It’s been some time in the making, but at last Chef John Howie’s ambitious brewpub-concept restaurant is open for business in Bothell. They’re being somewhat tight-lipped about it because they know they’re going to get swamped, and I have a feeling they’re right. I visited Beardslee Public House on Saturday for a sneak peek and I share some pictures below.
So what is Beardslee Public House? It’s a 10,000 square-foot restaurant, brewery, charcuterie kitchen, and distillery. The restaurant and brewery are now up and running, the other two pieces of the puzzle are still coming together. (Note that because of state liquor laws the distillery is actually a separate business: Wildwood Spirits.) The entire thing is the brainchild of local celebrity-chef John Howie, who operates Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar, Sport Restaurant, and John Howie Steak.
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The project has been in the works for quite some time and by their own admission has taken longer than expected. You’ll notice the Est. 2014 mark on lots of stuff. That’s all history now. They are open, but remember that they’re new and expecting to be very busy.
Everything is new. Beardslee Public House is part of the Beardslee Crossing urban village project – mixed housing and retail. The space is expansive, with a large bar area just inside the door, which is separated by a wide hallway from the even-larger dining room. Patio seating is available out front in the shadow of the grain silo. One thing that is uncommon for a brewpub, the actual brewery is not visible from the bar/restaurant. It’s one level below you.
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Manning the brewhouse at Beardslee you’ll find Drew Cluley, formerly of Big Time Brewing and Pike Brewing. When I visited they were pouring three beers: a pale ale, an IPA, and a porter. They were all good and it was tough to decide which beer would best accompany my meal. The pale ale was particularly pleasant, nicely balanced and extremely quaffable, and it paired very nicely with the Coppa, Rocket and Parmigianino pizza. More beer is on the way. A lot more beer. Drew’s got chops; it’ll be good.
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The food menu features salads, burgers, sandwiches, and hand-tossed pizzas. Like the beer, everything is constructed by hand onsite, whether it’s the amazing Italian-Parmigianino salad dressing or the especially toothsome, rustic, pizza crust. Eventually they will also make the sausage and other charcuterie onsite. You’ll notice that this is an elevated approach to pub grub, as one would expect from a chef of John Howie’s stature.
I should note that Beardslee Public House will be one of the participants in Craft Beer + Food this year, as they were last year when they provided an early peek at what they were working on in Bothell. They won the Peoples Choice award for best pairing.
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Hours
Sunday through Thursday 11:00 to 11:00
Friday, Saturday from 11:00 to midnight
Location
19116 Beardslee Boulevard, Bothell, WA
MAP
I went in on Monday afternoon. Great looking space with lots of room. Didn’t have any of the food since it wasn’t going to be ready until 5:00pm, but tried some beers. The Ginger IPA was the most readheaded things since Richie Cunningham! Almost tasted like medicine. The IPA had a nice finish, but was missing something on the front end. Didn’t have a whole lot of body too it. The pale was also pretty good and I was happy to see a regular pale (they had it on cask as well) on tap since they seem to be scarce these days. They obviously have some stuff to work out. The staff wasn’t that knowledgeable yet (at least the ones we had at the bar) about beer and they were having some issues with the gas lines (barely any gas on the IPA and the Blonde looked like it was about to shoot out of the glass). I’m looking forward to checking them out after they get some of the kinks worked out in a couple of months.