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Sam’s Tavern

3.4 (388 reviews)
ModerateBars, Burgers
Closed • 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Updated 3 months ago

About Sam’s Tavern

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SAM’S TAVERN ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Divey
Dogs allowed
Happy hour specials

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Recommended Reviews - Sam’s Tavern

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Reviews With Photos

Booths inside
Navila H.

The classic burger..chimichanga style!! So unique and unforgettable. Service is spunky and friendly. Located in the heart of Capitol Hill, you'll find all types of people here: students, punks, and posh diners. Ambiance is dive bar like, super fast casual and comfortable. We snagged a booth and were very comfortable.

Bloody Mary
Tim W.

Needed a place to have a drink and eat after a long evening of playing beach volleyball and this was the perfect spot. One waitress serving the place and she did fabulous. Food and drinks were on point. Also had two mushroom burgers. Coming again for sure.

Breakfast burrito and a bloody mary.
Katherine L.

This has become my go-to for breakfast burrito and a bloody mary in the last few months! I love a good dive bar, and everyone's been incredibly friendly every time I've gone. The burrito comes out piping hot, and the bloody mary comes out fast. I can't speak for the evening/night scene, and it is 21+ only!

Tenders and fries
Sonya M.

I stopped in one afternoon with my sister and a friend while visiting Seattle. The menu looked decent, and the space seemed low-key, so we decided to give it a try. We were greeted immediately upon entry by a young lady who also ended up being our waitress. I didn't catch her name, but she was petite with long, light brown hair. She was very pleasant and attentive. Once we found her that we were visiting the area she suggested some other restaurants in the area. The space is comfortable and welcoming. The bathroom was also clean. I couldn't find the hand soap at first and laughed when I finally saw it with the sticker on it. (see photo) My sister and I both had chicken tenders and fries. Our friend had a burger. The food was very tasty. We all enjoyed our food immensely and had no complaints. My sister also had one of the cocktails, but I can't recall what it was called. The bill was about $80, which was slightly expensive for a dive bar, but probably on par for Seattle. If I ever visit the area again, I'd return to Sam's for sure.

Nahos
Pratima M.

A classic spot in Cap Hill for bar food, brews, and trivia -- it's an eclectic little spot with one of my favorite trivia hosts! My friends and I usually stop by on Tuesdays at 7 to play. The interior decor is funky (lots of moose-themed decor and dollar bills) and the bartenders are all very sweet and helpful. The food here is all the classic bar foods, and I've always liked it! Highly recommend the nachos, grilled cheese, and sweet potato fries. They're always kind enough to leave the chili off to the side to make the nachos vegetarian. Trivia here is also one of my favorites in the area! The announcer is so sweet and the questions are just challenging enough. My favorite way to spend a Tuesday night with pals.

Epic Bloody Mary
Meridena K.

Relaxed, casual, and quirky place to grab food and drinks. Open long hours. Love to see the dogs drop in with their owners. People are really friendly. Bloody Mary is the best, it's really a meal in itself with all the stuff and a slider (which is simple but delicious, almost as good as thru regular burgers). Maybe a smidge heavy on the garlic for me but yummy anyway. The burgers and sandwiches are really good, bar food but there's some little magic they mix in and it's really delicious. Prices are decent too. All around love it.

customers at the bar
Maddie L.

We went to Sam's yesterday to watch some football and grab some food and drinks! Giving this place 4 stars because of the fact that it was a game day and there was only one guy working who was awesome. He was serving people, making drinks, bringing food out, cleaning tables and he was still super attentive with us and kept checking in on us! We ordered clucks and fries and chicken wings to share. The wings and fries were tasty! The wings were perfectly crispy which I love. The clucks (chicken tenders) were just okay. Pretty flimsy strips of chicken that weren't crispy. I'd give 3 stars for the food. Overall, we had a great time at Sam's watching the game!Love the little Christmas decorations they have up and all of the dollar bills throughout the place. Great ambiance here to grab a drink, watch a game, or socialize with some friends!!

Soup of the Day!!
Paul K.

Our second stop while in the Capital Hill area, bar hopping. This area is so fun and there are so many restaurants, bars, etc. all within walking distance of one another. We found ourselves in front of Sam's Tavern and asked the security guy what the vibe was like. He said it was chill, and after the Unicorn's zaniness, we needed chill. We went in for a drink. The "Soup of the Day" sign got our attention (it was Red Bull & Vodka that day) and we ordered those. Our bartender, Bryan, was friendly and quick. We sat at a long table/bar, that invites conversations and soon met some others at a nearby table and made quick friends with them. We had a lot of fun here and the place got busier as it got later, so we got here about the right time (9:30 PM-ish). A fun thing to do here is to decorate a dollar bill and post it in the bar wherever you can. We found this place has at least 3 locations, each with a different feel according to one of our new friends. Give this place a try when in the area.

Meanole M.

Soooo Sam's ended up being our last bar stop in Seattle and also my favorite. I loved it because they're not taking themselves too seriously in a part of the city that is trying so hard to be cool that it fails miserably. Capitol Hill was so ironically pretentious it's laughable. Ugly and dirty, Capitol Hill was my least favorite part of my least favorite city on our summer west coast tour. I will give credit to the awesome spots, though, like Sam's Tavern. Chill, fun, great bartender, great service. It's definitely a place I will return to if I ever make it back to Seattle. Had a couple of pre dinner cocktails. The Jack Daniels and cokes were nice and strong. There are lots of locals here. One of the friendliest places we visited. I would have gone back if we had more time.

Entrance of Sam's Tavern. Check out their daily specials, we got the Burger & Beer special and it was a dang good burger.
Jenn S.

Great little dive, with good weekly specials. We were lucky enough to catch the burger and beer special and the burger was delicious. Also, they keep sports on the TVs so that was a good perk. We ended up popping in here twice.

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7 years ago

Some of the best burgers you can find on the hill! The inside isn't the best looking but the food is so worth it!

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Wow I love this place! Great food, great window watching, and great service by the hot Isaiah. Best bar on the hill!

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Super awesome spot for a quick drink! Ordered a Bloody Mary with a burger slider on top and it was perfect! Also you can't beat $2 beers.

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Ask the Community - Sam’s Tavern

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Gangnam Seattle - Bulgogi and rice

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Located inside of Uwajimaya (#1), Aloha Plates brings a mix of Hawaiian comfort food to the…read morediverses offerings to food court lineup. It's not my favorite Hawaiian by any stretch, but it definitely does the job for visitors to the food hall. Since the seating can be a little limited at lunch time, the first challenge is just simply finding a spot to sit. Avoiding the peak lunch hour is recommended, but this probably be better if traveling in a group. When in doubt, take it to-go. Teriyaki chicken ($14) is one of their most popular dishes and an obvious nod to Seattle's thriving scene. Their katsu loco moco ($16) is hearty with the gravy, but sometimes a bit too heavy with the green onions. Personally, I'm a fan of the kalua pork ($13.50) and the spam and eggs ($11.50), but the garlic shrimp ($18) was a bit lackluster. They also serve burgers, which are actually a bit underrated. Their double cheeseburger ($11) features nice size patties with a goop of American cheese. The musubi is nearly $4 each, but are also mini-bricks of spam and rice. Lastly, it doesn't take much to realize the prices might feel a bit high here. They're even higher on the website, which i would recommend using for most folks, but recently I noticed various selections are listed for hundreds of dollars each. Unless this is a catering order, it's just another example of another oversight. ____________ (#1) Uwajimaya is dope: https://www.yelp.com/biz/uwajimaya-seattle

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Sam’s Tavern - bars - Updated October 2026

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