Miscelaney

That is the question. It’s Saturday night. You’ve had a long week plus you’ve made the most out of your Saturday. Now, it’s time to shake that productivity off and cut loose with some friends. No one seems to have a particular venue in mind. After a text-round or two of “where do you want to go”, your thumbs pipe in with your favorite, seedy neighborhood bar. There is silence on the other end.

You aren’t in the mood for any pretense tonight, nor do you want to iron, so you need to sell the dive bar option and fast. You pick up the phone and dial the friend you think you can convince the easiest. You deftly outline the reasons to go: cheap drinks (all things being relative), easy to find a seat, parking is free, there’s always an entertaining crowd and the food ain’t too bad either. And there’s pool.

Your friend counters with the dirty bathrooms, mangy characters and the subtle smell of urine upon entering. You quickly point out the cheap drinks again and offer a gentle reminder all the mangy cats are already a beer or five past passing out so will most likely be gone by the time you arrive. And there’s that great juke box. 

Good on you, you are going divin’ tonight. Every night isn’t necessarily a dive bar night, but sometimes there is no better place than a good, dark, no-pretense bar which pours a stiff drink with an earnest slice of humanity.

 Not To Miss Seattle Dive Bars (includes Good divey and Fun divey):

In no particular order this is a refresher for the locals, easy info for those new to the area and/or those Seattleites who live under a keyboard.

The Pacific Inn (Fremont): Good divey which offers an outdoor patio (number one in my book), pool and board games, good selection of beer on tap, cheap wells, good food and authentic characters.

The Sloop Tavern (Ballard): Good divey which offers big, cheap beer (be sure to Sloopersize) along with pool, pull tabs, local characters and mediocre food (order the nachos…safe bet).

The Lava Lounge (Belltown): This is more fun divey, to be sure, but has great beer selection (ALL DAY happy hour on Sundays), shuffle board, kitschy decor, it’s nice and dark, and has table Pac Man (oh yeah). Was also my first “dive” bar in Seattle and holds a special place in my heart.

Eastlake Zoo Tavern (Eastlake): A dive-divey bar which sparkles occasionally with fun-divey. Cheap beer and snacks (cash only and no liquor), lots to do (shuffleboard, pool, darts, and the juke) but you have to brave the smell coming in, deal with hit or miss staff and put up with the frat boys alongside a few regulars. Surprisingly large in square footage.

The Blue Moon (U Disctrict): Absolutely Dive-divey (kinda scary-divey) but an institution and not to be missed. It’s smelly, has skeezy regulars at the bar, offers cheap beer and peanuts, has live music (but this isn’t the draw), and many are afraid to walk by it during the day. You’ll love it or you’ll hate it, but everyone needs to go once.

The Mecca (Queen Ann): Good divey, half bar half restaurant. The bar slings cheap well drinks and the staff oozes with the surliness you’d expect at a good dive. A colorful crowd bathes in a mystery layer of grime and they’ve got a killer juke box. Home sweet home.  

 The Knarr Tavern (University District): Dive divey. Cheap beer, regulars, pool, darts, shuffleboard. Classic dive bar stench. Still has the classics on the juke. Don’t miss Kill the Keg Wednesdays with $6.00 pitchers of Mannys (until the keg goes dry) or Fat Tire Tuesdays where pints are only $2.25.

The Viking (Ballard): Fun divey. GREAT shuffleboard table, juke box, cheap beer and good food. Has the “dive bar” feel, but all in all, just a really fun place.