Good news! Bramling Cross, our little gastropub and the newest member of the ESR family, officially opens today. Located at 5205 Ballard Ave NW, the restaurant showcases ultra-local beers alongside updated pub fare like burgers, fried chicken, and a wedge salad.

Our pal Mike Gifford, who previously helmed How to Cook A Wolf, is leading the kitchen at Bramling Cross. The menu starts off with a handful of fresh shellfish offerings, from oysters and mussels to Dungeness crab and prawn cocktail. The rest of the menu is divvied up into small and large plates, many cooked over the wood fired grill. Small plates include smoked trout with baby beets, beluga lentils, and horseradish crème fraîche; Benton’s smoked ham with a cheddar biscuit, butter, and honey; chicken wings with pickled celery and chili caramel sauce; and that classic wedge salad that we all love, topped with Point Reyes blue, bacon, tomato, herbed buttermilk dressing, and a soft egg.

Larger plates include the soon-to-be-famous Bramling Burger with iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickle, and BC secret sauce on a potato bun; grilled chicken with squash puree, fennel, and hen of the wood mushrooms; clam frites with beer, shallot, and garlic; and best of all…drumroll please…our Dynamite Chicken: a whole Mad Hatcher fried chicken served with grits and collard greens. Blood, sweat, and many many tears went into perfecting that fried chicken, and boy was it worth it.

Now, on to the beer! The eight taps feature local beers from the likes of Holy Mountain, Populuxe, Stoup, and Fremont Brewing. (We love our neighbors!) Another 20+ domestic and importer beers are available in bottles and cans, as well as a selection of large 750ml beers for sharing. Naturally, many of the cocktails put those great beers to work, with concoctions like the Ranye West made with Aperol, lemon, Angostura bitters, and Rainier, or the Bam-Ba-Lam made with gin, lemon, habanero, ginger beer, and IPA. A thoughtful selection of wines from near and far is available as well.

As for the décor, the space is cozy and classic. Aside from 10 seats at the bar, all of the seating is at booths: a mix of small two-person booths and larger ones. The tabletops and bar are all made from one Claro walnut tree, complemented by warm gray tones of paint and a little exposed brick—plus skylights that bring in great natural light. 

Bramling Cross is open daily from 5pm to 11pm—it’ll stay open till midnight Fridays & Saturdays. Weekend brunch will be added soon. Come by for a beer and some dynamite chicken!

For reservations, call 206.420.8192 or book online.