Shea’s Lounge

If you’re ever really pissed off that it wasn’t you who invented MS-DOS, or you don’t have any really rich friends who invite you over to their swank pads for cocktails, have no fear: Shea’s Lounge is there for you. Upstairs from Patti Summers in the Corner Market Building is the loft space you can’t afford—with a full bar to boot. Twenty-foot ceilings, giant arched windows with views of the Pike Place clock, thick wood beams, and old-school brick adorn this hidden gem. The lighting is dimly perfect, fresh flowers greet you at the door, the staff know how to leave you well enough alone. Not only that, but cellular phones are banned from the place, making it a relatively real estate agent-free environment. This fabulous space is split in two: On one side is the restaurant Chez Shea, and on the flip side the cozy bar, Shea’s Lounge. There’s a late-night menu going in the lounge—that is, if you want to eat Pecorino Romano flan or a roasted beet salad. Stick with the spirits—a fine selection of cocktails (well drinks $5-$5.50, premium $5.50-$12), vino, some kick-ass dessert wines (the Icardi, Moscato d’Asti by the glass for seven clams, for example), and a nice selection of well-priced ports to finish things off. Dress up, bring a date, tell her it’s your place, and don’t worry about the money you didn’t make. (If you call in advance, they may even give you a key to one of the two entry doors—Suite #34). After a few Manhattans you’ll forget all about the cybergeeks, coffee barons, and amazon.billionaires who now people the region. And if the date thing doesn’t work out, there’s one of those matchmaking services right down the hall. Bar joke: Horse walks into a bar; bartender says, “Why the long face?”