The closure of the West Seattle Bridge brought to mind the feeling of being on an island in West Seattle, Now that identity is being celebrated  in a way.

Opening at the West Seattle Bowl on Oct. 28 is the new Three 9 Lounge, a Polynesian themed tiki bar with food, drinks and tons of atmosphere to match. They are located at 4505 39th Ave SW.

General Manager Jeff Swanson explained, "The space was doing ok as the High Strike lounge, and we are keeping that menu, but it was being under utilized, so we were talking and our friend Joe Jeannot, who is a restaurant consultant and ran the Beer Festival in years past suggested we should change to a tiki bar. After about a day or two of thinking about it we all said, 'Let's do it.!"

Swanson along with Beverage Manager Jimmy Gersen, plus Joe Chero and Joe Jeannot working with Mike of MR Construction developed the bamboo, grasses, and lighting design, "pretty much on the fly," said Swanson. The result is surprisingly cohesive and comfortable. But a tiki bar would be nothing without the right drinks. Gersen said they will have seven signature cocktails including, Mai-Tai, Zombie, Jungle Bird, Pain Killer, Hemingway Daquri, Between the Sheets, Planters Punch,  Shareable bowl drinks like the Volcano Bowl, and the Three 9 Grog. "These are all the classic Tiki cocktails with our little twists," said Gersen,  The lead bartender at the Three 9 is Damon Leichman. "He worked with me at Salty's in the banquet department and I taught him, everything he knows in service to this point and now he's teaching me!"

There are no beers on tap but a variety of beers in bottles or cans will be there, Local distilleries will be well represented.

The bar will also have a specialized kind of ice, you will need to ask them about when you go.

They have a new chef just for the Three 9 named Kobi Maisel, who will be making Pork Sliders, Lumpia, Shrimp skewers, Beef Kabobs, Macaroni Salad, Edamame, all polynesian and "fun tropical kind of stuff, like a Pu Pu Platter," said Swanson. 

For now the Three 9 food and the High Strike Grill food will be kept separate but "what will probably happen is that some popular items will cross over."

This isn't the first renovation for the West Seattle Bowl of course. In 2005 they did a major one, that won "remodel of the year" and then in 2010, eleven years ago they replaced the Chinese restaurant with the High Strike Grill, which quickly developed a reputation for excellent food and service.

The Three 9 is so named because it's on 39th SW first, plus there are 39 boards in a bowling lane. and also because those are the happy hours (even though at first they won't open until 4pm). "This is something fun," said Swanson, "and utilize our space efficiently." 

A grand opening celebration will happen at some future date. And a mug night, and theme nights might also be in the future.

The new bar will employ ten people full and part time. It's 21+ only.

The Three 9 will be open from 4 to midnight seven days a week. 

The lanes at West Seattle Bowl are of course open at 1pm during the week staying open until midnight. On the weekend they open at 9am for breakfast. 

If you must be on an island stop by and get your island vibe on at the Three 9 lounge.