Tag Archives: downtown

Announcements, News

Look Out! Look Out! Pink Lions on Parade!

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, Lions Club International is presenting a Parade of Nations in downtown Seattle, as part of their annual international convention. Given the high of 80 degrees expected today, that should be more than enough time to roast the fairer-skinned to a healthy pink. And of course some Lions clubs wear pink proudly, like the Castro Lions Club and Queens Pride Lions Club.

(There are ten clubs filed under “Seattle,” but none seem to advertise gay-friendliness. Well, the Capitol Hill club does meet at Charlie’s.)

A volunteer service organization, the Lions do whatever is needed, but one focus is vision–literally: vision screenings, eye banks and eyeglass recycling.

Not all of the Lions will be in Seattle–there are 135 million in 45,000 clubs in 206 countries–but the 12,000 expected should do the trick when it comes to traffic congestion. SDOT tells you what to expect:

The parade, which will get underway at 10:00 a.m. and is expected to last until 3:00 p.m., starts on Denny Way at Fifth Avenue and travels south on Fifth to Pine Street where it terminates. Participants will disperse and then move east on Pine to the Convention Center on Seventh Avenue.

The following closures should be expected:

  • 7:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.
    Southbound Fifth Avenue from Mercer to Denny Way for staging
  • 9:45 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.:
    Parade route on Fifth Avenue from Denny Way to Pike Street
    Cross streets to Fifth Avenue (except for Metro/Sound Transit during parade)
    Pike Street from Fourth to Eighth avenues
    Sixth and Seventh avenues from Olive Way to Union Street

Metro and Sound Transit will have to reroute about 20 bus routes in the downtown core until 3 p.m. today, as well. You can check on rerouted buses here. If it seems like a hassle having all these Lions in town, the convention from July 4 to 8 is supposed to add $30 million to the local economy. Plus, as is the Lions way, the organization is donating hundreds of seedlings to our parks, and performing other community services.

The SunBreak says if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Bar, Food

Mark Your Calendar: The SunBreak’s Happy Hour, The Hard Rock’s Rooftop Deck, and You

Photo/caption care of Josh: The third floor is home to a magnificent roof deck with views of The Market and The Sound and populated with weatherized couches and firepits. This is the feature most likely to make you a Hard Rock Cafe regular.

And before you say, “I’m not going to the Hard Rock Cafe, that’s for tourists,” YOU HUSH YOUR MOUTH AND LOOK AT THAT VIEW. The rooftop deck at the Hard Rock isn’t for tourists–they’re all in the gift shop or ordering meals with their sullen teenage offspring anyways–no, the Hard Rock’s rooftop deck is a bona fide SunBreak-Certified Summertime Pro-Tip.

So kindly save the date next for next Thursday, July 7th to soak up some sun and happy hour drinks on the deck, in our reserved cabana, no less. As you head through the restaurant up to the roof, be sure to take a few minutes and check out some of the Hard Rock’s choice memorabilia (or “memo,” in HRC parlance). There’s lots of Northwest-centric items including an historic letter from our precious Courtney Love to SPIN Magazine regarding Alanis Morrissette and Madonna (of course).

Happy hour at the Hard Rock runs 3-6 p.m. daily, so don’t worry, you’ll be pretty sauced by the time the drink prices go up. We plan to converge from 4-7 p.m. Meet writers, commentators, and trolls; bring friends, family, loved ones, hated ones. Even tourists.

Have a great extended holiday weekend, and see you next Thursday!

Eats, Food, Restaurant

Oh Happy Day! Potbelly Arrives in Seattle

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There are few things I miss about Chicago like a toasty Potbelly sandwich. From their humble beginnings at a Lincoln Ave. antique shop, the Chicago-based chain has grown to over two hundred strong nationwide, and the first in Washington State opened in downtown Seattle yesterday. (Don’t worry, Bellevue, you’ll have one soon enough.)

I’m not even going to try to be unbiased here, as there’s really no point–if you do a Google search of my name, one of the images that turns up is me stuffing my face at the Potbelly at the Midway Airport. Because that’s how much I love Potbelly: I will fly in and out of MIDWAY (shudder) in order to get one of their sandwiches.

So this afternoon, The SunBreak lunch crew headed downtown to have a sandwich and check out the new digs. Potbelly is located on 4th at Pike, right next to Michael Mina’s RN74, Murray Stenson’s new home (or not?), set to open Monday the 13th. There was a stilt-walker to greet the crowd, and while the line for sandwiches was out the door, you could see it was moving along nicely, thanks to the highly efficiently-run Potbelly operation.

As the line snaked through the brightly-lit restaurant, there was a worker to hand out menus (though the offerings are all listed there on chalkboards) and another worker wielding a tablet to take your sandwich order, so that it was already going through the oven and getting nice and toasty by the time you reached the counter. (You’re also able to fax in an order [pdf], and most other locations have delivery, so I’d expect this one to include that option at some point in time.) The whole thing took maybe ten minutes, and if Potbelly can handle a grand opening this smoothly, they’re well set to handle the daily lunch rush.

Now, let’s get to the food: All sandwiches are approximately $5 and come on white or multigrain wheat rolls. There are also salads, pickles, chips, a variety of juice and pop, hand-dipped malts and shakes, and cookies, but to be sure, it’s all about the sandwiches. My Potbelly of choice is the turkey and swiss, which was juicy and excellent as always, while the rest of The SunBreak tried A Wreck (salami, roast beef, turkey, ham, and swiss) and a double-ham-no-cheese. Potbelly is great about individualizing each sandwich with condiments and toppings, but this ain’t Subway.

The lunchmeat actually tastes like lunchmeat (from an ANIMAL), while the mustard, peppers, pickles, oil, and seasoning add a nice tang to the creaminess of the mayo and cheese. If you’re looking to cut carbs, please don’t talk to me, but feel free to order the sandwich “thin-cut” for a third less roll. Regardless, what’s great about the bread is that it’s not overwhelming. The roll has a nice give and toasts well, but it’s not overly chewy or so rough that it takes the skin off the roof of your mouth.

Everything at Potbelly is about balance. And from experience I know that the sandwiches at a new location only get better over time, as the oven is broken in and each sandwich comes to acquire the flavor profile of all sandwiches that have come before it. It’s delicious, and it almost tastes like home.