’s local. Any ideas?
– Fishing for Some Fun

Dear Fishing for Some Fun,

You know, I’ve asked myself this same question. What is there to do in Downtown Bellevue when, frankly, you’re burnt out of Lucky Strike, Joey’s, Vertigo…you get my drift. Well, you have to get creative. When you hear this term, you’re going to think Seattle, but you’re going on a PUB CRAWL! Yes, a pub crawl. Now I must say that when one thinks “Downtown Bellevue,” the last thing that comes to mind is pubs. Bear with me here.

When I was thinking about how to do a pub crawl in Downtown Bellevue, a few bars came to mind but they were all in different locations (certainly not in crawling distance from one another). So, I’ve come up with the perfect place to do your pub crawl, and it often times gets overlooked. You are going to take your great group of friends, locally and from out of town, and you are going to head down to Main Street and have an unforgettable pub crawl in Old Bellevue!

The first place I thought you could start at is Bis on Main. At this point you should be politely sober, ready to drink, and start of with a beer on tap or quality cocktail. Keep in mind that Bis closes at 10pm, so I’m thinking you’ll arrive by 8 or 9pm. From there, head to 520 Bar & Grill which is across the street. They have happy hour until midnight, so drink up!

From 520, you’re going to walk East down the street (hopefully you’re not crawling yet) to the Mustard Seed at 10253 off Main. Now, if anything in Downtown Bellevue is a “pub,” it’s the Mustard Seed. The Seed, as they call it, has darts, pool, and all the spirits you can imagine. I will warn you that this is where the slow demise from walking to crawling comes in, so be sure that you plan to call a cab at the end of the night or literally crawl home. But hey, who’s promoting drinking at a pub!? Certainly not me. 😉

To top off your night, and really convince your friends from “out of town” that they should be moving to Downtown Bellevue, run right across the street to The Spot Off Main. The Spot has pool tables, HDTVs, bites to eat, and my favorite, a retro Pac Man video game. On some nights they even offer live music until 12:30am.

I hope this gives you an idea of something to do that is “uniquely Bellevue,” that you won’t do every weekend. Some of you may read this and think, “Whoa, that sounds like too much for me,” or “I am way too old to be doing a pub crawl,” but I encourage you to get out there and have some fun. If you don’t have friends in from out of town, organize an outing with your friends from work, host a singles night, or leave the kids with mom to go out with your friends. Come on, it’ll be a blast!

Here to fill your catch with some fun,
Lea

Write me at: lea@downtownbellevue.com