The Mountaineering Club

"No, we’re not sending you to some random classroom on campus where all of the kids who couldn’t get into an a cappella group sit around a fake campfire and sing folk songs and look at compasses. The Mountaineering Club is a cool rooftop bar at the Graduate Hotel. The space is designed as if an Eagle Scout troop had an interior design merit badge on the line, and the outdoor patio has one of the best skyline views in the city. The camping theme extends into the drinks—our favorite is the Whidbey Island iced tea, spiked with blackberry liqueur. If you must eat here, get the bacon sandwich." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley

"If you told someone that you went to the Mountaineering Club, they’d probably think that you embarked upon a sweaty wilderness hike to read a compass and wrestle off grizzlies with your bare hands (and ultimately be impressed). In reality, you're coming here to take an elevator up to the roof of a University District hotel, drink a fancied-up long island iced tea topped with blackberry gummies, and eat a bacon sandwich. We love the inside because it feels like Smokey Bear ordered a few too many things from a West Elm catalog, but the patio is the best seat in the house, where you can see the entire skyline. Sit out here with your drink and some oysters." - aimee rizzo

"This hotel rooftop bar is a bit of an anomaly in the University District, a part of town where most restaurants feel slightly underground somehow — do you know what we’re talking about? But the Mountaineering Club has a gorgeous view of the northern part of the city plus Portage Bay and beyond. The food and drink menu hews surprisingly closely to a kind of camping theme, and it incorporates a lot of ingredients — i.e. the Outer Island Shandy has apple wine from San Juan Island and amaro from local producer SennzaFinne." - Eater Staff

"The U District rooftop bar knows it’s one of the best places in the city to view the fireworks and has a big event planned: a “Northern Lights-themed winter formal” where you can drink cocktails like the Kyoto Saladito (mezcal, Japanese whisky, lemongrass, plum wine reduction, sakura bitters) and the Fir Trader Gimlet (Douglas fir eau-de-vie, London dry gin, sorrel, lemon, nutmeg). There will also be a snow machine, s’mores, other snacks, and “DJ Lady Coco from 10 p,m, to 2 a.m. accompanied by Dada Pop’s Sexy Sax.” We don’t even really know what this press release is talking about and we’re excited! Tickets are here and cost $65 now, $75 the week of the event, and $85 at the door." - Eater Staff, Harry Cheadle

"Rooftop bar the Mountaineering Club, the University District venue atop the Graduate Hotel is hosting a benefit with Halloween-themed cocktails and footlong hot dogs." - Harry Cheadle