Bad Albert's Tap and Grill
Come for the beer -- stay for the po'boy.
(5100 Ballard Ave. NW, Seattle)
I suppose that it's only justice or karma: as my wife and I prepare to move out of our northern Seattle digs and closer to the bright lights, we've finally found a pub/bar/grill with food good enough to make us regulars.
Holding down the furthest eastern end of the Ballard Avenue commercial district, Bad Albert's Tap and Grill doesn't play the part of a typical Nouveau-Chic Ballard bar: no dim lights, no all-wood decor, no booths, no scene. You won't miss any of it. Instead, allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised by the variety and surprising depth (given that they only have ten-or-so taps) of the draft beer list. Relax into the low-key, attentive service. Peruse the menu. Several strategically placed televisions make Bad Albert's a good place to catch a game over a weekend meal, but they don't put the commentary on the sound system so you're not a captive audience.
There are more complex, dinnerish items available, but we go for salads and sandwiches. The burger is either the second or third best that I've eaten in Seattle, depending on whether you've caught Palace Kitchen or the tasty but sadly inconsistent Jitterbug on a good night. The fries are crispy, tender, and yummy. I've only managed to try the ancho-chili coleslaw once and it was disappointing (bland and gloppy), but the rest of the menu is so well-executed that I'm willing to give it another chance.
The po'boy is another story entirely. Fresh oysters lightly breaded (flour and cornmeal) and deep-fried to order lie in shredded lettuce on a just-right chewy roll that's been hit with a wonderfully spicy mayo sauce -- close inspection revealed capers, green onions, and what appeared to be chopped pickled jalapenos. Go early: they run out of oysters. They'll make you one with shrimp or (argh...memory lapse...?catfish?) -- and dang it's still good -- but y'all ain't been there until you had dem oysters.
Ever since something horrible happened to the kitchen at the Red Door in Fremont (we're still mystified, but that's another thread), we've been searching for a reliable burger-and-a-beer joint. After our move, we'll be closer to the city center and better food, but I have a feeling that we'll be wearing a path back to Bad Albert's.