WC Watch Party spot #3: Downtown Ballard (no spoilers)

Match: Switzerland/Qatar. Noon, June 13

My plans got upended today, and instead of hiking in the Gorge, I ended up in Ballard around noon. So I checked out a few possible watch party spots in Downtown Ballard.

First was Andalucia, a Moroccan restaurant on Ballard Ave, which the Times said was going to have watch parties for Morocco and all games involving North Africa and Middle East teams. Qatar seems Middle East to me, but they were closed. Too bad, because the menu sounds good.

I wandered up to Kangaroo and Kiwi. They’re showing all the games, and are kid-friendly until 9pm (and welcome well-behaved dogs in the back). They have a full menu and a full bar. I ordered a mocktail and a Full Aussie Breakfast. The breakfast was great. I’ll try a different mocktail next time – it wasn’t enough of what I wanted after going for a run.

Kangaroo and Kiwi is very large, and the crowd was spread out. You order at the bar; I’m not sure if they use this system when they get packed, which the bartender (and owner) said they got/get during popular games. There are a number of seating options. I tried a high bench seat with a back and seat cushion, which was better than a hard wooden or plastic chair, but I don’t think would suit me over a whole game. There are definitely other choices to try in this large space.

With a quarter of a game left, I wandered a bit down Ballard Avenue and into Slim Goody Sports Bar, where the 21+ bar space (which includes the front outside area) was almost full. The vibe and food to me said baseball park. The seats were pretty uncomfortable hard wood, but for 25 minutes it was fine. They were showing the Mariners game alongside the World Cup.

I preferred Kangaroo and Kiwi, but Slim Goody seemed a reasonable alternative, particularly if you want to follow the Mariners along with the WC. There are certainly other alternatives, like Bad Albert’s further down Ballard Avenue. La Carta De Oaxaca was projecting the game onto what looked like a sheet in their seating section in the street. There were undoubtedly other possibilities.