Even the business district is small-town cozy

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Wedgwood is split down the middle by 35th Avenue Northeast, a busy north-south thoroughfare lined with just enough businesses to give the street a kind of "village" appeal, says Rob Paulson, owner of Wedgwood Ale House & Cafe.

The business district has its insurance agencies, video shop, banks, pizza parlor, pharmacy and post office -- even a full-service bike shop, Wedgwood Cycle. It also has a string of small restaurants, including two notable Chinese restaurants: Black Pearl, which used to be called Panda's, and Happy Palace.

What you won't find are a lot of chain coffee shops, corporate bagel houses or franchise burger joints.

One of the best new business additions to come along is Fiddler's Inn, a charming alehouse known for pizzas and live music Friday, Saturday and Sunday. An open mike is set up Monday night.

The pub has an interesting history: It was built in 1934 by Walt Haines, a big-band tuba player who developed a knack for playing the spoons, which he used to do to entertain customers. Haines eventually moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s where he manufactured musical spoons with the help of investor Lawrence Welk, the well-known television entertainer.

Fiddler's Inn passed through many owners and became a dive that was near collapse.

"It was more full of characters than character-filled," says manager Ken Caldwell, one of four partners in the alehouse. The partnership gutted and rebuilt the pub, which reopened in 1994. It still has the original bar stools and paneling, along with a non-smoking policy.

Despite its strengths, the Wedgwood business district has struggled over the years to coalesce. Wedgwood once had a chamber of commerce but the organization is "kind of defunct," admits Paulson, the last to preside as president.

Continued:

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