Happy hour: Home-brewer buddies turn Naked City into craft-beer temple

HAPPY HOUR |

Naked City offers 24 craft beers on tap. It also has its own brewery in the back. It's a neighborhood bar. It offers a kids menu before 10 p.m.

That's a lot of bullet points, a lot going on under one roof. Somehow it all seems to work for the two Seattle home brewers who started this venture in Greenwood two years ago.

Naked City celebrates its second anniversary this month as a neighborhood hangout that has emerged as one of the city's best for microbrews. The bar marked its anniversary by rolling out The Big Lebrewski, a "creamy White Russian Imperial Stout" and its Double Header, an India Pale Ale with vanilla notes, the latter an homage to a similar brew that won second place in the region at the National Homebrew Competition in 2007.

Owners Don Webb and Donald Averill quit their day jobs to open Naked City shortly after that honor, and the bar has become a big hit in this North End neighborhood and the microbrew community.

Stellar local brands such as Black Raven Brewing in Redmond and the cult hit Russian River Brewing have been featured.

Now being served: the much-talked-about smoky bacon ale from Odin Brewing. (Once the pork novelty wears off after a few sips, you'll likely long for one of the other beers.)

That pub grub: The pulled-pork sandwich was dry. Better were the mortadella sliders with smoked cheese and sweet lager-braised onions. Overall, it's better than your usual bar food, with sandwiches made with Painted Hills beef, Carlton Farm ham and Beecher's cheese.

Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, 8564 Greenwood Ave. N., offers happy hour 4-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and all day Sunday with $1 off on all drafts and cider (206-838-6299 or nakedcitybrewing.com).

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