Dine Out Tonight!

Tonight is Dine OUT night in Seattle and there a few places in Ballard participating.

Austin Cantina
Hattie's Hat
King's Hardware
Le Gourmand & Sambar
Madame K's
Matador
Pasta Bella Ristorante
Volterra
Wild Mountain Café

Go get your grub on for a good cause. 30% of all proceeds benefit Lifelong AIDS Alliance and the fight against HIV and AIDS in the Puget Sound region.

Sunset Bowl Auction Today

Well I am sure we will be seeing the wrecking ball soon. Sunset Bowl and all our memories will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Maybe I will try to get over there during my lunch hour to see what I can find.

Snowy Hell in Ballard

I took this picture from from inside my cozy car to point out the SNOW falling and piling up on the windshield. WTF?! It's April 18th! It's not supposed to be snowing.

Not much to gossip about on this one, except that it didn't seem to keep the bar hoppers away from Ballard.

I don't know what we did to deserve this, but this weather sucks. We are going snowboarding tomorrow now. The seasons are so messed up we might as well live in New Zealand.

Oh, yeah, and we have a new site design. We hope you like it.

Golden City Closed for "Repairs"

According to a handwritten sign on the red door, the Old and Shitty is closed for what they are calling "repairs". We're very curious what this means - will they update the place? Are they going to finally get a latch on the stall in the women's bathroom? Finally close that back door to the alley? Switch out the plantation era paintings? Slap some paint on the old gal? God forbid they make any changes to one of the best juke boxes in Seattle.

We will have to check in on Tommy and see what he's done with the place when it opens back up. If you hear anything, let us know. We have to admit we haven't been here much since our favorite dive bartender, GIB left and went to the Bit. We'll be sure to drop by and see if any of it's super scary charm is still there. And by super scary, I mean really scared-for-your-life scary. The clientèle is a bit rough if you get my drift.

Seaview Avenue Blocked: 1:50AM

This BGG couldn't get through Seaview Avenue tonight on her way home. A police blockade at 34th and Seaview kept my cab driver from getting through. At least six police cars and an ambulance were already on the scene. Sirens were heard in the background. We pray for all those involved. Hope to hear more about what happened in the AM. Drive safe everyone.

If you know...let us know. The SPD wouldn't tell me anything.

Last Call- Goodbye Sunset Bowl, Goodbye Market Street Grill

Ballard is changing. We know this, but it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to two Ballard businesses this weekend.

The lanes will go quiet at our beloved Sunset Bowl, the lounge will go dark, and another institution will be lost to the developers. For over 50 years the Sunset Bowl has been a place my family has enjoyed. My grandmother was on a league there in the late 50's and continued to bowl at the Sunset regularly as long as she could. My dad took me there when I was a little kid for birthday parties, it was a place to hangout in high school, and I rediscovered the Sunset after I returned from college and found one of my best friends in the bar singing Karaoke. I have so many great memories of the Sunset. I don't know if they still cash checks for you at the desk, but they would before and I always got a great story about my uncle out of the cashier. It truly is a piece of my history in Ballard. Goodbye Sunset. I will miss you.

The other business that will close this weekend is The Market Street Grill. The Market Street Grill was ahead of its time for Ballard. It opened long before the first of the new condos were being built, and probably could have held on longer if all the residences were full. Johnny was a great host, always cheerful and friendly. The food varied, I have had some great meals, and some not so great but at least they were trying something different. We read on the My Ballard blog that it was only closing for a few days, but that wasn't what we saw on the sign last night.

I hope you will try to stop in and say goodbye. Please share your memories. Thank you.

Gifted....My new favorite Ballard store

After a delicious dinner at La Carta de Oaxaca with my mom we stumbled upon the store Gifted. Now I have seen it before, but never went in. Well, now I am hooked. It has everything from bobble head garden gnomes, to unique t-shirts. This store is great. Check it out when looking for that crazy gift for a friend!

Gifted
5427 Ballard Avenue NW Seattle, WA 98107

Best Dive Bar in Ballard and we forgot the Waterwheel!

I can't believe I was part of coming up with the names of the bars and taverns in our recent poll and forgot to include the Waterwheel. My apologies to the fantastic staff and patrons of one of the BGG's favorite watering holes.

Thank you Kansas!

In case you had doubts about Gossip Girl's ability to pick a winning bracket, we would just like to let everyone know we WON our pool. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Cheers to the Ember Room!

Ballard has spoken and The Ember Room at the Smoke Shop is the best dive bar in Ballard. Darleen, Colleen, and the ladies have been serving up some of the finest cocktails in Ballard for years. We need to cherish this little bit of old Ballard that manages to hold on while newer, hipper bars with drinks that cost twice/three times as much spring up all around it; and they sell cigarettes! Take our and your neighbors advice and stop-in and let them know the Ballard Gossip Girls sent ya.

Dante's to the Rescue

Last night my beau and I were rockin' hard to the Black Keys in SoDo. Hunger had set in strong after dancing, drinking, and what not....but we were Ballardites in a foreign land. It became clear on the ride home accross the Ballard Bridge that a quick stop on Old Ballard Ave was in order. I love Ballard Ave post-midnight because most of the 30-something crowd that does NOT live in Ballard heads back home to their babysitters and/or condo. We parked right in front of Hattie's and had two of the best butterflied and cream-cheesed hot dogs ever. Thanks, Dante.

Chai House Changes Hands

The rumors are indeed true - Mr. Spot's Chai House is changing owners. We wondered what would happen to the chai brewing business. Luckily, one of our neighborhood readers emailed Jessica and sent us this update on the beloved Chai House.

Yes, I have sold the retail division, the chai house. The new owners are a father and son team, and their mission is to keep the chai house as it is and build upon the success of the last ten years. They will be fixing it up, probably get some new furniture, things like that. They are friends with the Top Pot donut company, so look for some yummy Top Pot donuts soon!!

I am still the chai maker, and have opened wholesale brewery in the Greenwood area. We will still be brewing all the chai for the city from our lovely new headquarters!

Enjoy the new owners at the Chai House and feel free to introduce yourself to them! They are very excited to be a part of the neighborhood!

Cheers!
Jessica Vidican-Neisius
President
Morning Glory Chai

Be sure to check out the changes and keep this awesome spot in business (pun intended...)! Gossip Girl is very glad that we can still get Morning Glory Chai because it's the closest we will get to an exotic vacation in a while.

New Restaurant?

What hot young Queen Anne restaurateur was seen yesterday morning scoping out the building site on Ballard Aveneue with a suit-type person? We know, but we're not telling (yet)! Further investigation reveals that plans are under way to open a high end sushi joint in the new space. Hooray!