Happy-hour steals at Fremont's 9 Million in Unmarked Bills

The name might be 9 Million in Unmarked Bills, but you won't spend that much to get a good meal at this Fremont bar. In fact, you'll pay far from it with a happy-hour menu from 4 to 7 p.m. daily that offers 10 items for $5 each.

Nestled in the former Triangle Lounge in the heart of Fremont, the place was reopened by former bartender Nate Rezac last summer and he has tried to transform it from a college bar to a more upscale establishment.

"We're still trying to get away from what the Triangle was," Rezac said, while acknowledging that its proximity to Seattle Pacific University makes it hard for a complete transformation. "We're looking for the business crowd more than the college crowd."

The menu: This is not traditional bar food — from vegetable meatloaf and steamed clams to hanger steak and brick-oven pizzas.

"We wanted to have a casual menu for a bar," Rezac said. "But everything we tried was a step up from the normal menu. We wanted a burger, and we went a step up and used Kobe beef."

Even if you don't get there in time for happy hour, all items on the menu range from $6 to $14, and food is served until 1 a.m.

What to write home about: Although the lamb sliders were juicy and the wasabi-grilled-cheese sandwich with tomato-bisque soup were a far cry from what mom used to make, the broccoli-and-kale appetizer — sautéed in olive oil with pine nuts, chili flakes and garlic — is a can't miss.

The setting: When you first walk in, you notice the gray booths, the large neon sign behind the bar that reads "prescriptions" and the candle lighting. With the modern-bar feel, you almost overlook the nod to the Prohibition era, until you see a sign on the wall with the names of the mixed drinks, including the John Dillinger.

Summing up: Five items off the happy-hour menu — lamb sliders, crostinis (slices of grilled baguette with toppings that change weekly), broccoli and kale, popcorn shrimp and truffle fries — were $5 each. Add on the white-truffle mac-'n'-cheese and the grilled cheese with tomato-bisque soup for $8 each, and four people were fed for $45.10, plus tip.

Jon Fisch: 206-464-8326 or jfisch@seattletimes.com