This is it, the emperor of Seattle dive bars. Inimitable. Sui generis. My favorite place to hang…read moreout in downtown Seattle when bad decisions and fun are on my agenda. Time without number I've found myself here, be that first dates, my birthday, or New Year's Eve, and it always feels like home. If home were a clown/carnival themed acid trip of a pinball arcade bar, that is. And what's not to love about that? The bar tenders here are cool and friendly people who pour drinks with a heavy hand, and understand the mission: get the patrons who want to be drunk, drunk. The first few times I visited, I felt a leeriness about ordering food. But once I got over myself, I kinda fell in love with the menu, and I've probably eaten everything on it (including the clam chowder). Their hot dogs are wonders to behold, utter symphonies for the senses, and I refuse to visit Shorty's without getting one. Best dog in Seattle? Why yes. I think so. To paraphrase one reviewer: "Take your date here. If she doesn't like it, she's lame and you shouldn't waste your time with her anyways." Shorty's is the bomb.

The male bartender was extremely rude. As soon as we walked in, he aggressively asked for our IDs…read more Then, while my cousins and I were looking through the food menu, he barely gave us a chance to read it before saying, "I'll take whoever is ready to make my life easier." That's not something paying customers want to hear. I ended up ordering a drink for myself while the guys were looking at the menu because they were doing a food hop, and us girls were doing a bar hop. During that time, the bartender came back to our table at least four times within about five minutes. Instead of being attentive, it felt pushy and aggressive, especially since they were still deciding what they wanted. I've been here a few times before, but after this experience, this will definitely be my last visit.

The best service! Yummy food Good happy hour!! cool signs…read more That cocktail was perfectly crafted had a fun buzz

Seattle has a wonderful diversity that extends to the bar scene. While looking for dinner after…read more10pm, we still have a vast array of food choices beyond pub or diner food. Imperial Kitchen and Bar in Belltown offers Hong Kong cafe style food while offering a full bar experience including creative cocktails. The food menu has a variety of international choices, and the dishes are pleasantly good. The place is understandably loud, being a bar. The décor is old-school dark wood bar chic with small HK style neon signs hanging from the ceiling. The Seahawks celebrations merriment was still ongoing with karaoke blasting on Superbowl Sunday. Service was swift, and the food came out in a timely manner. I will remember this place for future late-night food. The Food: Rib Eye Steak Platter, $28 - 4.5 Stars This sizzling platter comes with your choice of sauce and a choice of starch. Hubby chose black pepper sauce and spaghetti. Hubby asked for medium rare, but the rarest they offer is medium due to being served on a sizzling platter. Fair enough. The platter did arrive smoking hot. The flavors were pretty good. The black pepper sauce was delivered warm, not very hot. The flavors met expectations. Stir Fried Udon with Tenderloin Steak, $20.95 - 4 Stars This dish is also done in a black pepper sauce. I quite like the high veggies-to-udon ratio, almost equal parts. Overall flavor is a bit salty. Some beef pieces are better than others, a mix of tender and chewy. Garlic Pepper Soft Shell Crab, $16.95 - 3.5 Stars Despite being fried, these pieces are softer, less crispy than I all other fried soft-shell crab I have had. Perhaps they might need to double fry. These have good flavor with good seasonings despite not being particularly crispy.

TL;DR: Abysmal service in a nearly empty restaurant, broken ordering tech, and a serious lack of…read morefood transparency regarding their high-end menu items. Save your money and go elsewhere. The Tech & Ordering Breakdown: The issues began immediately with a broken QR code ordering system. After we informed the staff, we were told to just wait. After wasting 10 minutes, we had to flag someone down to finally take our order in person. The entire process took 20 minutes due to zero proactive support. The Main Service & Food Transparency Issues: While the overall food quality was disappointing, the service was even worse. Our skewers arrived piled on a single plate with no explanation of what was what. Our server promised to check on the names of the dishes but never returned. She actively avoided our table for the rest of the night.We eventually flagged down someone who appeared to be the manager or owner. While polite, her service was just as inattentive. When she tried to identify the skewers, her explanation completely contradicted our actual order. We ordered one rounds of Wagyu--the most expensive item on the menu--but what we were served did not match. It left us feeling like the restaurant is either substituting premium cuts with cheaper meat or the staff is entirely untrained. Logistics & Drinks: The lack of basic service standards was shocking considering the restaurant only had two other tables occupied. A cocktail ordered at the very beginning of the night didn't arrive until we were almost finished eating, despite us successfully ordering multiple rounds of beer and sake throughout the meal. There is a complete lack of basic service standards and transparency here which is absolutely sad as the restaurant has pretty good ambiance. Despite the ambiance, I highly recommend spending your hard-earned money at one of Seattle's other excellent izakayas instead.

We came here after a long day and we were delighted by the place. Very clean, and very lovely…read morelittle Izakaya place. There was also a giant tv so if you catch some sports, you could do that as well. however, I think the food itself really shines here. We got the seafood combo skewers and bowls of beef udon. They were absolutely delicious. They were grilled to the perfect temperature and texture, and it was seasoned to perfection. The udon had warm broth that tasted unique to this place, and would strongly recommend. I did think that it was quite pricey for the amount of food you get here, but that's just the Seattle price for you. Still, I would strongly recommend if you were I. The neighborhood. Service was good as well. Pretty quick, and the restaurant owner gave me a free token to try the claw machine as well. Very fun!

The food is good not great. Great late night place after drinks. I ordered the barbecue prawns…read morewhich were great.

This place has always been one of our stop when we are in town. The food is always consistently…read moredelish and will not disappoint. We usually order a massive amount of food here but because we had crunching time to attend our concert on time, we only order the minimal the time around. My favorite dishes are the crying tiger and the green beans. The people are very friendly and hospitality is at its best. Good eats, good food and good company makes the meal a lot tastier.

MARY WAS GREAT! We came for a friends birthday and had a big table and she took great care of us.read more

"MARY! MARY! MARY!" is what our table chanted after having an excellent dining experience with Mary…read moreas our waitress. Food was awesome!

I'm no wings connoisseur but I've had wings I didn't like. These I loved! So crispy and flavorful!…read moreI got the lunch special of 8 wings and the house lager for $18. Good deal as I brought 4 wings home with me. I got the lemon pepper seasoning and it was perfect, not really wet but very crispy and tangy. The fries were actually really good too, thin and crispy, not just an after thought. I get what people say about the blue cheese. It's not a dressing or dip really. Hard to tell what to do with it. Press the blue cheese crumbles against the chicken. With my leftover wings at home I used my own blue cheese dressing to dip. But really the wings are so flavorful on their own, they don't need dip. The bartender was friendly and gave great service. Dark bar atmosphere but clean and as a person alone here in the middle of the afternoon, I was very comfortable sitting at the bar.

So glad I found this place on a whim. Was craving some wings and it was right by our hotel with…read moregood ratings. We went by and saw the vibe so decided to give it a change. We sat in a booth, the inside was so cool, clean and the server was so chill. We knew we're going to order fries and wings. The only qualm I had was with the loaded wings was that they stayed "blue cheese" not blue cheese dressing or sauce. We were expecting crumbles or something along that nature. The melted cheese and blue cheese sauce made it very wet and hard eat... you had to dig... don't get me wrong it was still good. Just misleading. The wings were good they do tell you that it's going to be a wait and they are small. And they are. So don't be surprised, make sure you order more or you will be hungry. I would go back! It was fun And the wings were yummy!

Just the Tap is a great local bar with a divey feel and unique set up. It's huge with lots of…read moreseating! We had a large room rented out for our private party, but were still able to do some exploring. There are swings, pinball machines, large tables, couch seating, a bar in the back - so much space! The pizzas were delicious and the rosemary fries were tasty too. I loved being able to try different beers and ciders. My one complaint would be the lack of toilet paper and paper towels in the women's restroom. Overall an awesome venue, friendly staff, and great drink/food options. Can't go wrong!

We were staying at the Marriott and were looking for some good pizza and Just the Tap did not…read moredisappoint. We ordered take out and it was a 7 minute walk and was easy to get to. The pizza only took about 15 minutes and was ready. I wish we would have eaten there because they had board games, pinball, and a wall of beer! The pizza was great. The crust was thin and crispy with a nice char. We got the Hawaiian and also a pepperoni pizza. The Hawaiian had nice thick pieces of ham and the pepperoni were small and curled up with crusty edges. The prices were also much more reasonable compared to other restaurants in the area.

My family and I stopped here for breakfast before catching our flight back home, and I only wish we…read morehad discovered this place sooner! We visited after checking out Chihuly Garden, and it ended up being such a great way to wrap up our trip. My husband ordered the chicken fried steak with the chorizo on the side and said it was delicious--I obviously had to steal a bite to confirm! I ordered the crab Benedict, and as someone who loves a good Benedict, I really enjoyed it. We also shared the French toast, which was amazing and plenty for us to share. The ambiance was truly the "it factor" for me. Such a great atmosphere, and the service was amazing as well. We will definitely be back the next time we're in town!

This place is cute: imagine a bunch of sweet theater kids who've never been in an actual dive bar…read moresetting up and operating what they imagine to be a dive bar. (I mean, _faux_ graffiti painted in the bathrooms - yes, there's liquid standing on the floor, but I'm pretty sure it's just water they throw in there to make it look scary: my nose wouldn't lie to me about that.) Now throw in a fantastic kitchen doing really outstanding comfort food. There you go - the 5 Point Café. Pricing is reasonable, particularly given the location and the quality of the food. (We were happy with every bit of it, but those were some of the best hash browns I've had in years.) The service is friendly and welcoming - as soon as you break through their gruff "dive bar" act. It's great. I'd go back for the eats tomorrow.

It was a great find. The bartender was really friendly. We sat down to take a break after World Cup…read moreand got a drink and some of the bacon and cheese fries they were delicious! It's dark and moody and they do have karaoke. We enjoyed listening and watching people sing. Didn't get any pics!

I never see anyone in this place. Come Friday or Saturday night...hardly anyone in here when other…read moreplaces nearby are buzzing. While I don't know why people don't go, I do know why I don't. The last time I was there I was being actively ignored by multiple barkeepers acting super busy, walking up and down and polishing glasses or similar fillers on a non-busy night... Until I got up and walked out slowly to Provisions, a bar right across the street, to get a drink. With this attitude toward service, I'm sure none of them realized what kind of business walked out the door in that moment, given I live within walking distance, happen to like a good whiskey, and believe in tipping handsomely for good service. But I get it...surely they saw me and likely filter for a different type of clientele. It's just that even over the years I've been passing by it hasn't worked. But each to their own; never been back.

My husband and I stopped in after a long day visiting in seattle…read more What a jewel this place is! We started with cocktails and the warm pull apart bread and butter lettuce salad. The bread tasted homemade ...yeasty, flaky, warm....irresistible! The salad was excellent. The lettuce leaves were all fresh and paired perfectly with the cucumber, feta, bacon and house made dressing. Then we split the smoked pork tenderloin over polenta....the best pork tenderloin I've ever had. Perfect blend of flavors. Also seemed fully house made (which seems so rare anymore ). Service was attentive and helpful. Highly recommend!

Went here recently for a random happy hour after work, had not been to this place in a couple of…read moreyears. I remembered that their drinks and bourbon selection/pricing used to be incredible. As with all things lately, prices have gone up on some of their rarer pours. The standard basic cocktails though were still reasonable and decently priced for the location. The atmosphere is great and service was pretty quick. The outdoor patio is still there which was a nice addition from 2019/2020 era. Some of their bourbons are still reasonably priced. Their food is pretty good. Would recommend the tacos, the burger, and carne asada. The nachos were not particularly for me, and also seemed to come out cold. Seemed to have cheese sauce instead of actual cheese. It was a cold day however. This place is mainly great for happy hour after work, but will come back and try dinner another time. Staff is great though. Really quaint and awesome spot to post up. good food, good service, good drinks, good selection, and still better pricing than most bars with what they have to offer. Will be going back again sooner. cheers