Fado

Basics: Monthly rotating drink specials; $3-5 small plates; Weekday specials run 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.


Four words for you: Best. French. Fries. Ever.

The APIC’s* uncommon obsession with deep-fried foods rivals his need for oxygen. Sadly, this has led to many late-night hot dog stands and several trips to Dick’s to nosh on the grease-bathed hypocrisy that betrays our health-conscious, gym-going nature.

(Side note: whoever decided to put cream cheese on a hot dog should either be martyred or canonized … I honestly can’t tell which is more appropriate.)

Normally I avoid anything drowned in scalding oil, but these fries! Sweet. Juicy. Plump. Subtly seasoned. If anyone knows their way around a potato, it’s the Irish.

For those unaware, Fado is a small national chain with restaurants in 11 states that specializes in Irish pub fare. Bangers and mash? Yes. Corned beef and cabbage? Fado has it, as well as “the best-poured Guinness I’ve ever had in Seattle,” says my Irish-born college roommate Pat, who lists Fado among his top reasons to move to the Puget Sound after graduating.

Fado mixes the traditional Irish pub with new-fangled technology: it’s one of the few places in the city that broadcasts international soccer games live via satellite regardless of local time, and not just during the World Cup. Die-hard Manchester fans can find themselves cheering at 5:30 a.m. Seattle time if they really need their football fix. Plus, how many bars would pour a brew at that hour?

And while the pub can draw out the inner hooligan, Fado hosts the bookish type too, at one of the city’s most popular trivia nights. (Wednesdays. 6:30. It gets ridiculously crowded.)

Would I go back on a regular basis? Probably not: the drinks weren’t all that strong and the seating became increasingly uncomfortable the longer we stayed. But the next time my dad is in town and asks me what’s a good place to grab a beer? I know exactly where to take him.

Fado. 801 First Ave (First and Columbia), Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Weekdays 4:00-7:00 p.m.