Sure YNot Sports Pub and Grub has a color scheme that is similar to a certain local professional football team and something called a “12th Man Munch Combo,” but as a Seahawks fan I knew I was welcome when my server called me “boss.”
That’s right. Doing his best to channel Marshawn Lynch — he of the “I’m all about that action, boss” mantra — the server, after dropping the food at our table, said, “There you go, boss.”
With another huge Seahawks playoff game (or two) and the college football national championship on the horizon, I decided to check out YNot Sports Pub and Grub, which opened in downtown Everett a little over a year ago, to see how it stacked up against the countless sports bars I’ve visited over the years.
To be fair, a friend and I visited on possibly the worst sports night of the year earlier this week. There was some less-than-inspiring Big 10 basketball on and a replay of the Week 1 Denver-Indianapolis NFL game on the NFL Network. Not anything that’s going to cause a ton of cacophony.
That said, I saw the potential. YNot is clean, has a huge bar and plenty of seating, much of it in multiples of four that could easily be put together for large parties. There’s also more than a dozen taps pouring cold beer and a full menu of items from basic pub grub to healthier salads.
The most important thing about a sports bar is the viewing. Why else would you be there? YNot doesn’t disappoint in that either. There are huge projector screens facing each direction for customers to view the game (one of my sports bar pet peeves is having to crane my head backward to see the game) and another one behind the bar, which seats more than a dozen.
We settled into one of the many tables in the large elevated section near the big screen and our server came over promptly. We ordered up a couple of beers — my friend got a Diamond Knot Industrial IPA and I opted for a Pelican Brewing Scottish — which were on the table before we could take our coats off. Obviously the YNot staff knows what’s important.
We chatted about the Seahawks upcoming game against Carolina (Jan. 10, 5:15 p.m.) and their chances to repeat as champs and moved on to families and work and eventually the “big” Minnesota-Ohio State hoops game on the TV before realizing our server probably forgot about us. So I ran up to the bar and put in an order for the Lots of Tots appetizer, which promised cheese, sour cream and bacon. Pretty much heaven. What we got was just naked tater tots. I chalked that up to a miscommunication with the server.
My friend ordered the BBQ burger and I got the pastrami dip. Besides burgers, sandwiches and wraps, which range from $7.99 to $10.99, YNot offers up other sports bar fare like nachos, sliders and wings. On Seahawks game day, they have specials that include Seahawk Chicken, Linebacker Nachos and the aforementioned 12th Man Munch Combo.
The thing about the food is that it was pretty pedestrian (apologies to Doug Baldwin and the other Seahawks receivers). Unlike the building’s previous tenant (YNot inhabits the space that Alligator Soul used to be in), YNot’s food is clean but unremarkable. For example, after getting his burger my friend asked our server if he’d made a mistake because there was no BBQ sauce on it. He was informed it was under the burger (that’s when we got the “There you go, boss.”). Suffice to say, it was hard to find.
That’s not to say the food was bad. My pastrami dip was chock full of pastrami and had a good amount of cheese. It was filling and tasted good, but it could have been … well, more messy. The au jus was OK. My friend said his BBQ Burger, which came on a pretzel bun, was good. We both got fries, which were lightly fried and run of the mill.
But food isn’t really what brings you to a good sports bar. Ambiance is what makes it and YNot seems to have that down. It was easy to envision a wild crowd cheering on the Seahawks to a big win over the Panthers this Saturday. And really that’s all you need.
Go Hawks!
YNot Sports Bar and Grub
2015 Hewitt Avenue, Everett, 425-265-9668, ynotsportspubandgrub.com.
Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday.
Specials: Seahawks and Silvertips gameday specials; Happy Hour 3 to 6 p.m. everyday, 9 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday.
Alcohol: Beer on tap and bottle, full bar.
Where else to watch the game
A list of some of the best sports bars in Snohomish County:
Cactus Moon Saloon: 717 128th St. SW A116, Everett
Hawkeye’s: 1002 Vernon Road, Lake Stevens
Home Plate: 9317 State Ave., Marysville
Mukilteo Lodge Sports Grille: 7928 Mukilteo Speedway, Mukilteo
Razzals: 11114 Evergreen Way, Everett
Razzals: 9327 Fourth St. NE, Lake Stevens
Rory’s: 105 Main Street, Edmonds,
Time Out Sports Bar: 921 1st St., Snohomish
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