The Place: A-Pizza Mart, 5026 University Way NE, (206) 903-8500The Hours: 3-7p.m.
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Place: A-Pizza Mart, 5026 University Way NE, (206) 903-8500The Hours: 3-7p.m. daily and 11p.m.-2a.m.The Digs: What started out as the U-District’s first 4 a.m. pizza delivery place has grown to be the beloved neighborhood pub we know today. As fate would have it, A-Pizza Mart’s early morning crowd began asking for alcoholic beverages along with their deliveries. Before you know it, the eatery had segued into a bar as well. A-Pizza Mart is the quintessential university watering hole. Even the decor screams “cheap college student” (just look at the year-round window display: an effervescent snowman and twinkling Christmas lights). During the day the restaurant-turned-bar caters to neighborhood families; but as evening sets in, the place swarms with the scholarly crowd. The small chute of a room is dimly lit and dotted with thrift-store finds, like a giant painting of a matador taunting a bull. There’s no rhyme or reason to this place, but it’s the unpretentious panache that makes for an appealing hangout. (An added bonus: the joint has yet to be discovered by the rowdy frat boys and pompous hipsters that usually roam this territory). The Deal: $2 pints/$6 pitchers of Rainier, $3 pints/$9 pitchers of other drafts, $3 wells and $4 specialty drinks .The Verdict: As if the 4 a.m. deliveries weren’t satisfying enough, this place has some excellent happy hour specials. Order a small, one-topping pizza for $5 and kick back with a $9 pitcher. Since cheap beer is in abundance at any college party (seriously, I’ve had enough Rainer and PBR in my college career to sponsor half a dozen “benefit” kegs), I decided to branch out and try the Washington Apple, A-Pizza Mart’s bestseller. Ingredients include: whiskey, sour apple vodka and a hint of coke. The cheap finger-food is nothing special (pizza, who would have thought?), but for a casual atmosphere and decompressing “study break,” you can’t go wrong at this neighborhood favorite.
