Downtown Seattle Dive Bar reviews


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	Downtown Seattle has a wide range of bars, clubs and dives. There are candy ass wine bars, bad ass dives and after hour ecstasy dens. This wide range of bars services Seattle’s equally diverse population; ranging from business men to the homeless.

The Rendezvous

2322 2nd Ave

Seattle, WA 98121

206-441-5823

The Rendezvous is difficult to spell, if nothing else. What is that “z” doing in there? This is a dive, almost a perfect dive. The great thing about the Rendezvous is the wide swath of people in there at any given time. The disheveled to the “shirt and tie” somehow all seem to belong here.

They take their bar service and food service seriously. Last night, being the cheap ass I am, I ordered from the daily special list known as the blue plate special. “Two for one burgers”. The burger was hand pressed and cooked perfectly. This was no Costco frozen patty, but rather something that took at least a bit of effort to make. It and the accompanying fries tasted great. I sat right next to the bar and the bartender served us, he was funny and attentive. I think I can say I have never had better service in a bar where I wasn’t a regular.

A full bar and PBR on tap..

The Rendezvous is suprisingly big, so do wander around and check it out. This bar makes the top 20 list, at least for now. TR

The Athenian

Pike Place Market

First Floor

206-624-7166

Ok, it’s a restaurant, but it does have a borderline dive bar in it. This place is in the heart of the Pike Place Market. Its not cheap, but not as bad as it might be. The barkeep was quick and friendly; he told us that the bar has been there for about 100 years. I failed to take a picture looking out from the bar, but will try to make it back and take one. The view is great because this place looks out over Puget Sound. The buck extra built into the beer cost is well worth the view.

There is some reference to this place in the movie Sleepless in Seattle, which makes me like it less, but that was a long time ago, so I will forgive it. The food is pretty good, being mainly seafood. I had a reasonably price $5 bowl of chowder which had good flavor, but the potatoes were a bit under cooked..

If the girl friend drags you to the Market, this hidden gem might be a place where you can hide for a bit.

The Hurricane Cafe

2230 7th Ave.

Seattle, WA 98121

206-682-5858

This place knocks it out 24 hours a day. The Hurricane is a dive. It has a solid food service that rivals Beth’s Cafe..

They have a full bar with 7 or 8 taps flowing and they have PBR. (except for the day I was there... Fudge.) Like most dives, it’s a small, little bar, The service was good, but be ready to retrieve your beers from the bar unless it’s slow or you are in the “dining room”.

I order the Hurricane Club and it was perfect. I have had it several times before and its damn good. Don’t expect any of the food here to be artsy, unique or exceptionally flavorful. The BLT is a BLT, The Club is a Club. No weird ingredients, no tricky recipes in play here.

Being that they are open 24 hours I can only imagine that when I am in bed this place fills up with the discarded souls from other bars looking for food to soak up all the booze.

The Hurricane is a great dive, even though its restaurant shadows the bar. They make the top 20, for now, but there are so many more places too visit.

The Comet Tavern

922 East Pike St

Seattle, WA 98122

206-322-9272

The Comet is also know as “the Vomit”. This is a top 20 dive, for sure. The Comet is a music venue for up and coming bands. The night I was there, I saw Sam Squared. While I am far from a “music guy”, these guys sounded great. Reminded me of mash of The Talking Heads and Modest Mouse. I find it hard to believe that this band hasn’t been “found”...

The Comet is a run down dirty pit. You get the feeling that this place was hosting the likes of Pearl Jam and Nirvanna back in the 80’s and absolutely nothing has changed since.

No edible food.

If you are looking to sit and drink, do it early, the bartenders are far more accommodating in the early hours. Also, it gets really loud when the bands go on, but maybe I am too old. This bar caters to its off-beat neighborhood and while it isn’t like the 5th Avenue Tavern, it serves its neighborhood with a proud history.