Pub's A New Neighbor But An Old Friend

The Pub at Juanita Bay, 9736 N.E. 120th Pl. Kirkland, 823-6402.

It used to be Driscoll's, and as neighborhood taverns go, it was one of the best. It was a red-brick barn of a building topped with a great pink neon name plate and dancing green shamrocks.

Now the shamrocks are gone, replaced by slash-style lettering of hot pinks and graduated blues on a black background that declare this place The Pub at Juanita Bay. It's a sign for the times.

Joe Driscoll Sr. built the tavern for Joe Jr. to run in the early 1960s. It's just up the street from the rambler Joe Jr. and his brothers grew up in, now home of Peter Dow's Cafe Juanita.

The community embraced Driscoll's. It was a fine, noisy spot for beer and pool, and when the weather was good and bright and balmy, you could go out back and toss horseshoes or just lie on the grass, listening to Juanita Creek meander to the bay.

Joe Jr. sold the tavern to Chuck Trapp in 1981. Trapp put his own spin on the place, but he kept the name. Last summer, Trapp decided to live in Mexico full time and sold Driscoll's to David Frei.

Frei changed the name.

``This will probably be Driscoll's to a lot of people for a lot of years,'' says Frei. ``But I just wanted to put my stamp on it.''

``It isn't Driscoll's anymore,'' says Keith Gardner, a regular since Joe Jr.'s days, ``but it looks really cool now. Dave's done a lot of work to it. Fixed it up and promoted it. It's a lot cleaner than it was.''

This is Frei's first tavern endeavor. When asked why he thinks it qualifies him to run one, he says ``I've been in a lot of taverns and I watch `Cheers.' ''

``I used to be director of promotions for the Broncos back in '76 and '77, the first year they went to the Super Bowl.'' Frei doesn't flash it, but one can't help but notice the massive Super Bowl ring he wears. ``I guess my claim to fame is that I'm the guy who invented the `Orange Crush.' It was a great job when I was 25 and single.''

Frei was also a sports writer and ran his own PR business in Seattle but retired from it five years ago to show dogs.

``My wife and I raise and train and show Afghan hounds,'' he says. ``We had the top Afghan hound in the country last year.''

But, Frei continues, he had it in the back of his mind to get another business going close to his Woodinville home. Something he could work his promotion talents on.

``Something fun,'' he says.

Frei has had his work cut out for him when he bought Driscoll's. It may have been a terrific tavern, but it was also a tired one. So far Frei has replaced the carpeting, tables, chairs, repaneled, repainted, rearranged and, most important, redone the bathrooms. Repainting the outside is next.

Now Frei is promoting darts.

``A lot of people didn't play darts before because they didn't know how to keep score,'' says Frei. ``But now the machine does that. Anyone can pick it up, anyone can hit a bull's-eye. Like we say in the dog world: `Even a blind dog finds a milk bone every once in a while.' '' Frei is up to three machines now, with weekly tournaments.

Frei has also put the kitchen on a regular schedule: lunch and dinner daily, breakfast on the weekends.

``This is a comfortable place to hang out,'' Frei says. ``It's fun, the location is good and I really like the attitude of the Juanita people. They can call it whatever they want.''

Tom Phalen is a freelance writer who lives in Bothell.