Navy Strength (Deservedly) Named Best New American Bar
The Belltown tiki lounge won a major cocktail award, and we couldn't be happier
By AJ Rathbun July 23, 2018
Last Saturday night at the Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans, one of Seattle’s most sensational cocktail sipping parlors, Navy Strength, took home a major award: Best New American Bar. And it couldn’t be more deserved. Opening in Belltown in March of 2017, Navy Strength made an instant impression on us, thanks to its creative and classical tiki- and globally-inspired cocktail menu, which is bursting with flavor like a Bird of Paradise flower bursts with color.
That may be a bit overly-poetic for cocktail talk, but the drinks at Navy Strength deserve it. From immaculately made tiki celebrities like their perfect Mai Tai (which you can read more about in our Northwest Tiki article) to the world-travelling mixes in the menu’s Travel Section, which boasts drinks highlighting the flavors of a certain region, rotating regularly, from India (check out the Kokum + Cashew Swizzle), to Peru, and onwards around the globe and the spice rack. The third section on the menu, Tropical, takes us back towards tiki, but doesn’t boast the canonical ‘50s faves; instead; you’ll encounter tiki-inspired drinks created by the bar’s crack staff. Through the whole menu you’ll discover two things: impeccably-made concoctions, and a dandy sense of humor.
Just read the description of the Fortress of Solid Dudes from the Tropical menu: “apricot, coconut, and green chile just met at a house party and bonded over their love for everything from comics to Campari. Life is weird!” In some ways, this is what sets Navy Strength apart. There are other bars—many we love—that revel in their ability to utilize delicious ingredients in traditional and unique ways. But sometimes these craft cocktail bars forget: drinking is supposed to be fun. Navy Strength leaves any pretention at the door, and instead serves their dreamy drinks with a welcoming smile.
This attitude shouldn’t really be a surprise, as it pervades other Navy Strength sibling bars owned by Chris and Anu Elford, too, including the celebrated Rob Roy, and the curiosity shop of weird beers (and tasty cocktails), No Anchor. If you haven’t been to all three, then, well, you need to make a trip to Belltown. And if Navy Strength winning Best New American Bar is a portent of more places delivering both crafty cocktails and a barrelful of fun, then we couldn’t be happier.
Follow Us
Restaurant Roundup: Holiday Cheer at SLU BRU, StarChefs, and Kabul Closing
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Fusion food has an innate ability to bring us together. In the blending of two (or sometimes more) cultures, new perspectives are unlocked and we are all better for it. Esquire is in agreement, as the magazine has selected Lupe’s Situ Tacos, a Mexican-Lebanese taqueria in Ballard, as one of the 33 best new restaurants…
Counter Culture: Sansonina Ristorante Italiano
An Italian escape hiding in Renton.
Tucked just off Rainier Avenue, across from a Safeway, Sansonina Ristorante Italiano—which opened early in 2019—is the kind of place you drive past for years without noticing until you walk through the door. Once inside, the outside world dissolves, the hum of traffic fades, and suddenly you’re not in Renton anymore. You’re in a dimly…
5 Things to Eat in December
This month’s assignment: Take the pressure off.
There’s something about the end of the year that adds pressure to everything we do. Despite all the talk of holiday cheer and “merry and bright,” heightened expectations can bring a sense of weariness. We’re fretting over feasts and gatherings while working fervently to tie up loose ends—gifts, work, everything—with a pretty bow. Each month,…
Ahead of the Cut
How a tech-minded home cook turned years of tinkering into a chef’s knife powered by 40,000 vibrations per second.
Scott Heimendinger traces his love for knives back to college, when his dad taught him how to cook over the phone. By his junior year he had saved for his first real knife, a JA Henckels Santoku. Compared with the $9 IKEA knife he had been using, “it felt like a laser… things that used…