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Mic check time. After closing in May for a remodel, the Paragon — Queen Anne’s longtime bar and grill known for live music — reopened this past weekend, serving up a menu of standard gastropub fare, including burgers, Rainier beer-battered fish and chips, and three different kinds of mac n’ cheese dishes (along with tunes from folk singer Pat Hull). The drinks list included 15 beers on tap, plus specialty cocktails such as the Sirens Temptation, with gin, green chartreuses, and kiwi thai basil, and a caffeinated concoction called Midsummer Night Dream, with vodka, Kahlua, and nitro cold brew. Bargain hunters should take note of a happy hour from 3 p.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday, featuring $7 martinis.
The Paragon first opened in 1995, the Seattle expansion of a restaurant/bar/nightclub chain that began in San Francisco (the original location closed down two years ago). It found a niche in Queen Anne throughout the late 1990s and early aughts, attracting some popular music acts, including Brandi Carlile, who used to play there regularly.
New owners Eric and Kim Rogozienski took over this spring, shutting the place down for a few months so they could give the kitchen an overhaul and make some small cosmetic changes to the dining room, while intending to keep the Paragon’s original spirit alive. To that end, they also posted a list of “13 Principles for a Successful Restaurant” that was passed down from owner to owner. It looks a little weather beaten, but hard to argue with goals like “fill your restaurant with friendly employees.”
