Seattle Bars and Clubs - Seattle Restaurants

A hip, stylish little Seattle restaurant and bar located under the Pike Place Market, the Alibi Room serves up excellent seafood and other unique offerings while pairing the cuisine with some seriously stiff drinks. The downstairs of this already downstairs Seattle local bar draws in drinkers with the aforementioned dangerous cocktails and eclectic, beat-heavy DJ stylings that can be felt and heard in cadence with the din of the restaurant. The Alibi Room gets seriously packed with hipsters and the see and be seen crowd so if you want to have a nosh before sampling their put-you-down mixed masterpieces, make a reservation.

Bandoleone, an often low key Seattle restaurant, offers some excellent Caribbean and Latin American flavors that are as bold and colorful as their culinary homelands. After the dinner hour, however, the mood at Bandoleone turns down right celebratory as local hipsters with a bent for Latin Jazz come flocking through he doors to hear eclectic musicians and down some margaritas or puff on cigars and enjoy an after dinner drink.

Offering fresh twists on traditional Mexican fare, Beso Del Sol restaurant in Seattle is packed to the point of bursting during dinner and after that rush slows, the Seattle dancing crowd into Latin and salsa starts streaming in. The dancing happens every weekend—Thursday through Saturday—and like we said, the dance floor starts filling up at Beso Del Sol around 10:30, so if you're going for a little food and the nightlife, plan accordingly.

Bonzai, a sleek hipster dance club and lounge in Seattle, gets the weekend dance clubbers kicked into high gear with throbbing DJ beats spun by some of Seattle's premier mixers. If dancing on the packed floor gets to be a little much, the lounge area at Bonzai offers a super chill alternative for drinks and conversation. Not only is this Seattle nightclub a hotspot for the dressed to impress club set, but Bonzai is also open for lunch and dinner featuring an excellent selection of sushi and Asian fusion cuisine.

A traditional styled Belgian alehouse in Seattle, Brouwer's Café lures beer and food lovers alike into their renovated warehouse space to sample a wide selection of domestic and import tap brews. The menu at Brouwer's Café is an excellent blend of European style cuisine with some hearty traditional Belgian dishes that are completely satisfying. However, dinner and drinks—especially if you're inclined to sampling from their huge single malt scotch collection or wine offerings—at this local Seattle bar and restaurant can get quite pricey, so prepare yourself accordingly to alleviate some of the check presentation wallet ache.

Expansive and polished, the Century Ballroom and Café is the premier venue in Seattle for salsa and swing dancing. Live bands that really lend to the retro authenticity of the Century Ballroom usually provide the music for all of the celebratory cavorting, but even when the tunes are provided by DJs, the hot dancing never slows down. Even if you're a decidedly un-fleet of foot rookie, the Century has your back providing lessons for novices and experts alike before the shows really start to sizzle. To make a unique night out in Seattle have dinner in the restaurant or at one of the intimate tables upstairs and then dance your hearts out in this dance club that's a testament to a bygone era.

Chapel is easily one of the busiest restaurants and bars in Seattle catering to discerning, well dressed twenty and thirty-somethings out for a night of good food and premium pours. The space itself at Chapel is stunning—it's a converted funeral home—and alone it's definitely worth the trip, but this little snippet isn't about architecture and you're unlikely to find a bunch of Goths moodily sipping their imports. Chapel starts getting busy with scenesters right at happy hour that's just blazing with martini specials and this hot Seattle lounge doesn't let up until closing. Slick DJs man the decks most nights providing down tempo beats during dinner and stepping up the tunes and the bass later in the evening with eclectic musical stylings spanning genres.

Hip and sexy, the Del Rey in Seattle is a hotspot bar, restaurant and lounge where the masterfully poured stiff drinks barely edge out the excellent cuisine. The interior of this art deco masterpiece is bathed in ambient red hues that give anyone a couple of extra rungs on the ever-sliding (usually because of rampant imbibing) hotness ladder and the Del Rey keeps cool beats rocking all night long. Also, the cuisine at this Seattle restaurant and lounge is served small plate style for sharing and is always interesting. Sporting two happy hours, from 4-7pm and 11pm-1am, keeps the Del Rey packed with chic scenesters lounging with plentiful cocktails provided by the attentive staff.

If it's one thing Germans know it's beer and at die BierStube, a great bar and restaurant in Seattle, they sport 15 distinct styles of German beer on tap for your imbibing pleasure served correctly in the proper glassware for each style. If draft beer isn't exactly your thing, die BierStube has many more selections from the Rhineland in bottles comprising the largest list of German beers in Seattle. After you've gotten in the (fill in the blank)-fest mood at die BierStube, you've got to sample their authentic German fare, 'cause there's nothing like wolfing down some bratwurst and bier with freunds and frauleins.

The old school style of the El Gaucho Cigar Lounge in Seattle looks like the private den in some exclusive male-centric country club. With the trifecta of steaks, premium liquor and cigars, this swanky Seattle bar and restaurant is a great place for the biz pro set to entertain clients or if you and your buddies are feeling a bit like living the perceived good life. Sports are always on the TV at El Gaucho Cigar Lounge and the veteran staff knows how to expertly take care of their patrons.

Monolithic stainless steel beer vats preside over the crowds at Elysian Brewing Company, a Seattle brewery and restaurant that has been making beer on site since 1996. The space is huge and open with floor to ceiling windows making it seem even larger and since Elysian also serves hard alcohol along side its microbrews, they have some cozy lounge areas in the back to create more of a bar over brewery scene. The menu at this Seattle restaurant offers new twists on brewpub staples with some unique offerings like barbecued pork sandwiches and hummus samplers alongside the fish and chips or burgers. Like a lot of Seattle breweries, the best way to sample Elysian's beer offerings are through the sampler, so you can knock back the six most popular and then go from there.

A family friendly Seattle restaurant and brewery by day and a hip little neighborhood bar at night, Elysian TangleTown—part of the Elysian Brewing Company—serves up 16 taps of their standard microbrews and rotating seasonal offerings, brewed in house, along with a full bar for mixed drink fans. The menu at Elysian TangleTown is way above your normal brewpub fare while still being comfortably rooted in that certain sure to please Seattle hominess. At night, the normally light and airy interior at Elysian gets a candlelit makeover so hip Seattle suburbanites have a cool neighborhood bar to kick back in.

There's no telling what you'll get when you mix an excellent Seattle Thai restaurant with heady cocktails, kitschy décor, oolong tea and Chinese apothecary, but through a booze soaked and satay driven haze it began to look something like Fu Kun Wu at Thaiku. The cocktails certainly are exotic and the food is definitely good at this Seattle bar and restaurant, but their claims of certain drinks being mild hallucinogens and aphrodisiacs seems a bit of a stretch, anyway it's always fun to watch those of weak constitution partake in one and then instantly claim that little pink Chinese dragons are crawling out of the walls to get them and they're suddenly horny as hell. Also Fu Kun Wu hosts some hip DJ nights and occasional live music acts and any partier worth their salt will hang in their opium den—it's their lounge you narco freak—that's a cool alternative for a private group.

Impromptu Wine Bar Café is the Seattle restaurant for die-hard fans of the almighty grape. The base concept at Impromptu is fantastic—each month they feature wines from a different global wine making region and then the executive chef creates a distinct cuisine menu from the same region that pairs perfectly with Impromptu's selections. Also, this comfortably cozy restaurant and wine bar offers a prix fixe menu during the week for an amazingly reasonable price. Artwork, which also changes on a monthly basis, from local Seattle artists, adorns the walls really adding to the chic ambiance.

Walking the thin green and red line between Mexican restaurant and Seattle pub, Juan O'Riley's Nightclub kicks out some serious grub during the day while catering to a sports oriented crowd. But, at night, Juan O'Riley's puts down the hot sauce for some hot dance beats as this Seattle nightclub transforms into a bass pounding dance club that carries over its Mexican sensibilities with some completely dangerous house margaritas that can make even the most rhythmically challenged person get up and shake it.

A premier dance club in Seattle's Pioneer Square, the Last Supper Club caters to a dressed to impress clubber crowd that starts packing in after 10 for some mainstream house and hip-hop booty shaking. Surprisingly though, this Seattle nightclub also does an outstanding dinner menu for those that seek inclusiveness in their night out. If you want to take advantage of the Last Supper Club's posh lounge area, you'd better assemble your crew or your date early because after 11pm nearly every seat in the house is taken and the slick guest and resident DJs crank up the beats for the burgeoning dance floor masses. Also, the Last Supper Club does something that some other upscale nightclubs in Seattle don't: pour you stiff drinks for your hard earned cash.

The Jolly Roger Taproom is the cozy pub attached to the brew works of Seattle's Maritime Pacific Brewing Company that makes some excellent hand crafted microbrews. The Jolly Roger usually offers about 14 of their heady masterpieces on tap at all times as well as two or three cask conditioned ales for serious quaffers. Also, the excellent pub grub at this Seattle brewery is more health food than greasy spoon—heck, most of it is downright nutritious—cluing you in to the fact that the Jolly Roger isn't just a marketing tool for Maritime Pacific.

The microbrew empire of McMenamins has another bar in Seattle with their Queen Anne Hill location (their other venue is called Dad Watson's) whose main attraction as always is the beer. The menu at McMenamin's is inspired by traditional pub fare, but puts new twists on old favorites with some un-pubbish selections lurking. McMenamins Queen Anne Hill is an excellent place to unwind after work or hang by yourself on a soggy afternoon made nowhere near lonely thanks to their completely outgoing and welcoming staff.

Good Creole food served hot with live jazz and blues are the staples of Seattle's New Orleans Restaurant that consistently gets high marks for their authentic grub and good service, but ranks decidedly higher with their commitment to providing music junkies a nightly fix. The stage at this Seattle club and restaurant sits in the middle of the room which can make conversation a bit problematic when the bands start to heat up, but really with live music acts this good, your conversation can wait until between sets. Also, New Orleans Restaurant participates in the joint cover gig for Pioneer Square that seriously can't be beat.

Well heeled 30-somethings crowd into this chic Seattle restaurant and lounge for some cool jazz or blues stylings from live music acts that sometimes break away from their down tempo norms. Paragon Restaurant and Bar does some excellent cuisine for their "dressed for a night on the town" patrons in a decidedly American rooted culinary vein and the drinks are poured expertly, if not particularly heavy from the stylish bar. Paragon is a Seattle bar for a romantic date over a let's booze it up and see where the night takes us sort of one.

Pyramid is a venerable Seattle brewery whose eatery is getting high marks as well. The Pyramid Alehouse is located right across the street from Safeco Field and even during those horrible months when there's no baseball to be had, this Seattle restaurant and pub is still packed. During Mariner's home games if you want to dine, booze and schmooze at the Pyramid Alehouse you'd better show up early because it's a good bet that thousands of others shared the same idea. The food and beer are consistently good and the friendly staff—who must go through some beer knowledge course before they don the apron—make you want to stay for a while.

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery is a national chain and their Seattle outpost toes the company line of serving good food paired with good beer in a neighborly setting. Rock Bottom is friendly and welcoming to anyone who rolls through the doors and they'll always have a pint of their latest brew waiting for you at the bar. Also, there's a Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue so check them both out and do your own little comparison.

Part of the venerable McMenamins chain doesn't mean that the Six Arms outpost in Seattle's Cap Hill neighborhood of this brewery and restaurant hasn't established its own identity. Six Arms McMenamins still relies on their parents heady brews as an anchor, but the well-poured cocktails, the excellent and hugely portioned pub fare and the efficient friendly service does just as much for the McMenamins reputation as do their well-made handcrafted brews.

The Matador bar and restaurant brings down home Tex-Mex grub to Seattle with some sensible twists that make this Ballard neighborhood eatery much more than just a burrito and barbecue house. The drinks at The Matador are poured stiff and fast for their trendy crowds that start packing into the bar—with a longhorn skull presiding over the boozing—after work for the first of two happy hours, the second one runs from 10pm to close, where they get their fill of specialty house margaritas and appetizers. Both lunch and dinner at The Matador are worth a look, but Seattle locals usually crowd this bar before and after shows at nearby Ballard clubs.

The Nickerson Street Saloon keeps its regulars, new and old, extremely happy with their greet you by name service, hugely portioned down home grub, strong selection of microbrews and full bar. This Seattle bar and restaurant also has an excellent patio for the summer months that gets soaked with sun rather than getting soaked with the usual precipitation that falls from our fair skies. Mostly though, twenty and thirty-somethings flock to this bar because it's just a normal bar and restaurant—there's no trendy gimmicks, no attitude and, most importantly, consistently good times.

The O Lounge focuses on presenting a classy atmosphere to dine on some way above par Thai cuisine and sip on their innovative twists on some classic and trendy cocktails. The interior of this Seattle Thai restaurant and lounge is wholly inviting with just the right amount of romantic alluring. Also, try and catch happy hour over at The O Lounge where there are special prices on their small plate fare combined with a few bucks knocked off their cocktail prices.

The People's Pub is a low-key Seattle neighborhood bar and restaurant that specializes in traditional German fare with some American comfort food choices peppered in for those not into wiener schnitzel. The People's Pub has a full bar for the boozers, but, as it is with many German inspired bars, the focus decidedly resides with their beer choices of which their accommodating and friendly staff would be more than happy to walk you through to optimize your food and beer flavor combination. This Seattle bar starts getting packed after work and usually stays that way right through closing with a wholly amicable crowd raising their pints to The People's Pub.

This extremely popular Seattle restaurant, sports bar and brewery serves as the official bar of all things Husky and the packed in raucous crowds never miss a play on the many TVs. The Ram Restaurant and Big Horn Brewery also crafts some decent microbrews to accompany their down home pub grub that's heavy on varying burgers and fries. Happy hours consistently rock at The Ram (from 3pm-6pm and again from 10pm-close), as does nearly every other minute of the day, with drink specials and nightly specials on food. During football season The Ram Restaurant and Big Horn Brewery is just as packed with local Seattle fans and collegians—and probably just as loud—as the U-Dub stadium.

The Sitting Room maintains that often sought after ambiance and style of being an upscale dining and cocktail experience but without any degree of pretentiousness. This hip and romantic Seattle restaurant and lounge serves European influenced small plate appetizers and lighter fare that pair well with the Sitting Room's extensive wine, cocktail and beer selections.

Toi is a trendy Seattle nightspot bar and Thai restaurant for a hip see and be seen set of biz pros and beautiful people to dine, mingle and drink. Toi gets seriously packed on a nightly basis, but usually the excellent Thai cuisine is just a prop in the mating performance of life of this casual yet dressy Seattle crowd. On the weekends, be prepared to wait in line for a table in the dining room because reservations at the happening Toi are only taken Fridays and Saturdays for parties of six or more, besides you can chill with some well-prepared cocktails in the sleek lounge and maybe pick up one more for dinner.