We go to a couple of one-horned bars

Unicorn/Narwhal, Seattle, Washington
Since I’m writing this week, rather than Mindy, I can brag for her. She scored a 100 points on one throw in Skee-Ball a discussion of Skee-Ball ethics. Our daughter, Jil, told us about a couple who played Skee-Ball (which I think we can all agree is a very fine date activity) when the guy went forward and dropped the ball into the big points hole. Obviously, this offended his date, who reminded him of proper Skee-Ball behaviour, probably ending the relationship...but these are serious matters.

A bar with Skee-Ball, pinball, and video games already has a lot of points on the plus side for us. Unicorn (upstairs) and Narwhal (downstairs) is such a bar. Not only do they have the games in Narwhal, but they carry a carnival theme throughout the space and on the menu as well. Even the water dispenser seems to be from the midway, with colored lights building and fading.

The clown decorations, which work for the carnival theme, but would (of course) also work for a house of horrors. I kind of doubt anybody would trust the drinks in a house of horrors, though. They might have arsenic or hemlock among the ingredients, while the drinks at Unicorn included bubblegum, watermelon, and cotton candy flavors.

I ordered a drink that admittedly sounds like an option in a house of horrors: Cereal Killer. The ingredients weren’t so deadly, though: RumChata, Sprite, Grenadine, and Froot Loop vodka. sounds, admittedly, like an options at a Horror Bar, The Cereal Killer. But the ingredients were not deadlyish: RumChata Liqueur, Sprite, Soda, Grenadine, and Fruit Loop Vodka. (I’m guessing they didn’t use the Kellogg’s preferred spelling of “Froot Loops” to avoid lawsuits -- or to suggest the drink contains something healthy).

Taxidermied heads fill several walls (maybe more of a horror theme there, too?). Though we saw zebra, water buffalo, and warthogs on the wall, as far as we could tell, no actual unicorns were killed in order to decorate the bars. We saw a goaticorn head on one wall, but I don’t think they’re endangered. Or real.

The food menu includes fries and tots, burgers and corn dogs, funnel cakes and deep fried Snickers. Jil had the vegan quinoa tots, while the rest of us had corndog variants (my Magi-corn dog was topped with barbecue sauce, slaw, and onion rings).

Unicorn was busy, but it was a little slower in Narwhal, so we had a chance to talk with Zach, the downstairs bartender. I asked him our standard questions. He said a good bar had a variety of people, and “tons of overlap.” He said it was “important that there’s something for everyone. Cheap beer can be enjoyed by rich people. Of course, poor people can’t go the other way” to buy the expensive cocktails or liquors. We asked what he appreciated about this bar in particular, and he said, “Honestly, I appreciate that they gave me a job when I came here from Arkansas.” He said the owners are very nice.

As for a what makes for a good church, Zach said, “I’m not a believer, you know, but there should be an active promotion of love and peace.”

We went to Unicorn because it sounded like a fun place to be with our son and younger daughter while we visited Seattle in preparation for our move to the area. We each found something we liked on the menu (which can be a challenge for our family), the drinks were unusual, so I could write about that, and there were the games. A good time had by all.