by mahalie, 2006/05/15

It’s a regular thing in my home state to see rotund folks in overalls munching on a pork chop or two for breakfast at the local diner. Washington isn’t exactly Iowa, but after seeing regulars take whiskey and Bloody Marys with their breakfast, I suspected they’d appreciate a full blown meal to soak ‘em up with. A few hard mornings of my own spent wishing for Hattie’s Hat’s delectable Chicken Fried Chicken prompted me to appeal to then-manager (and musician, of course) Larry (now Cyril) Barrett. After some harassment, he ran it as a special. Whattya know, sold like hotcakes, better than hotcakes actually…and now it resides on the breakfast menu permanently. You’re welcome Seattle.

Food aside, this Ballard dive is the local hang-out for many of Seattle’s musicians (both ascendant and descendant); Neko Case used to work there, certain ppl who used to be in Soundgarden occasionally haunt a back stool and if you’re lucky you’ll catch the mesmerizing Jesse Sykes and joyfully caustic Phil Wandsher at the bar. Of course, these are just the bigger names…the list of band members who work/hang here is too big to detail and I would inevitably leave someone out.

The owners recently remodeled the back dining area; it now looks like something out of a David Lynch film with it’s dark cave-like back room strangely illuminated by a giant bright square fish tank.

Worth a visit for some true, gritty old-school Ballard flavor. Hattie’s was there way before all the trendy boutiques and may it remain through gentrification and beyond…

One complaint…egads, the coffee is terrible!