We stopped by for a bathroom break while in the area and sat at the bar and got a quick drink. It was around 3:30 PM on a Tuesday so this place was slow. There were just 3-4 other men in the bar (no ladies!) having a drink. I had a well drink and my companion had a cider. Each was poured nicely and were good. No complaints. The bartender was nice and attentive. This place has a lower level with a pool table, bathrooms, etc. so it's much larger than it seems when you walk in. Divey atmosphere but in a good way. read more

Hillside Bar - Our receipt - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Such a great dive bar. The people are nice, service is amazing, and they have a very good pool table. In addition, almost every table has a chess board and they have arcade games on the second level. I highly recommend coming here if you are in the area! read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Came to this bar tonight to have a few small drinks and the bartender Mike was so amazing and kind! :) will definitely be back read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Servers are rude and can only take simple orders. Customers are very territorial of pool and darts. 100 bars I would go to before hillside

Totally chill dive. Love the ambiance. It had that I dont-give-a-shit vibe, but the bartender was great, and the clientele was just really kewl. We didn't stay long. We had a band to catch across the freeway. Definitely worth visiting the next time I'm in Seattle. read more

Nice spot for a quick round of drinks (or two :P)! A group of 5 of us, stopped by as we waited for our seats at Kedai Mekan. Helped us kill about 45 min...which was perfect for us to walk around the corner and have an amazing meal! Staff was friendly. I ordered a Manny's...first of my trip! So it was obviously great :) There's quite a bit of seating at Hillside, but I could definitely see it get crowded quickly. Street parking only! Follow the adventure @shoyuthebest on IG! read more

Had a bizarre experience there. And so ridiculous. I was chatting with an acquaintance and got up to use the restroom. This bartender named Trevor waved me over. I went over to him and he asked me if my acquaintance was bothering me. I said no, not at all. Trevor told me he asked because some people said that that individual was "annoying." So bartender Trevor has nothing better to do than police normal adult interactions? If the acquaintance was a loud, angry drunk I could understand, but just because someone is allegedly "annoying" to some people? Trevor did not say who said that or why they did, so my bullshit detector went off. Please. We are all adults and there is no reason to do such douchey things. Maybe the bar is over staffed and Trevor needed to start drama to have something to do? Or does he fancy himself as an elementary school principal? That experience left a nasty taste in my mouth. I won't be giving them any more of my business. read more

Jasmine was so cool we came back before going back home to Portland just to say hi. She took care of us and made us feel welcomed. Go see Jasmine! 5 stars! read more

This isn't a fancy bar, you can't order bar-specific specialty cocktails and you won't find a menu (though the draft selection is listed out in chalk), but that's not what they're about. This is a chill dive bar that gives you exactly what you'd expect from a dive bar, plus pool tables and staff who are friendly, courteous and professional. That's a winning combo in my book. read more

Just got off work and decide to grab a drink somewhere. My first impression when I walked into this place was like "Wow, this place is Lit." It's a popular place to hang out I guess. I went there on a Sunday around 4ishpm. I sat down and got a Rainier, it was very cheap $2.50 that my kind of deal I want for a can when I go to a bar. They were some Jell-O-Shots laying there at the bar and it was free. I have like 2 of them, apple flavor and it was pretty good. I'm gonna take my other friends here next time when I'm around the area. Great place, cheap drinks, and loud crowd! read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Went in, had three beers. Got kicked out because I was told I was too drunk, right after bartenders friends walked in. Bartender was taking shots with patrons. Crazy. read more

Coldest beer I've ever been served! Very crisp and refreshing. Glad it's still operating during covid read more

An easy bar - dim lights, cheap(ish) beer, a pool table, music in the background - sometimes loud sometimes not. I love that it's not pretentious and it proved to be a really great spot to gather with friends. Though, I will say, if you sit in the corner next to the pool table, you absolutely will have people asking you (or someone in your party) to move for them to take the shot. read more

Came in for my friend's birthday to buy him a drink and the bartender Paul was extremely rude and disrespectful. My friend the birthday boy has hearing aids and often replies yes when he can't hear you so conversations can be a little off. The bartender ask him a series of questions and when my friend answered incorrectly he attacked us with accusations of being overly drunk. We even showed him the hearing aids. After the first beer I went back to grab another and he said to get my friend and get out. I believe he was embarrassed of the mistake he made at the beginning. read more

October 26, 2019 around 1:15 AM (Bartender was a thin fellow with long, dark hair) My husband and I had just driven five hours and arrived in Seattle around 11 PM. We have some friends that live in the area so we went to see them at their apartment and walk to the bars. We got to Hillside around 1:15 AM, trying to see if we could squeeze in a game of pool or darts and a drink. We went upstairs to check it out while our friends ordered drinks for themselves. We weren't sure if we wanted to stay but decided to and order a drink because it was almost 2 AM. We went back down to the bar and waited quietly for our turn to be served. When it got closer to us, we sat down. The bartender came up to us and asked us what we'd like to drink. I told him that I wasn't going to drink but that my husband would. He was still undecided on a drink so while I offered him some suggestions, the bartender said he'd be right back to take our order so that he could serve customers that were ready. (which was totally fine) My friend came down and asked if she could have some darts to play upstairs. He said, "I can only give you one set. Actually, the upstairs should be shut down by now." She said "Okay" and walked away, giving me a look due to his rude tone. He made an announcement for the upstairs to be cleared but no one came down except for my friend and her partner.. It even looked like the bouncer came upstairs to say something but the upstairs area still did not clear at all. At 1:30 AM, when my husband finally decided, the bartender came back and stood there, looking like he was ready to take our order. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Actually, I've decided not to serve you. Have a good night." We were both taken aback, sitting silently for a few seconds thinking he was joking, and he repeated himself. We were still confused and walked away to meet with our friends. We did not ask the bartender why he refused to serve us and assumed that because he had made the announcement a minute prior, that he had decided to finish up last call. We sat at a table with our friends, who still had full drinks, and decided to just hang out until the bar closed. We told them that he didn't serve us and that it was probably because he wanted to close the bar fast so we didn't say anything. My friend offered my husband his drink and he obliged, not thinking that it was because he was "cut off." A big group of people came into the bar and started ordering drinks. I was wide-eyed and shocked that he'd serve them but not us, again, not even having the thought that he was cut off. I was about to get up and ask the bartender when he rushed to our table and started yelling, "I thought I made it clear that you were cut off, that is not okay etc" I asked why and got no answer. He told us to leave and we did, extremely unhappy and confused. Before anyone goes on to say that he might've been way more drunk than he looked and not noticed it, -I was sober the entire night. Even though we walked from her apartment to the bars, I was the one who had to drive my husband and I back to our hotel room. I can tell when he is inebriated and I was coherent enough to make that deduction. -He is a 6 foot tall, big man. He had ONE drink prior to Hillside. We arrived late to Seattle, had to check in, shower, get dressed, and meet up with our friends before we even got to the bars. So it was late, but we did not have all night to drink. Long story short, if one drink caused him to be visibly intoxicated, then I must've been really tipsy with absolutely no alcohol in my system. -He is naturally calm and quiet. When we were waiting for his turn to order, we were standing/sitting calmly. He was not swaying, stumbling, or anything of the sort. I get it. Over-serving is a big deal, and you and the bar would be held liable if something were to happen. However, I think the situation could've been handled better and you really need to reevaluate your way of looking for signs for intoxication. And probably put your staff through a customer service course. Anyway, whoever that bartender was ruined our night. It was my husband's first impression of Seattle and needless to say, it wasn't great. I, myself, served alcohol and was in the service industry for a large part of my life. If I had kicked out everyone who looked like my husband, I'd have no customers to serve. I'd ask in the future to be clearer about not serving and a lot less rude. We are not a belligerent, inconsiderate group of people. To treat us as such was so disappointing. I make a lot of trips to Seattle and I will not be returning to this bar. read more

What a cool place! I thought it was a trashy boring dive bar just looking in, and yeah it's trashy and divey but it's NOT boring. There's multiple levels and a pool table and arcade games... I loved sitting at the top level people watching the lower levels. Will be back! read more

A bar lovers bar! Grungy decor in the best way. Came here early on a Friday night. Bar was full with people coming and going but never packed. Service was pretty slow with only one bartender but people didn't seem to mind. Great place on olive when you want to watch a sports game! read more

Hillside Bar - Busy bar on an early Friday night! - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Rude ass bartender, she was rude because we asked for a few drinks on menu that they didn't have , snapped on us then we ordered food and I guess they only have chips ? We went down to get quarters for a game and she got upset because I forgot my mask MY BAD I legit left it on the table she didn't have to be rude I understand her telling me that but I am a bartender and this all was crazy how do you not have salt? I go can I have a margarita she goes "it's a dive bar hunny " umm okay ? Dive bars still have drinks lol so shots it is!! !! Anyways good thing about it they let us bring other food in here ... and you don't have to be vaccinated !!! And umm that's all !!! I'll give it a two star cuz the pizza at dinos is bomb and I got to bring it in here so thank dinos.. haha ima give them a good review thank you dino for the extra salt read more

Nobody carded me when I ordered alcohol; that's likely the why there is a frat party ambiance. See photos. I wouldn't mind so much if weren't for the stumbling drunk youngins' who immediately accosted me as I entered the bar, forcing me to remember why I purposefully don't live in a "college town" (or the University District). When I go to a place like Hillside I expect an environment where I can be assured those who appear age 18, 19, 20 are not actually that age, because they got carded and denied entrance to Hillside as the law requires. Perhaps the bartenders are required to keep some sort of paperwork which prevents them from doing their job appropriately, making it a management issue. (One bartender was continuously occupied by a yellow notepad near the register). In this case I hope the owners of this bar make adjustments to their workflow. In any case, the raucous, callous, sloshy, chanting, and pseudo-collegiate atmosphere resulted in a 15-20minute wait (for my Ranier) with only 10 people at the bar and 3 bartenders serving them. I somewhat enjoyed watching the drunks scream at one another, making me feel okay with giving them the yelp-requisite one star. Perhaps it is different on a weeknight? Update: Apparently the bar has a Funny Article wall. One of those articles describes a 14-year-old boy who got stabbed in the abdomen over a meaningless, "funny" statement to another young would-be assailant. The child sustained life-threatening liver lacerations and may have died (article did not say). Posting this article is tantamount to memorializing violent crime (and in this case, violent crime against children). As a patron sensitive to this, I asked the bar manager (Jim) to take this down. "I'm too busy" was the passive aggressive response I received. He asked me to "take it up with Shawn." So, I left a note notifying that person of this review, and requested that this article be removed. I will update as appropriate but I've learned not to expect change from venues that foster these types of issues. read more

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Jaw-droppingly rude bartender. I had to assume that there must have been a recent tragedy in her life? She wouldn't explain it after repeated polite inquiries though. Very strange. Rachel or something like that. She was on shift Tuesday October 16 read more

My friends and I went to a speakeasy at Knee High and since the drinks there are expensive we wanted to get drunk somewhere else and more lively as well. The bartender was super cool and friendly, they had a extensive list of draft beers. We all got some drinks and walked down where the pool table was but they only had one pool table and people were already playing a game. So we went upstairs where there was a group celebrating a birthday i guess. Upstairs is were the 2 dart boards are but there is only 3 darts that actually in working order. There was another dart but its missing a piece of its tail so only one group can play darts since there is only 3 darts. If you walk past that there is 2 video game machines one is pinball and the other one was a hunting game where you shoot the animals. We must have spent atleast 20 bucks on that game competing with each other haha. This is a nice cool little bar to go with your friends for a drink and some games but I dont know how it would be when it is crowded since I assume there will be a LONG line for the pool table and darts on a busy night. read more

This is my go-to bar in Cap Hill. Love it so much. To start with, they do trivia once a month on the first Wed of the month. The questions can be hard, but luckily they offer a DFL prize if you come in dead last, so you can win even if you lose. They have free peanuts for drunk munchies and have some board games behind the bar for people to play. There's a pool table and a juke box and more games upstairs. There's a buck hunter, a couple of pinball machines, a skeeball table/board, and two darts boards. So fun! The one weird thing is that the ladies room uses curtains as "doors" to the stalls and sometimes drunk girls don't think and simply rip them open... lol. Nice to meet you too. But if you can get through the night without being walked in on, it's a fan-freakin-tastic place to drink. read more

Best bar on the hill. Always kind. Doing their best with COVID. Good people running the place. Nothing bad to say. Sports-minded...great place to watch a game. read more

Beer lines need severe cleaning. Gross. Nice staff, Nice ambiance. Just get your drinks elsewhere.

great diverse gem here. boy oh boy did I have fun. Met up with friends here after 30 years away from seattle. This place reminded me of the way it used to be, because nowadays, its nothing like it was. enjoyed everyone here. The bartender was spot on, the music, great. I loved having our dog with us, and more. I will be back on the next visit. straight up, diverse, fabulous, bar. kudo's for keeping it real on the hill. read more

I've never been to or even heard of this bar until recently when my friends had his birthday here. It was very nice if the bar to let him set up his cake and everything here. I guess I've never passed by this place before because it's not on the main part of Capitol Hill's nightlife, Boardway. But it isn't far off a walk if you were to want to find that part of Capitol Hill. The bar was roomy, it had your typical bar setup, but with an expansion of another floor where the pool table is at so plenty of room to stand around, walk around, and not get cramped to one spot. The only weird thing was that the bathrooms have curtains instead of doors so you kind of have to hold onto it hoping nobody accidentally comes in. Tell me about your experience if you've been here or is going to after reading this review:) read more

This place has a great, comfortable feel, and I have had many nice experiences at the owners' other place (Hooverville in SoDo), so I am not going to judge it long term by my first experience and I expect to upgrade this rating after another visit. But tonight's experience was ridiculously bad. Maybe they gave their regular staff the day off to watch the Seahawks playoff game. But in any case, I would not have left a new bar trying to make an impression in the hands of the single, burned-out, red-faced fellow behind the bar tonight. He acknowledged me almost right after I sat down, then socialized and ate peanuts for over 10 minutes before seeing what I wanted to drink. God only knows how long he could have taken it I didn't have a meeting set with friends and walked down to the other end of the bar to get his attention. I ordered a Manhattan. His mixology expertise did not extend to this rare concoction and I heard him asking another fellow at the bar how to make it. At that point I quickly shifted to a gin and tonic -- my go-to drink for inept bartenders. A G&T with Hendricks turned out to be $9, another negative for a place that is not exactly positioned as Canlis. I gave him a twenty and watched as he struggled for several minutes to calculate my change. Eventually he brought me $12 change for my $9 drink. From a certain perspective I admire the people who own a business and provide some income to a person who is so comically unable to care for himself or others -- and barely able to perch himself on a stool -- even at the risk of the reputation of their new business venture. Indeed, if I see service like this again I will assume that it is not a bar at all but some sort of absurdist performance art piece. read more

We came here after initially trying out another bar (captain blacks) and feeling really unwanted and uncomfortable. We walked into The Hillside Bar and Josh, who was tending the bar, greeted us. He was super friendly and took care of us! We liked him a lot. He was a nice guy. The music is quirky and random. The atmosphere was nice and clean. The bar is split into two sides, one with the bar and one with the pool table. I didn't explore the pool table side much but it all seemed chill. The crowd was laid back and a mixture of sorts. Mind you, this was on a Wednesday night. I cannot vouch for a warm Friday night but I'm sure the whole area gets packed. Overall, I would recommend this bar if your looking for cheap drinks, a regular bar crowd and some pizza to munch on. It's not gourmet gluten free vegan locally sourced organic artisan pizza, but it was cheap and hit the spot. read more

Hands down the worst service I've had in any bar in this country. Since moving from England I'm always saying there service is better here. Not so in this bar. The lady was incredibly rude. The peak of the rudeness was when I asked if I could get some water, and without turning her gaze to look at me, she simply pointed toward the back end and said "sink in the rest room". I couldn't believe it! She ignored everyone at the bar the entire time I was there, so what made me laugh was when her friends came in, she was all smiles and joy! The kind of waiter who deserves literally no tips but will get them anyway- but not from me! read more

The is a very low key neighborhood bar with a pool table, darts and a few pinball machines. A great place to grab a beer and converse as the volume is reasonable and there is always an open seat. Pool is free on Sunday. read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Multi-level. Perfectly divey, with not-too-loud rock music, a pool table, and cheap beers. Just enough of a walk that it's out of the reach of puke-drunk college kids who can't hold their alcohol. read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Didn't this place used to be The Elite? I was told that was a "top-heavy" gay bar. I'm not sure what it is now, but it's a pretty fun place to hang out. The place is huge, for one thing. There are tables and seats galore, a pool table, a gaming area for sitting down with tables and stuff, and also an upstairs with arcade machines. Awesome! The drinks are pretty standard for what you'd find at a more divey bar, but not bad. We came in on a Sunday night and service was rather nonexistent. Then again, it's a Sunday. Restroom "doors", at least for women are actually curtains and divided up really strangely. I think the larger of the two stalls actually has a sink inside of it. The curtain thing is just weird and feels unsanitary to me. I did my best to avoid touching them, but otherwise the place seemed clean. I don't know what this place is like on big nights, but Sunday night it was the perfect place for a drink and chatting with friends. read more

My perfect bar. I like to eat and play games when I drink. They have killer Malaysian food next door you can bring in. And they have free peanuts. Game wise they have pool, darts, big buck hunter, and pinball. My favorite games to play when drinking (save for horseshoes). Upstairs can be a bit warm but not unbearable. Josh is super cool. Trivia night is nice. Please keep karaoke out of this one. read more

I love the Hillside. 1. Great layout, lots of little nooks to hang out in. 2. Darts and Big Buck Hunter!! Also pool. 3. Deliciousss pizza 4. Affordable drinks 5. Cute bartender Can't beat it! :) read more

It's a noisy, tacky dive bar...exactly what were looking for. Great place with a damn good beer selection. read more

Best bar. Best crowd. Everyone here is awesome and that's why they have such high repeat business. Great happy hour. Good conversation. What more could you want? read more

Amazing place with very cool ambience! Love it. Feels like a hidden gen Great drinks. Free peanut. Ski ball and dart. Pretty perfect read more

Going out to read in a social setting. What do you need? Light, decent beverage, the chance to meet someone new or someone old, and make it through a chapter or two of the book you brought. I love hillside for this. Its one of my two favorite weekday reading spots. First night I went in they advertised it as a neighborhood place and for that they get 4 stars because it is just that a place for the neighborhood. If you are looking for Casual and a place to relax and chill this is a good spot. Plenty of items to keep your interest up from different seating areas to pinball and pool. Age demographic wont make you feel young or old. It's a great mix....for the neighborhood. Way to go hillside. read more

Cool place... cider on tap for only $4 at happy hour, pinball & darts & weird stuff upstairs... perfect read more

Hillside Bar - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I'll keep it short and sweet because my adventures into here only consist of one time! -Great layout. There's a pool table in a really awesome little space with some tables and chairs for people to hang out around. Or you can go upstairs and play darts or a couple of arcade games. -Selection of alcohol is wonderful. -I hear they have great pizza! I can't vouch for it, but I did see the menu and they did have pizzas that had other types of sauces like pesto and barbecue (which for someone that doesn't eat traditional red sauce pizzas is AWESOME). -If you go in on a slow night it's really quiet, calm and a wonderful environment. I'm sure it's fun on a busy night too. -Bartender was super friendly and nice as well! read more