October 19, 2007
A neighborhood bar situated in an actual neighborhood, making parking touchy. Lots of (metal, reclaimed wood, trex) newer materials while eye-catching, leaves the place noisy. A fine selection of beers, excellent for a place this size. The kitchen is as good as the origional Rivertown Ale House (Snohomish), but a touch pricey. Wait staff are friendly and generally know their stuff.

August 31, 2006
Weird bar in that the taps are at eye level and right at the bar, so they dominate your field of view if you’re sitting at the bar. Food is good yuppie pub food: burgers, pizza, meatloaf, fish-n-chips, etc. Also weirder things like ostrich burgers. Beer bottle selection is quite good, with items like Rochefort 10 and St. Bernardus Abt 12. Draft selection is a little more pedestrian; I sampled 4 brews and didn’t find anything I liked more than the Rogue IS. Also, service was pretty poor when we were there. While they would always get you something if you flagged them down, our waitress didn’t come back to ask me which pint I would like of the 4 brews that I sampled. If you are 1 or 2 you should sit at the bar where you have the ability to constantly harrass the bertender. Seattle’s beer bar scene is getting pretty good with Brouwer’s, Collin’s Pub, Uber Cafe, etc. This is probably the best compromise between food, selection, ambience, etc. But if you’re just looking for rare beers, this is not the best.

July 11, 2006
Good tap list and a nice place to hang out for a few beers....but awful service. Server was nice, but just plain bad.

June 28, 2006 [ Updated August 19, 2007 ]
Lovely little neighborhood alehouse in North Seattle, with a spacious, open layout, good food, and an eclectic, interesting set of taps. The service was friendly but rather...laid back. ----

Revisit was less good. I ordered a Corsendonk Brown Ale, and they served the damn thing at pale lager temperatures. Big screw up, especially at $8 for 10oz. When I pointed it out, the response was: "I’m sorry about that -- you’re right, we know it’s too cold. A lot of other of people have pointed out the same thing." Well, if you know it’s a problem, why don’t you do something about it?

I can only conclude that for now, the while the Barking Dog is interested in provided a diverse tap list, they are not yet ready to get serious about properly serving their beer. Consider instead visiting the nearby Uber, where they are very serious about serving beer right, and where you can easily do better than dropping almost a dollar an ounce on a near-freezing Belgian.

After a few more revisits I’m getting close to writing this one off. The food has gotten worse, the service hasn’t gotten any better, and the tap list is pretty mundane if you’re reasonably well-versed in the local standards. I got a pretty stale IPA on my last visit as well, though to their credit they were willing to exchanging without fuss for something fresher.

June 13, 2006
Located on a side street in an unexpected neighborhood, this place was a virtual oasis after my 90 minute walk. Has a little patio out front with a very clean, modern interior. Very interesting architecture with ornate logo engravings in the cement flooring. Cozy, but spacious interior. The bar has about 20 taps, which unfortunately creates a large barrier between the bartender and the patron. My other complaint is that there are no foot railings at the bar. The taps ranged from local styles to several Belgian styles that you rarely see on tap (Chambly Noire, Urthel Hop-it, Chouffe IPA). Food was really good with large portions. I had meatloaf and chicken chili. Service was friendly and quite prompt. Prices were a bit inflated, especially for the Belgians on tap. Bathrooms were simple and clean. Woth seeking out, but don’t kill yourself making it here...Brouwer’s Cafe is better.

April 23, 2006
Great selection of tap handles for a quiet little neighborhood place - some really tasty non-mainstream brews. The haven’t invested a huge amount in decor, which is OK with me. The food I’ve tried (which is not much of their menu) is above average. There’s a family seating area, but don’t plan on meeting a big group here.

April 16, 2006
Pressed wood walls, hard chairs, plank-seat booths, no decorations save beer posters. It’s clean, well-lit, and nice, but not really friendly in terms of ambiance. The food is well done, but stay away from specials involving seafood (they’re 0-for-about-8 on them with me; not just stylistically, either--something’s usually bad wrong). Great burgers, sandwiches, bisque, waffle fries, tofu fries. They always have lots of good craft brews and Belgians on tap; good single malt selection, too.

March 29, 2005
The soup was too salty, but I love the non-smoking atmosphere. Too bad that the great selection of taps blocks the bartenders...

June 10, 2004
This place has a wonderful ambience, is located in a nice residential neighborhood (Ballard) and has an excellent selection of taps. About 10 NW micros and 4 Belgians are always on tap, and plenty of great bottled beers like Rochefort 10, Orval, Chimay Bleu, etc. A great beer place!