Coqktail Club – Claudio’s (& The Matador)

(Why Cocktail is spelled Coqktail.)

We had a little mix up in our scheduling for this month, so instead of meeting at Del Rey’s as I said we would be, we instead met at Claudio’s in Fremont. 

There were just four of us for this meeting, which worked out well as Claudio’s bar is a bit on the small side – just half a dozen seats along the bar and a few more at a ledge along the wall.  However, before we settled in the bar we started outside.  They have a couple tables on the sidewalk to the side of the building and they also have a covered deck, with heater and the ability to have TV.  The flooring on the deck is a bit scary – it seems it was built with the supports rather far apart.  The good news is that the deck was built about 6" above the parking lot, so even if someone goes through the flooring, the most serious damage will probably be the embarrassment! 

I guess we were all in a lazy summer mode:  R started with a Margarita on the rocks, no salt; JB had a G & T; I had a Mandarin and Tonic.  R said her Margarita was a bit strong but was impressed that fresh lime had been squeezed for it.  JB and I had such basic drinks that there wasn’t too much to say about them.  Even though we were the only ones out on the little covered deck area, the bartender, Amy, was really good at coming out to check on us – this was no small task, as it involved steps, a short walk and then the entry to those bouncing boards!  We decided to give her a break, though, and told her we’d come in when we needed something.  She appreciated that but also would have been fine making the trek out to us.  I like that sort of attitude!

The wind picked up and so for round II we decided to go into the bar.  JB ordered an Irish Coffee (in place of his normal Spanish Coffee) in celebration of Victoria Day.  R stayed with the Margarita and I switched to a Crater Lake Martini with a twist.  About this time JH joined us and he started off with a Margarita, too.  By that time R had pronounced that this was "a really great Margarita" .  I had chosen the Crater Lake, partly to be true to my home state but mostly because I really like the clean taste of it.  My twist was a little troublesome and we gave Amy a really bad time as she tried valiantly to curl it into shape but it just wasn’t going to get there.  I told her to just plop it in – it’s going to taste the same but I appreciated the effort! 

The next round was where it all got more interesting as we asked Amy what she’d recommend.  Her first suggestion was a "Dirty Sanchez", a house drink made with Starbucks Liqueur, Cuevo, Triple Sec and a dash of cinnamon – sort of like a cold, all alcohol Mexican Coffee.  With the tequila in it I couldn’t taste it :-(  but all who did pronounced it quite nice!  JH ended the night with a Vanilla Lemondrop – your basic lemon drop but made with Absolut Vanil.  It was very good! 

About that time we asked the cook if he was Claudio (he’d been hanging out in the bar with us, as the place was pretty dead.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember what he said his name is but he pointed to a red container on the shelf with the vodka and said that was Claudio!  Well, I’m not sure why but none of us thought to ask the story of exactly who owned the place now and why Claudio was hanging out in the bar.  We were happy to see, however, that the lid was taped in place to avoid any spillage!  And he was placed next to the Vox which, apparently, was his favorite.

I really liked this place and would definitely return!  The people are really great and Amy is a real stickler for making her cocktails from scratch – I like that in a bartender! We didn’t eat anything while we were there but a couple steaks did get grilled for others and they sure smelled good…

By this time we were in need of a little bite and so we reassembled at The Matador in Ballard.  We got there for the second happy hour of the evening and between the four of us devoured several fish tacos and some chicken wings.  Yum!  The place was packed (and this was at 10:30); we had to worm our way into bar seats but once in place we were happy as clams!  It was a fine end to a great "meeting". 

Claudio’s
4332 Leary Way NW
Seattle
(206) 706-3117

The Matador
2221 NW Market
Seattle (Ballard)
(206) 297-2855