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The Velvet Elk

4.7 (60 reviews)
ModerateCocktail Bars
Closed 5:00 pm - 11:00 PM
Updated 1 month ago

The Velvet Elk Photos

Business Info

THE VELVET ELK ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Intimate
Romantic
Moderate noise

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Recommended Reviews - The Velvet Elk

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Reviews With Photos

Cassie A.

Drinks, ambiance, and service so good, I'd have my last supper here. But seriously, if you like a good whiskey flip, check theirs out.

Corn dog with pimiento cheese and aardvark sauce
Joelle P.

I was excited to check this place out. The vibe looks like a super chic/funky living room. I love the style. I know I'm no longer a spring chicken, but the music volume was turned up 3 or 4 times in the almost 3 hours I spent there. That changes the vibe to more of a club kid space. The corn dog was good; spicier than I expected, as was the pimiento cheese, which made the aardvark sauce extraneous.

Jay S.

We stopped by after dinner at Mioposto. It is unique place and cool set up. I do like the painting. My friends wanted drinks after dinner. The bartenders were very attentive.

Moody ambiance no matter the weather outside.
Julian G.

Decor - Funky, unique, and inspired. Drinks - Funky, unique, and inspired. Staff - Funky, unique, and inspired. This is a place where you feel at home dressed-up or in short and a tank top. ... Selfishly, I hesitate to write a review of this place given I want to be able to get a seat whenever I'm craving a nice drink with a cute date. Ultimately, this is your reason to visit Mt. Baker.

Looking down from the second floor.  Fabulous.
Blake V.

An outstanding little neighborhood bar. Welcoming to all. Drinks are unnecessarily pricey ($17.00 + tax for a single Tanqueray & Tonic). l

Myranda M.

Neighborhood gem! I visited on a Friday night and it was pretty packed. The bartenders were warm and greeted me promptly. I love the vibe of this place. The lighting is a perfect match of calm and cool. Even the restroom has a selfie light mirror where you can snap your best photo. They have an upstairs area where you can hang out with a larger party. They also provide card games. I ordered a couple of cocktails and each one was delicious. They were reasonably priced and well made. As a heads up, they don't serve food but they let you bring food from other restaurants. Mioposto is next door so feel free to bring a pie over. Best bar in Mt. Baker hands down.

Cozy upstairs hang space!!
Maren H.

This is one of those crazy fun hidden gems. I LOVE IT HERE. The bartender was awesome both downstairs and upstairs are so cozy and fun. We also came upon a night where a tarot card reader was upstairs doing readings which was also super fun. Their food menu is extremely limited, but tasty. We had the Okazu Pan which is Japanese-style fried bread stuffed with Beef Curry, Jerk Chicken, BBQ Tasso and Vegan Lentil. We tried the jerk chicken and the vegan lentil They were delicious! Also I had one of the few twisted old fashioned. Amazing! LOVE IT!

a cocktail in a coupe glass
Valentina M.

Great cosmic vibe at this lounge! The staff is place very nice, welcoming, and attentive. The drinks were pricing, to be expected, but were delicious.

Lei C.

small place , but all the music and lights are good for date night. Cocktail just so so, nothing special.

Drinks and meats and cheese platter!

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1 year ago

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6 months ago

Fantastic and unique place! The drinks are amazing, vibes are cozy and eclectic, it's perfect

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2 years ago

Neighborhood vibes & good cocktails. We enjoyed the friendly service as well. We will be back when in the area.

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Page 1 of 2

Ask the Community - The Velvet Elk

Review Highlights - The Velvet Elk

Super cute little cocktail bar right in the heart of Mt.

Mentioned in 8 reviews

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The Bourbon Bar

The Bourbon Bar

3.5
(26 reviews)
1.5 mi
$$

This place is pretty bad ass! I can't say that I was terribly impressed with the liquor selection…read morebut for a small (and new?) bar - they're really doing a great job. Aside from the awesome food - which I'll get to in a second - and the live music, I was most impressed by the bartender. He was super charismatic, super friendly and very funny. When I popped in with a group of 6 or so friends, he swiftly tended to us, made sure to introduce himself and took everyone's drink order. When it came time to get food I actually decided to opt out. It was nearly midnight and I had already eaten dinner hours earlier. But my friend next to me got a basket of fries and that's when it got hard to ignore the menu... The fries were AWESOME! In fact, they were so tempting that not only did I sneak a few, I actually asked to see the whole menu. Comprised mostly of about a dozen varieties of slider, I was super happy to see the variety. Suddenly my stomach growled and though I didn't want two sliders, I knew I could share with a friend. The only issue then was deciding which to get. I recall a buffalo chicken slider but only got as far as the fried bologna. HELL. YES!!! I ordered one and my buddy ordered another. (They come two to a plate.) My little slider was DELICIOUS! In fact, it was so good that I could totally envision making a trip all the way back to this bar just to have them again. So yeah... I'm a fan. The food is great, the bartender was totally rad, the live music playing in the theater was piped into the bar and the selection of beer and booze was just enough to satisfy. What a great little addition to the hood!

4 is the average between 3 stars and 5 stars: Why 4?…read more 3 stars: Meh. It is a cool, cute and subtly(?) intimate space for a hole in the wall. I had no drinks and drinks are not my forte, so I have nothing to contribute to with drinks (although I did get a water, more on that later). An interestingly mixed group of folks here (including the supposedly "local favorite", more on her later). =P Late Wed night, a bum can be met outside the front asking for crap... I didn't think this downtown-phenomenom could reach this far and late into Columbia City. o_O Now for the 5 stars: ENTIRELY for my fond memory of rockin' the mic with Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight----and ALL fuc*ing 7 minutes of it! ----BAM! In addition to doing my thing up there, this "local favorite" chick asked me if she could join in---of course! Before I finish, let me fill you in on the intro deets. On occasion, one of the folks in our mini Yelp group asked me if I'd picked a song, yet. --No. --Nope. --Not, yet. --I'm kind of tied between between two... come almost-midnight, I'd finally settled on the one that's been bugging me all night, Rapper's Delight - Sugarhill Gang. Drop my card off and wait several songs until I'm called.... wait for it... ....dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en--- (omg, ---WHAAAT?!). DUDE, both groups started *GASP* ---CHAN-TING & clapping(?)--- my name, when right then Kira *bowchikawowow!* took my hand and guided me up front. Rewinding back, the local favorite black lady joins me. I notice the screen.... someone says "wow, 7 minutes?!" I glance at the screen----hot diggity dam! Within 1 second, I thought of: why did I pick this song, 7 minutes seems long, I totally dig this song and the beat, I've heard it before but not the whole 7 min... and thankfully glad I asked for a glass of water prior to singing, because boy I tell ya, did I have a mouth drought in the minutes coming up to this (and slightly during, but I pressed on because, the more I sang/rapped it, the more I had tunnel vision on the lyrics screen and rippin' it in my own little world). I definitely heard the times the crowd join in during the good parts---most encouraging, hehe. All said and done.... wow (and phew!). Afterwards, the local lady came up to me and said something like, "Mmm Mm...that was ^fine^!..." I think I did come with my confidence, after all. 7 minutes... of rapping!? I think I just experienced a miracle... amazing. I think I want more karaoke (and drinking not even required! =P).

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All local spirits :-)
All local spirits :-)
The Bourbon Bar
Singing Bad Things

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Singing Bad Things
Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack

Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack

4.0
(1.1k reviews)
1.4 mi
$$

This place is one of a kind and so delicious for Carribean and Jamaican cuisine! If you have not…read moretried -- you must! We were celebrating my colleagues birthday the day before and were going to see a show at the Royal Room! We got drinks and I had the caprihlana and the Carribean Star! The Carribean Star is a MUST- TRY, the flavors of that drink were amazing! Both the tostones and shrimp ceviche for appetizers was out of this world! The fried catfish was breaded and crisped perfectly and their sides, especially the collard greens are tasty, a bit tangy and phenomenal! I was able to sample my coworkers dishes (they offered of course and I did too) and the goat curry -- try this too if you like curry! Such amazing flavor and tender goat! They do not take reservations but it's peak around dinner time and weekends! We got lucky with the last big table! The menu is creative and colorful. Staff is amazing! They actually had a location in Kirkland but had to close it and this location remains and is a HIT!

This is my new favorite neighborhood spot! We showed up on…read morea Thursday night not realizing that it was karaoke night. The place was packed and the vibes were great! There were no open tables so we were seated at the bar. The other patrons were sweet and friendly and everyone was having a good time. The staff were all hella friendly and attentive and were able to move us to a table once one opened up. The food was SO good!! The catfish was bangin, perfectly breaded and spiced. All of the flavors and spices were rich and delicious and everything the was cooked just right. Can't wait to go back and try other options. Also, they have a dope happy hour for smaller snax and deals. Great spot :)

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Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack
Amazing curried mussels, a Must Have
Amazing curried mussels, a Must Have
The sampler was impeccable...

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The sampler was impeccable...
Off Alley

Off Alley

3.6
(104 reviews)
1.4 mi

The future of food may be here. A small, busy space, almost literally an alley. Attentive staff,…read morealmost obsessed with the food. Fragrant, richly flavored and textured dishes in small but shareable portions. You will go home and rave about the rabbit kidneys. You have been warned. Highly recommended.

The best way to describe the food at this place is it's off the beaten path (alley?)…read moreThe meats here are not something you can find everywhere else. From the most prized (foie gras) to the more normal (frog legs) to the odd (beef liver). And there was what I had - the rabbit kidneys on toast. I love the inventiveness of this place. It's so easy to just serve the same cuts of meats everyone else does - the prized, fatty parts of each animal and call it a day. But when there's a place that decides to dive deep (literally) into an animal and produce its organs and put that on a plate for you, it's just very cool. When you see a rabbit kidneys on toast dish on the menu - you can't not order it. The dish was pretty much exactly what you would expect - a bunch of rabbit kidneys on a slice of toast, over a cream sherry sauce. I had no idea what to expect in terms of kidneys, but these actually tasted quite normal. The best way to describe them is they had the texture and shape of larger beans, but had a bit of a meaty taste to them. Nothing over the top in terms of flavor or anything - just solid. They seemed to have been grilled. There were also a good amount on the piece of toast. The piece of sourdough bread it came on was quite good. The edges were crispy, and certain parts were perfectly lightly charred without being too burnt. The best part was the inside - which was super soft. What really tied this all together though, was the cream sherry sauce. This was outstanding. Certain parts were above the bread but a lot of it was below, and just tasting it I was blown away by its richness. It was on the sweeter side, but complemented everything so well. The way it soaks the inside of the bread is perfection - eating that was my favorite part. For dessert I got the foie gras ice cream. This was also really damn good. When two very fatty things come together, you'd expect there to be a full blast of flavor, but this was actually milder than I expected. It's still slightly salty, and very rich, but the added wine helps make it a more normal dish. I could still absolutely have a full scoop of this though. The one thing to know here is the portions are VERY small. The rabbit kidneys on toast dish is literally a single slice of bread with about 10 or so kidneys on top. The foie gras ice cream is truly miniscule - it's the smallest ice cream you've ever seen. The server did recommend 2-3 small plates per person, but I didn't particularly feel like paying a ton this night. If you were to come with someone (don't recommend groups here - the seating is very small), I'd say you could share a bunch of plates and feel pretty happy though. I wanted to give a shoutout that this place has the price inclusive of tipping. It's just so rare to see that, and absolutely wonderful when it occurs. I ended up paying around 38 for my two dishes. Overall, while not quite truly special, this place serves inventive, delicious mini-dishes that are certainly worth a try. 9/10

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Off Alley
Pork belly roulade, country gravy
Pork belly roulade, country gravy
Smoked sturgeon, fennel, horseradish

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Smoked sturgeon, fennel, horseradish
Asa Gathering

Asa Gathering

4.5
(36 reviews)
2.4 mi

Just got home from a lovely HH at Asa Gathering. Cute neighborhood place on Mercer Island with a…read moregreat outdoor patio and very friendly service. Bougie, yet still down to earth, if that makes sense. The cocktails were delicious and as creative and customized as you would like. But, I mostly came here to highly recommend the green olives! There were just a few on our charcuterie board and I was lucky enough to be with a group that doesn't eat olives. They are AMAZING! House brined in oranges and chili peppers. Just the right amount of spice and sweetness in a combination I had never experienced. Next time I'm ordering a side dish of olives to go with my old fashioned. Thank you Mitch and also to the person who makes the brined olives - yum!

In the City of Mercer Island there are bars and then there are places to chat, and have beverage…read more One of these places is Asa! Owned by actor, celebrity and entrepreneur, Hill Harper, Asa is named after the historic Asa Mercer, from the family of Seattle's original founders from the 1800's. Today, Asa is, almost literally, at the center of everything in Mercer Island. Generous amount of street parking. Quick access to I-90, great beverages, and a wonderful and personable staff. This place is not a bar, but a modern neighborhood lounge. It is complete with fire pit, wood panels, and a unique character in both its outdoor seating, and indoor tabled lounge, that it would be difficult to duplicate in any city. Craft beer? It's there. Diet Coke from a can with lime? They got you. Signature cocktail? They have it. Uniquely designed menu inspired from vinyl records?? Asa has that too. The only thing is food. Asa is not restaurant. But it does have a very tasty handmade charcuterie platter that definitely hits the spot. Bring friends, or come to contemplate your thoughts at the bar with a staff that actually cares about your well being. You're probably already a regular after reading this review, and not even know it!! Which means... you have to stop by. Enjoy the drinks and the atmosphere, at Asa!!!!! See you there!!

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Inside
Inside
Great bourbon selection !
Great bourbon selection !
Asa Gathering

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The Velvet Elk - cocktailbars - Updated July 2026

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