Winter Is Coming
The Flatstick Pub (Kirkland location shown here) brings a local flair to each location.
FLATSTICK PUB
Flat out fun at Bellingham’s newest pub for putters
T
he Bellingham Business Journal posted a story in March of 2020, announcing a new business coming to town — the Flatstick Pub. The website revealed that the pub would be taking over the 6,000-square foot space at the southern end of State St. that had previously housed the New York Pizza Restaurant & Bar. With four existing locations — two in Seattle, a lively spot on W. Main St. in Spokane and the original site in Kirkland just a few hundred feet from Lake Washington, Flatstick would be bringing to Bellingham the now familiar mix of golf, locally-brewed beer and food that had worked so well elsewhere. Flatstick Pub was founded in 2014 by brothers Sam and Andy Largent. A graduate of Washington State University and former accountant, Sam had pushed numbers around for 15 years and was ready for a change of scene. So, he cashed in his 401K and became his own boss, opening a dog-friendly pub that offered guests two dozen Washington beers, pizzas and snacks, TVs, a table game named duffleboard that was a hybrid of mini golf and shuffleboard the Largents had invented themselves, and an entertaining, purpose-built, nine-hole mini-golf course. That the company was able to open its second location — underground at Pioneer Square with nine holes of mini-golf whose shape spelled out S-E-A-T-T-L-E and which ended with a 12-foot-high model of the Space Needle — a little more than a year later showed how the Flatstick formula was working.
34
DECEMBER 2021
BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR
The South Lake Union pub then opened in July, 2018 in an 11,000-square-foot space that had been a car showroom and is now part of the building that houses the Allen Institute. Flatstick retained the old building’s original exterior façade and installed a mini-golf course complete with elevation changes, moving kegs as obstacles and, instead of a Space Needle, a 12-foot-tall Sasquatch to avoid. A similarly large space was needed for the Spokane pub that welcomed its first guests a few months later in November, and then plans for Bellingham were drawn up. But COVID scuppered any chance of its opening on the desired date in July of 2020, and it wouldn’t be until March 3 this year, in fact, that its doors could open, and then only at 25 percent capacity (it’s at 100 percent capacity now). Brie Braun, former assistant manager at the Kirkland pub, was appointed general manager and two new games were introduced — dufflepong (a mix of duffleboard and beer pong) and pockets (a blend of minigolf and pool where the winner is the first to putt all six balls into all six pockets before sinking the 8-ball). Andy Largent, the company’s CEO, has been buoyed by business so far. “We’ve been really busy, which is very encouraging given everything we are still dealing with in regards to COVID,” he says. ”We are excited to be in such a wonderful community and excited to see what the future holds for us in Bellingham.’’ As with South Lake Union and Spokane, the Bellingham pub partners with Ethan Stowell Restaurants to provide pizzas plus snacks and salads. The number of taps
currently stands at 32 with 21 beers (all Washington — it’s not quite the company’s slogan, but the words ‘Drinking local does good’ is very much the ethos, including six beers from Bellingham breweries), four ciders, three wines, two cocktails, one hard seltzer and one ginger beer. The mini-golf course ($8 per player – book tee times online) doesn’t feature a 12-foot model of Mount Baker, the magnificent old City Hall, Ryan Stiles, Jake Locker, Glenn Beck, Hilary Swank, Ken Griffey Jr. or anyone else who was born, raised, lived or played pro baseball for one season in Bellingham, but it’s a hoot nonetheless. Western Washington University students are fast becoming regulars at the Flatstick, which offers a great Happy Hour (drinks and pizzas) on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3-6 p.m. “Having students back in town and on campus has been awesome,” says Andy Largent. “I think we are still really trying to get our name out there to reach more of the student population, but those that have been into the pub always seem to have a great time.” I visited one Sunday afternoon in early November with a group of friends and was driving so I stuck to soda while the rest enjoyed some of the more exotic beers (sour apricot and plum sour). We ate good pizza, had some competitive moments on the table games, entered raffles to win Kraken tickets and, of course, played mini golf. It was a blast, and we’re going to do it again soon — this time with wives, kids (over-21s only after 7 p.m.)… and dogs! cascadegolfer.com
