The long wait for the return of the Iron Bull (2121 N 45th St) is over.
It will not return.
In its stead, though, The Tailgate is now under construction, owned and managed by Liza Danger and Trevor Marsh, the owners of The Octopus Bar on the same block.
However, don’t go there expecting to find an extension of The Octopus’s Georgetown vibe. Tailgate, as its name implies, will be a sports bar first and foremost. The promo text explains:
Tailgate is redefining a sports bar as the place for all those who enjoy drinking, community and culture, and of course sports and entertainment.
Tailgate intends to be a neighborhood Seattle sports bar and entertainment venue synonymous with a search for your neighborhood bar that offers also offers comfortable seat you’ll never want to leave. We will also provide areas for gaming which include foosball, air hockey, arcade games, table games as well as nightly specials, a stage for events and weekend DJ’s/acts. Tailgate is the future Seattle destination and landmark for all things sports, nightlife, and community driven entertainment.
According to Liza, their goal is to get people in for games, and then give them a reason to stick around after the game is over. The bar will have 13 TV’s for watching the game. For food, they’ll serve “concession-style” food (“wings, fries, nachos and red vines”), but are also planning to apply for food truck permits for a more interesting selection.
Nearby neighbors (especially residents of the Bagley Lofts, right across the street) have watched the construction with trepidation, fearing the potential increase in night noise and drunkenness that can accompany a successful bar. When I chatted with Liza last week, she sought to re-assure people on a number of fronts that they will be doing what they can do mitigate the impact on the neighbors.
“We’re going to do everything we can to be respectful neighbors,” she said. “We will be installing additional sound insulation as well as replacing all the windows with double-pane to reduce sound. We’ll also continue to work with the liquor control board to train on practices. Nobody wants a douchebag bar next door.”
She also notes that the outdoor patio on Bagley, which was on city property, has been permanently removed. They will be applying for a beer garden, but primarily for daytime use during games. “The noise ordinance says we could keep it open until 10 pm, but we wouldn’t go that late,” she said.
Liza explains that her goal is to complement other nearby bars like the SeaMonster Lounge, Al’s Tavern, Murphy’s and the Grizzled Wizard to build the critical mass that will make Wallingford a “destination”:
“When Iron Bull and Moon Temple closed, there was a deficit,” she said. “By opening Tailgate, we’re hoping to bring more people from different areas of Seattle, as well as tourists, visitors to all the bar and restaurants in the area.”
The Octopus and the Tailgate create a problem for the derelict theaters that sit between and beside them. The easternmost theater property, in particular, is difficult to sell because it shares a wall with the Iron Bull / Tailgate building, and the two properties together would make a much more compelling opportunity for a developer if they could wrap up the Octopus’s property with it.
Neither the Octopus nor the Tailgate are likely to succumb to developer dreams anytime soon, though. The Octopus’s lease gave them the right to purchase the property and Liza was emphatic that they had no plans to go anywhere. The Tailgate property, she added, is owned by someone who owns a number of single-story properties around Seattle and has no interest in developing them, even in light of that block’s recent conversion to NC-55 zoning (meaning one can now build a 5 story mixed-use building on the lot, usually with ground floor shops and apartments above).
I imagine there will be some cheering of this news in some corners of Wallingford, even if that cheering comes from people who will never set foot in either the Octopus or the Tailgate. I appreciate the dedication to ideals, but also worry that the two empty buildings where the Guild 45th used to sit will remain an open sore in Wallingford’s core, gathering litter and graffiti. (Liza said she has been in contact with the theater owners and will be taking care of the graffiti.)
Construction is well underway at the Tailgate, with a target opening date in September (just in time for football season). The new owners are doing what they can to retain pieces of this piece of Wallingford history, including attempting to remove the Dave Niehaus portrait intact for charity auction, and having a professional photographer take photos of the western mural to offer prints.
I love the Storefronts idea. I’m new to Wallingford still, what happened to the theaters? It would be great to see one come back. I’m curious who owns those buildings and if they are just waiting for someone to rent them????
I think most of us went the theater back. It was so nice to walk a few blocks to those theaters. I am not sure why they closed. Bet someone on this forum can provide the information.
The couple of times I went there before they closed they were almost empty. I think they succumbed to everyone’s home huge flat screen.
It was falling apart. There were better maintained places that closed.
Will any time be all ages? My husband and son, a teenager, are avid sports fans and often go to sports bars. Would be very happy to go to a place in Wallingford!
Have the theater owners considered working with Seattle Storefronts to get a nonprofit/art use in there? https://storefrontsseattle.com/
Great question, It’s really frustrating to see a potential community/performance space lay fallow,
They’re based out of LA or Chicago. It’s a chain. They just want their money out of the property at this point, I’m pretty sure.
The Storefronts program allows arts orgs or nonprofits to activate the space temporarily. I know the property owner is covered from liability and whatnot, and there may be some incentives.
I have cautionary thoughts re this—- I walk by the old AutoParts ( likely incorrect name) store on 45th , just north of TuttaBella. That space was going to be something?? Then it became an ‘artsspace” and then some kind of bar. For months now it has sat w/ junk inside & graffitti & ads on front. A closed down store became a grim poorly handled art space. In the old ZAWS/Bill Butcher..there was a used furniture thrift store for at least a year which constantly had garbage and junk in their parking lot. You may say “art”. The recent experiences which may have helped an “art’ dealer became junk spaces. ( c re c)
Those may not have been done through the Storefronts program. Third party management and accountability can help to avoid what would otherwise be the likely outcome for a space that is acquired without paying anything for it.
well, go walk by the oldAuto Parts place and take a look. ( yes c re c still)
Great news! Will it be a Chicago Bears bar again*?
*hoping not
For the ambition of making Wallingford around 45th a destination for tourists and people of other neighborhoods, I think we’d need more than a few bars. Close by neighborhoods like Ballard, Fremont, and University Districts have more to offer at this moment. For a tourist the Blue Moon Tavern right across i5 would be a more interesting place to visit than Wallingford, and it got a brewery next to it also.
Most bars are for the neighborhood. There are quite a few new drinking places on Stone Way right now, and that’s not because it’s a drinking destination. It’s just all those people living in apartments upstairs.
I dunno. SeaMonster has live music and is a draw, the Octopus has a cool vibe, Murphy’s has live music and other events, I think there’s critical mass just between those three for a “scene”.
Same as pubs in other neighborhoods. There is no lack of bars with live music or cool vibe in Seattle.
I have no doubt they can be successful, but it’s not obvious what’ll be done to match the ambition described. For example, if it’s just a common sports bar, what’ll be a compelling reason for somebody living in the south end of Wallingford to go to the Tailgate instead of the Fremont Dock? If there is no good answer to that, surely the case would be even less compelling for people further away. The Dock itself is nothing special, but within a block you got Fremont Brewery, Pacific Inn, Miir, Walrus and Carpenter, Joule, Fiasco, and Stone Way Cafe all with good drinking options. If you expand it a bit more, the difference in attractiveness to tourists will be even more profound.
And this is just competition with a different part of Wallingford.
All the Uber and Lyft drivers I see cruising Meridian on Thurs Friday and Saturday nights on the way to/from Tangletown might disagree with you.