Bar entertainment in Pacific Northwest
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Nitelite Lounge
This little place attached to the Moore Hotel has an outsize charm, thanks mostly to the seen-it-all-and-liked-most-of-it bartenders and regulars. Some of its classic patina has been lost in a recent facelift, and there’s a whole new section with its own look and feel, but the reasons to stop in are the same: it’s never crowded and the drinks are strong and cheap. When you go in the door, turn right for the old-school regular crowd or left to see what the youngsters are up to.
reviewed
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Athenian Inn
There’s nothing fancy about the Athenian, but it’s a landmark and a bastion of unpretentious, frontier-era Seattle, a holdover from the days before Starbucks and Grand Central Bakery ( way before – it opened in 1909). It’s been a bakery and a lunch counter, and now seems to have settled in as a diner-bar combination where, especially in the off hours, you can snuggle into a window booth and gaze over Elliott Bay with a plate of fried fish and a frosty mug of Manny’s Pale Ale.
reviewed
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Copper Gate
Formerly one of Seattle’s worst dives, the Copper Gate has been converted into a bizarre upscale bar-restaurant focused on meatballs and naked ladies. A Viking longship forms the bar, with a peepshow pastiche for a sail and an assortment of helmets and gramophones as cargo. Barstools arranged two-deep encourage conversation. Food and drinks are Scandi-themed. Try an aquavit or an exotic bottled beer: the Sinebrychoff Porter from Finland pours like motor oil.
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Hattie’s Hat
A classic old divey bar that’s been revived with new blood without losing its charm, Hattie’s Hat is a perfect storm of stiff drinks, fun-loving staff and cheap greasy-spoon food. This might be the best place in town to make that ever-so-delicate transition from weekend breakfast to dinner and drinks – you can get coffee with eggs and toast all day long, and nobody will find it odd when you switch to beer, even if it’s not quite noon yet.
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Café Racer
Conspicuously friendly to two-wheeled transport, this tiny bar-cafe has a rec room upstairs where you can lounge on couches and watch movies from the bar library on the bar TV. Downstairs there’s a counter, a few tables and a microscopic open kitchen, and decor includes the occasional taxidermied gazelle poised above a MotoGuzzi gas tank. And um, there’s a hair salon inside. Live music most nights.
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Smarty Pants
This giant industrial hangout for scooterists and sportbike riders has vintage motorcycles propped up in the windows, a hearty sandwich menu (plus a weekend brunch) and an obvious fondness for two-wheeled mischief of all types. Wednesdays are Bike Nights, when fans watch the week’s recorded MotoGP, SuperMoto and superbike races. The kitchen is open until midnight Monday to Saturday.
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Five Point Café
Not ‘retro,’ just old and endearingly grim, the Five Point Café in Tillicum Square has been around since 1929, and so have many of its patrons. Half diner, half bar and too worn-in to be mistaken for hip, it’s where seasoned barflies and young punks go to get wasted, any time of day. Check out the men’s bathroom – ‘allegedly’ the urinal offers a periscope view of the Space Needle.
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King’s Hardware
Owned by the Linda of Linda’s, King’s Hardware has a hunting-lodge-meets-Old-West-game-room feel. There’s pinball and skeeball towards the rear wooden booths, and taxidermied jackalopes propped between bottles of liquor behind the bar. The spacious hangout also has a good jukebox and, in case you’re feeling shaggy, easy access to Rudy’s Barbershop (it’s attached).
reviewed
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Mecca Café
The Mecca has been called – by folks who know – the best bar in Seattle. Half of the long, skinny room is a diner, but all the fun happens on the other side, where decades’ worth of scribbles on beer mats line the walls, the jukebox still works the way a jukebox should, the bartenders know the songs on it better than you do, and you can get waffles with your beer until 3pm or so.
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Noble Fir
Possibly the first bar devoted to the theme of wilderness hiking, the Noble Fir is a bright, shiny new Ballard spot with an epic beer list that might just make you abandon all your plans for outdoor adventure. Should your resolve begin to flag, head to the back corner, where there’s a library of activity guides and maps that will re-inspire you. Bonus: Magners Irish cider on tap!
reviewed
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High Line
From the folks who ran the late and much-lamented Squid & Ink vegan cafe in Georgetown comes this bar-restaurant hybrid (mostly a bar, but with the distinct advantage of serving hearty food until 1am). As the door guy put it, ‘We have lots of games, cheap booze and a full vegan menu’ – he strongly recommends the biscuits and gravy for brunch. Also live music.
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Frontier Room
Once an old-school holdover from Belltown’s gritty whiskey-drinkin’ days, the Frontier Room went through a phase of being colonized by frat boys and par-tay-ers – sort of a microcosm of Belltown as a whole. It now seems to have calmed down some and is focused on serving pretty good barbecue to the late-night crowd.
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Linda’s
The back patio here is an excellent place to observe the nocturnal habits of Hipsterus Northwesticus. Linda’s is also one of the few joints in town where you can recover from your hangover with an Emergen-C cocktail and a vegetarian brunch while taxidermied moose heads stare at you from the walls.
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Comet
The diviest dive on Capitol Hill, the Comet’s a blessed refuge for anyone allergic to the surrounding plethora of basil-infused cocktails and shimmery clothing. This is the domain of cheap pool tables, tattooed barkeeps and loud rock and roll. Live bands play most nights.
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Shorty’s
If you hate what’s happened to Belltown, you’ll love Shorty’s: a lowbrow, punk-rock holdout amid rows of sleek and chic lounges. This game-themed dive has cheap beer and hot dogs, alcoholic slushies, and a whole back room of pinball heaven.
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Jules Maes Saloon
Built in the late 1800s, this traditional saloon now benefits from punk rock and tattoos, pinball and other vintage games, and no need to hide its booze from the authorities (the place operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition).
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Nine Pound Hammer
You can bring your dog to this darkened beer hall. The place is generous with the pours and the peanuts, and the mixed crowd of workers, hipsters, punks and bikers vacillates between energetic and rowdy.
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Horse Brass Pub
Portland's most authentic English pub, cherished for its dark-wood atmosphere, excellent fish and chips, and 50 beers on tap. Play some darts, watch soccer on TV or just take it all in.
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Georgetown Liquor Company
This odd mishmash of a bar has an elegant industrial-chic design, a vegetarian menu and an astounding collection of retro video games. Plus, you know, beer and liquor.
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Cyclops
Cyclops, at the corner of 1st Ave and Wall St, is a half restaurant, half bar and is a prime location for observing the street’s late-night dramas.
reviewed
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Doug Fir
Paul Bunyan meets the Jetsons at this ultratrendy venue with edgy, hard-to-get talent, drawing crowds from tattooed youth to suburban yuppies.
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El Chupacabra
The patio is where it’s at for sipping margaritas at this kitschy neighborhood hangout. Be warned, service can be slow when the place is crowded.
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The Beanery
Warm, modern loft space hosting a great organic coffeehouse. Enter through the alley in back.
reviewed
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Rosebud
Cheap drinks. Cheap and good food. Supercomfortable and a little romantic. Fabulous!
reviewed
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Sitting Room
Feels like you are in Paris. Cozy little place. Great food and drinks. Hidden gem.
reviewed
