Happy Hour: LOT No. 3 has a masculine flavor and the aroma of bacon

Happy Hour |

LOT No. 3 in Bellevue is the latest venture from the folks who built those grand Barrio restaurants, and the Purple Café and Wine Bars in Seattle and on the Eastside.

But its latest bar could have been dreamed up by some couch potato. Or perhaps some beer buddies who sat around the bar and drew up a wish list on a cocktail napkin.

You can smell the bacon around the bar, thick strips for $1 to pair with rye or bourbon. Sweet-onion dip with chips and a bowl of popcorn also headline the happy-hour menu.

LOT No. 3 is the most ambitious cocktail den to hit Bellevue since Naga Cocktail Lounge debuted last year. It's a whiskey-and-beer kinda place. It's swanky, not grungy or dive-y. It's also risky. LOT No. 3 doesn't focus on the sweet and fruity drinks that make up the bulk of the cocktail sales at most bars. No Cosmos, Lemon Drops or candy cocktails listed. You get a lot of dry and bitter drinks to choose from, though.

It's masculine to the core. Two levels, with metal coffee tables and leather ottomans. Music is bluesy and eclectic. And loud.

When the bartender made me a Jack Rose, he let it be known he tweaked the brandy cocktail to make it less sweet. It went down nicely with a candied strip of bacon, smokey and tasting of brown sugar. The drink also married nicely with a strip done extra-crispy, with plenty of porky saltiness.

LOT No. 3, 460 106th Ave. N.E., Bellevue, offers happy hour 4-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays (closed Mondays) with $3 draft and $7 selected cocktails. Bar food $1-$4. Free four-hour parking validation in the Bellevue Towers Parking garage. Key Bank surface lot on Fourth Street is free after 5 p.m. during the week and all day on the weekends (said the owners of LOT No. 3). (425-440-0025 lotno3.com)

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com