Bar Guide

A Neighborhood Bar for Every Neighborhood

Our favorite dives, die-hards, and cozy hangs, by neighborhood.

By Meg van Huygen With Seattle Met Staff August 7, 2024 Published in the Fall 2024 issue of Seattle Met

If you zoom in, you might be able to spot Tio Baby's delicious housemade queso.

Image: Courtesy Tio Baby's

Just as Seattle has diverse neighborhoods with their own distinct personalities, its neighborhood bars also come in various shapes and forms. Some are in fine-dining restaurants where you’d never suspect that a sweet little bar is hiding. Some are inside old fish-and-chip joints, others in office buildings or old computer repair shops. The best ones, perhaps, are burrowed in the winding residential streets of our hilly terrain.

The unifying theme, though, is that they’re all cozy, user-friendly, laid-back spots to grab a drink and a chat, no matter where you’re at. Here is our favorite bar in (just about) every neighborhood.

The Lockspot

Ballard

The century-old Lockspot has a rep for great fish-and-chips and extra-friendly regulars. Roll up during the Jeopardy! hour, where the whole bar shouts their answers at the TV.

Cottontail Club

Belltown

In the hallowed old Sit and Spin space, this enormous dive is a kitschy museum of extinct Seattle bars—spot the relics from the Rabbit Hole, Lava Lounge, Mr. Darcy’s, and Charlie’s.

DeLuxe Bar and Grill

Capitol Hill

One of the Hill’s oldest bars, the DeLuxe has been a quiet(er) respite from the loud Broadway crowds since the 1930s. Antique wallpaper, pressed tin, and pool tables—she’s a classic.

The Sitting Room

Queen Anne

This versatile little spot is loved by everybody: neighborhood folks, Storm fans, liquor snobs, theatergoers from On the Boards next door. And hey—with super creative cocktails and a chill Euro vibe, what’s not to like?

The Kraken

University District

Freshly resurrected from the sea (instead of ashes?), the punky, well-loved Kraken is now open in the original Cafe Racer space, and it’s funner—and cleaner—than ever.

The rum collection at Island Soul spans oceans.

Image: Courtesy Kat Young Designs/Island Soul Rum Bar and Soul Shack

Island Soul Rum Bar and Soul Shack

Columbia City

Island Soul is thoroughly celebrated for its food, but it deserves way higher props for its expansive rum collection, with unique bottles from the Caribbean, Mexico, the Philippines, and beyond.

Poggie Tavern

West SEattle

Styling itself as "The Little Reno of West Seattle” for its manifold pull-tab options, the Poggie’s a quintessentially crusty dive that’s frozen in 1935, when it opened. They serve exquisite Slice Box Pizza too.

At Tio Baby's, the drinks are delicious with or without alcohol.

Image: Courtesy Tio Baby's

Tio Baby's

Fremont

Tio Baby’s is profoundly dedicated to two things—creating virgin renditions of different liquors, and drenching everything on the food menu in housemade queso—and they’re delicious at both. (They, uh, serve regular alcoholic drinks too.)

Ruby

Greenwood

Most cocktails have tiki roots at this super-snug bar, although sometimes Malõrt is put into drinks that aren’t supposed to have Malõrt in them. Show up prepared to meet a friendly dog.

The Lonely Siren is a little slice of Portugal inside of Pike Place Market.

Image: Jane Sherman

The Lonely Siren

Pike Place Market

Turn left instead of right when you enter this Portuguese spot to find the cheerful bar, decorated with potted cacti. Grilled sardines and a port-heavy drink menu make you feel like you’re traveling. Maybe you are.

Fort St. George

Chinatown–International District

Inside a ’90s office building, this sports bar serves yoshoku cuisine: American food reconstructed through a Japanese lens. The menu features cocktails, domestic and imported beers, and a diverse complement of shochu.

The Meyer

Pioneer Square

This is a normal-seeming neo-dive, but look closely for the Dutch theme, with bikes, ships, and Nederlandse-language phrases hidden around the shop. They stock Jenever and Berenburg, and the drinks are cheap.

The Berry Bunch—one of many delicious cocktails at Jude's Old Town.

Image: Courtesy Jude's Old Town

Jude's Old Town

Rainier Beach

Sure, you could argue this hub in the heart of Rainier Beach is more of a restaurant. But the cocktail menu does the same thing as the food: lures you in with a sense of ineffable chill, then impresses the hell out of you with its skill level.

Twilight Exit

Central District

The CD’s unofficial living room has everything you could want from a dive: a jukebox, karaoke, a weird mural, a photobooth, trippy '70s decor, and kickass burgers.

Red Onion Tavern

Madison PArk

The Red Onion looks like where the highwaymen hang out in a Daniel Defoe novel, with its big sooty communal fireplace. Talk to your seat neighbors; this place is loaded with characters.

The Fireside Room might just transport you back in time.

Image: Sara Marie D’Eugenio

The Fireside Room

First Hill

In the octagonal lobby of the Sorrento Hotel, this bar is for the ages, with its stately green-tiled hearth, leather wingbacks, mahogany millwork, and potent classic cocktails.

Oak

Beacon Hill

With restored hardwoods and a lush forest theme, Oak offers a pubby menu, from-scratch sodas, local beer and wine, and a list of “Oaktails,” both high- and low-ABV.

Bars, Neighborhood Bars

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