Skip to content

Food & Drink

Remembering the Carousel Room: Seattle’s First Hotel Cocktail Lounge

The "martini store," as regulars call it, is still cranking out cocktails.

By Tim Appelo May 24, 2017

0517_DrinkItIn

This article originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.

When the Mayflower Park Hotel opened in 1927, the Seattle Daily Times raved, “Seattle Obtains Large Structure to House Guests!” The 12-story, Renaissance-style gem with stained-glass windows gave Seattle visitors an elegant home, and when liquor by the drink was legalized in 1949, it gave locals and visitors a playful place to hoist a glass. The hotel’s Carousel Room became the city’s first hotel cocktail lounge, with merry-go-round horses hung from the ceiling. There were no windows, due to moralistic “blue laws” that forbade windows in bars, lest passersby glimpse sinful drinking. When blue laws ended in 1976, Birney and Marie Dempcy—who bought the hotel in 1973—restored it and turned The Carousel Room into Oliver’s Lounge, Seattle’s first bar with windows. Known for its martinis, Oliver’s has won Seattle’s Best Martini Challenge so many times (seven) that some regulars simply call it “the martini store.” Mayflower Park Hotel, downtown, 405 Olive Way; 206.623.8700; mayflowerpark.com

 

Follow Us

Restaurant Roundup: Coffee Courtroom Showdown, Bellevue Voodoo, and Pie in the Sky

Restaurant Roundup: Coffee Courtroom Showdown, Bellevue Voodoo, and Pie in the Sky

Fourth of July fun, a new Voodoo Doughnut and a brew battle

When it comes to feasting in July, there are more than a few dishes that come to mind. Corn on the cob, pie hot out of the oven, fresh strawberries, barbecued ribs — the list goes on and on. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should limit your culinary horizons this month. In fact, here…

Thirteen Washington Cideries Win Awards

Thirteen Washington Cideries Win Awards

Empyrical Orchard & Cidery took home five awards, including two gold medals

Empyrical Orchard & Cidery was the big winner in the 12th-annual Northwest Cup Cider Awards, taking home two gold medals, one silver, and two bronzes. The Snohomish County cidery — which launched three years ago — also won for small cidery of the year. Olympic Bluffs Cidery in Port Angeles won the new cidery of…

5 Things to Eat in July 

5 Things to Eat in July 

Just when we think we know it all, our food scene gives us more to discover

The unexpected find is a rare thing in this world, where it seems all great things have been TikToked by folks more savvy, more persistent than me. But dining out is not about this type of rat race. Luckily, I find there are still many surprises in every neighborhood: underrated dishes that become my new…

The Flavors of Pride Across Seattle

The Flavors of Pride Across Seattle

Seattle restaurants prepare for a busy, celebratory weekend

Roz Edison and Kamala Saxton launched their business with a single food truck, Marination Mobile, in 2009. Now, 16 years later and the truck since retired, their business has grown to three stand-alone restaurants (plus a stand at T-Mobile Park teeming with hungry baseball fans) and a robust catering business. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, their restaurant group is the fifth-largest business in…