THE LOCKSPOT CAFɍ 3005 N.W. 54th St., 206-789-4865, BALLARD Breakfast 8-11 a.m. Sat.-Sun.; Lunch 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun.-Sat.; Dinner 4-10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 4 p.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat; Bar open till 2 a.m. Mon.-Sat.
I’VE GOT A FRIEND who insists that a delicious fried-clam strip is an oxymoron. Though he’s tried plenty, he says he’s never encountered a good one—says such a thing doesn’t exist, actually. Not even at the Lockspot. This friend of mine just received the Captain’s Platter (our server presented the big ole thing to him cheerfully—bidding, “Enjoy, Skipper!”—and for $13.95 he certainly ought to), and although he is, in fact, enjoying the heck out of the breaded oysters (“excellent; small, like quality oysters should be”), the battered cod (“they’re always good here”), and, to a lesser extent, the prawns (“the fryer isn’t the best medium for these big suckers, either”), he is unfaltering in his claim that clams simply aren’t done justice in a Fry Daddy. Aye, aye.
Plenty of things, however, are done justice in the deep fryer and the Lockspot has a bunch of them on the appetizer menu. Basically, anything you can crisp in hot oil and dip in ranch dressing is available here, as you might expect from a no-frills hangout like this one. Take your beer-battered mushrooms ($4.95) over to the dartboard or enjoy some hot wings ($6.95) at the bar; nothing’s fancy here and the locals who flock here wouldn’t have it any other way.
Similarly, burgers, salads, pasta, and sandwiches are done classically with a vaguely Northwestern flair: Check out the pesto salmon sandwich ($8.95), the seafood fettucine ($11.95), and the smoked salmon and bay shrimp Caesar ($9.95). (But between you, me, and the lamppost, the albacore tuna sandwich should be avoided. Even though the focaccia it’s served on rules, the tuna itself is overcooked and very bland.) The micro-brews are plentiful, the full bar is well-stocked, and with two happy hours daily—5-7 p.m. and midnight to 2 a.m.—even those suffering from Thin Wallet Syndrome can toss back a few.
Aside from the small clam strip infraction, which is assuredly not the Lockspot’s folly alone, they do seafood—the cheap, blue-collar kind—about as well as anyone around here, and out in Ballard the bar is high. Whether inside the warm, sports-bar-meets-fisherman’s-wharf cafe or from the take-out counter attached to the western wall of the building, the tender halibut and chips ($8.95) are what keeps the galley packed with regulars and the line outside worth waiting in. And speaking of these parts—as the name implies, the locks are just a parking lot away, making this a perfect destination for first dates and midday escapes.
