The Buck

Another update just to say I’m sorry for your passing, my friend. I’ll miss you terribly. The Hill just isn’t the same now that you’re closed.
A moment of silence, please.
Where should we host the wake?

I wandered over to my old stomping ground on Cap Hill and happened upon The Buck, which wasn’t there a few years ago. I found the bartenders to be very welcoming and attentive, but they seemed a little confused and new. Also, they were very attentive, because my group was the only persons there for the entire 2 hours we were there — around 7pm. I give the place 2 stars for effort, but they have a few things to work on.
*The menu was very large and convoluted. It really didn’t go with the Western theme of the log cabin (or at least that was what I think the theme was).
*The shot specials were bizarre — seemed like someone was trying to get rid of some liquor and made stuff up — also the bartender had no idea what the specials were and had to keep referring to it when we ordered.
*The drink menu was also large and convoluted, and the drinks were just so-​so (however the $ 12 bottle of wine was a good deal).
*We tried a few different foods — the mac and cheese was a little bland and dry and the pizza was good, but everything was WAY overdone with green onions, which has a tendency to overpower everything.
Overall, we had fun, but the whole experience was just kinda odd — being the only ones there, it really did like we were abandoned in a log cabin.
Also, at one point, since we were the only ones there, we asked if we could get the baseball game on the TV — well it happens they only got channel 13 and kinda fuzzy. I guess that adds to the log cabin affect — but not in a good way.

Because the drinks are strong and I couldnt remember much else because the drinks were STRONG! the Buck!

The Buck is a unique place to grab happy hour with friends. Good food, good drinks, nice bartender/​waiter/​cook/​jack-​of-​all-​trades. Not to mention the mannequins in the bathrooms!
1. Yummy nachos, enough to share with three other people! Comes with sour cream, salsa, cheese, jalapeño aioli.
2. Yummy pizza. Only one kind. Covered in mozzarella, parm, pesto (though it was undetectable), and drizzled in balsamic for a nice touch.
3. Yummy drinks. Southern Decadence = delish.
Minus two stars for the slow service (one man on the job, what can you expect. Poor guy.) and expensive nachos ($ 10).
I’d come back.

Well, well, aren’t you a pretty little thing?
I can see why the speed of drink delivery might get some down, but being as I like to think of a night out as a marathon and not a sprint — not to mention I get there early and get myself served before busytime– for me, the pacing was perfect.
Oh, and so were those kick ass drinks that the hot and talented barstaff kept bringing to our little table.
I needed food, and I was initially dismayed at the slim pickins on the menu, but I was wrong. YES I WAS WRONG. The Wasabi Grilled Cheese wasn’t what I expected, but I’ve since learned to increase my expectations when it comes to the handcrafted food coming out of their kitchen.
I realize that when my company is as lovely and charming as the atmosphere (I’m looking at you, Corinna), it’s hard to lose but I think this might be a new haunt of mine too…

I’d like to dole out fewer stars but I’d like to think that my second experience at The Buck was an isolated one. Late at night my friend and I grabbed some seats at the bar and placed an order. All was well with the world.
After 20 mins or so we were ready for round two. I sat there, right at the bar, attempting to make eye contact for what felt like 15 – 20 mins. No joke! It was around 12:30AM on a weeknight and the bar was pretty sleepy. When we’d arrived there were at least 6 other people in the bar but when I was looking for a second drink, it was just me, my friend and a guy to my left who was taking all of the bartender’s attention. They were stuck in some personal conversation about dating, love, sex, drama, etc. I tried my best not to pay attention but because I was sitting right with them, I was stuck. When the bartender looked over at me she included me in the convo. I wasn’t looking at you to become part of the chat, I was trying to get a new drink! Then the bartender poured some kind of sauce all over some burning toast and ate food in front of me while I waited patiently to ask for a drink. I had never felt so invisible.
I’ll admit though that she was super kind and when she did notice that I was trying to order a new round, she was very helpful. Instead of sitting there any longer though, I just asked for the bill and went to another bar where the service would be a little better. This won’t keep me from going back but I was pretty disappointed.

Been there 3 times in 2 weeks if that tells you anything! :) LOVE THE BUCK… and LOVE Jaime. He’s the best. I’m obsessed with the Ginger Lily Martini. They were on special my first time there and now I’m hooked! But you can never go wrong with $ 1.50 Oly’s on Happy Hour or $ 12 bottles of wine whenever. I really want to go back for the food since everything sounds delicious!
And Priscilla is adorable! :)

I can’t say much other than what has already been said, except to reaffirm.
The mac and cheese is AMAZING. Also, the nachos rocked. Jalapeño aioli! My French 77 was also pretty dang good.
The bathroom is terrifying, but exceptionally clean!
It’s on the HH rotation permanently, I think :)

Listen, I ate the pizza here once before and it was delightful. They put balsamic drizzle on it and it was flat and delicious in my mouth. I went back again recently to get the pizza and it tasted like sick spaghetti. Get your act together, Buck. We both know you’re better than this.
But hey, I really enjoy the miniature plastic horses that you have on display through out the bar, keep doing that please.

What can I say about a bar that’s a cross between gay-​cowboy-​mod? I loved it! It’s like a cabin inside, and I automatically felt at home. Ate a great tuna sandwich with fries and my friend had the beef something sandwich. Both served with frosty cold mugs of beer.
We sat for hours playing cheesy board games and laughing and the bartender/​server came at appropriate intervals for fresh refills. My favorite neighborhood feeling place so far.

Thank god for those little plastic horses cause there are some morning afters when you wonder where you were the night before and you role over in bed only to get stabbed by a plastic horse sticking into your shin and suddenly the whole night comes flooding back.
The drinks are quite tasty (yay for bourbon!) and the décor is attractive without being too totally kitch. It’s pretty comfortable for everyone, you can literally be ANYONE and feel comfortable here. The bartenders are knowledgeable, mix a mean drink and are quite decorative themselves.
I’ll head back here over and over again, I still need to complete my horse set!

Hey Buckaroos! Please improve your happy hour menu. I don’t like being told which beers are on special – I’d rather have a good price on the beer I want. $ 1.50 Oly or $ 3.30 Stella? Those are my least favorite beers on your menu. C’mon, just give us a *buck* off any of your beers. It’s easy and everybody’s happy!
I love the décor here, the BRMC on the speakers, and the staff was great – I’m just not too excited about their cocktail menu or their happy hour.

This place should be called «The Yuck». Um… Cos cos the food is yucky, get it? See what I did there?
How does one fuck up a grilled cheese? A standard sandwich, the ultimate in comfort food! I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. When the plate arrived, I wanted to blow my rape whistle.
I felt sorry for these slices of bread laid out, exposed, open faced, humiliated, splooged with cheese, and then some baby batter sauce on the side.
Mixed Drinks=water.
Cocktails = Capri Sun.
This place gets 1 star for the décor.
Stop trying so hard.

This place is amazing. I don’t like going out on Saturday nights because I don’t like super-​packed bars or places that reek of drunken desperation. My friend and I needed a drink, though, and after asking around on Unilocal I decided this would be the way to go.
We walked in (around 11:30pm on a Saturday), to find we could actually maneuver our way through the bar.
It is the perfect balance of trashy and classy.
It’s all sit-​down, which I loved. A space like that would normally feel divey (it is very small and dimly-​lit), but the seating makes it cozy, if not even sort of nice.
I feel like this would be a great place to wind down and gossip after a night of heavy drinking, or for first date drinks.
We were quickly brought a menu with a wine and cocktail list, and told that IT WAS HAPPY HOUR FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT.
The bathroom is fun. Despite being forewarned from reading the Unilocal page before heading out, I was still shocked and terrified by the mannequin.
This is a fantastic bar to sit and talk and relax, and it’s a nice break from all the loud, meat market cap hill bars.
Definitely on my list of favorites.

Can I just say that anywhere with a sign that says «4 $ Mac and Cheese, Get You’re Ass in Here! «on one side and «What The Buck «on the other, Wins.
I had just finished dinner but I came REALLY close to ordering skillet nachos or jalapeño grilled cheese. Everything on the menu looked amazing, I stool a bite of the grilled cheese and was instantly wanted to demolish it in its entirety, I wasn’t even hungry!
We strolled in at about 11 on a Saturday night. The Buck is tiny which makes for a intimate bar experience. On a beautiful summer night I bet this place is packed. I imagine it would be fun, just standing room only. We settled in at a booth where were chit chatted and sipped at cocktails. Two cocktails ran 7.50, can’t say they were stiff.
Normally I’m not thrilled about western themes but the buck does it in a subtle, and even classy way. I enjoyed the low sexy lighting mixed with the low hum of rap music. Despite it’s mellow vibe my loud, giggly friends and I weren’t scowled out by other patrons. As the sign would imply, you should really get your ass in there.

Beware of the mannequin in the bathroom, it will scare you as you enter!
This place is awesome. Came here on a Saturday and the bartender Daniel was quick to help us out. $ 1.50 Olympia beers served in frosty glass did me very well, and the ambiance was great too.
The bar felt very homey and we had plenty to entertain us including a vintage Cowboys and Indians set.
The music was great and just loud enough to still have a pleasant conversation.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes to have a good time on Capital Hill without all the weekend chaos.

YeeHaw! Lemme tell you about this little puppy…
This pseudo-​log cabin, horse wranglin’, cowboy spot makes me long for a cool spot I visited in Austin many years ago.
At the Buck, Tuesday night is $ 10 bottle wine night. You read that right — $ 10 — for a BOTTLE. They had 5 different varietals to choose from, we had a Cab (Wiley Jack, to go w/​the cowboy theme I guess), which was way better then I thought it would be. But then again I have low expectations for a $ 10 bottle of wine anywhere…
The food was delicious & inexpensive as well. Loved the pizza so much! This is cheesy, tangy, tomato-​y, mouthwatering goodness! My friend & I shared 1 pizza & the grilled cheese — loved the wasabi dipping sauce & the jalepeno one, the sweet one notsomuch. We were still kinda hungry so we agreed we should try something else on the menu, like the natchos. But that damn pizza was calling my name as the waiter came to check on us… so we ordered another pizza instead. It was THAT GOOD.
Definitely a nice chill vibe during happy hour, service was friendly, place wasn’t packed… would love to do a little happy hour crawl along that street (hit the Saint, Buck & Dinette). I don’t know if my belly could handle all of the greatness, but I’m willing to try!

I’ve now been to The Buck three times and feel I can give the place the review it deserves. My first experience was walking past and seeing their sign declaring that they would play Michael Jackson all night. Not knowing he had just passed, my friend and I went in only to become very depressed at the news. The server offered to bring us a couple Michaeltinis (Kahlua and Godiva. Yes.) and we proceeded to drink our way through their lovely cocktail menu. My companion ordered a drink with fresh rosemary and the bartender had to run two blocks to pick some. I thought this was very sweet of him.
The next time we went (same friend), we decided to stick to their happy hour stuff. Thinking the pizzas would be itty bitty personal ones (at $ 6.60 this would make sense), we ordered two. Imagine our surprise when we each received two hefty pies that were incredibly tasty. Love, love, love the balsamic reduction drizzled on top. It made for an excellent cold breakfast the next day, too. And you really can’t beat $ 1.50 Olys in the frostiest mugs ever.
My third visit is when The Buck earned its five stars. I went with several friends for their Sunday spaghetti feed (excellent spaghetti… nice and spicy). We started out keeping it simple and sticking with beer/​wine. However, the evening quickly devolved into rounds of tequila, cocktails, and too much Maker’s Mark. The bartender (he introduced himself to us after a while but we were so drunk we couldn’t remember if it was Dave or Dan. We just lovingly and drunkenly called him D-​Man the rest of the night.) was great. Bless his heart for putting up with our asses.

I’m really torn over giving this place four stars. I’m not sure if I’m giving too little or too much.
Really cute spot with a cow folk aesthetic and an awesome drink menu. The specials for the night were ginger margaritas and blueberry and basil mojitos. The posse really loved the saddled (and yes I mean the kind you ride on a horse with) stools.
Where I was really conflicted was that although the service was super friendly when available, it was sparse. It was my sister’s birthday and she was on a mission. We had a hard time getting help and when we did, there was a few times we didn’t get everything in the round that we ordered. This was a bit frustrating.
As a side note, beware of the bathroom on the right. I went in and almost peed myself before I made it to the toilet, because there was a mannequin sitting there and staring at me when I turned on the lights. The thing creeped me out all night. Although she was facing the door, I swear she was watching me out of the corner of her eye when I was in there.
I’ll be back to give this place another shot.

Boy howdy, I love this place. We stopped at The Buck to grab a quick drink before we headed to karaōke on the hill, but after we had stopped at The Redwood and Lindas. However, The Buck deserves to be much more than Point B between Point A and Point C.
The place deserves five stars for making me feel like Buffalo Bill or Calamity Jane could come waltzing in the door any minute. While the «faux hunting lodge» motif seems to be popular around Seattle, The Buck executes the log cabin/​cowboy/​rustic theme to a T. The bar was pretty quiet for a Friday night and seemed to host more pairs than groups. The bartenders were friendly and acknowledged us right away, which added to the charming atmosphere.
I know I’ll be back. And the next time The Buck will get all the time it deserves.