Close Icon
Gear IconImportant Reminder:The City Guide app will be sunsetting on December 15, 2024, with the web version to follow in early 2025. Please visit our FAQ to learn more or to download our Swarm app.
Learn more
10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More)
Canlis is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

1. Canlis

9.0
2576 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA
American Restaurant · East Queen Anne · 116 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Did we expect less, of the Canlis lounge, than to excel as a cocktail bar? Extra points for selecting James MacWilliams, a barman known for esoteric experimentation and attention to detail. Read more.

Mistral Kitchen is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

2. Mistral Kitchen

2020 Westlake Ave (at 8th Ave), Seattle, WA
New American Restaurant · Belltown · 79 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The invention of booze manager Andrew Bohrer, the 4d6 requires a roll of the dice, each bearing words representing one of the four components of a cocktail (spirit, wine, liqueur, and bitters). Read more.

3. Moshi Moshi Sushi

7.7
5324 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA
Sushi Restaurant · Ballard · 50 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Okay, yes: Moshi Moshi is a sushi restaurant—a sushi restaurant with some of the best cocktails in town, from bartender Erik Carlson Read more.

Chantanee Thai Restaurant & Bar is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

4. Chantanee Thai Restaurant & Bar

601 108th Ave NE (Key Center Building), Bellevue, WA
Thai Restaurant · 57 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In the chromey lounge in the back of Chantanee Thai Restaurant in Bellevue, Naga manager Evan Martin and staff are quietly kicking some serious cocktail butt. Read more.

Sambar is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

5. Sambar

425 NW Market St (at 6th Ave NW), Seattle, WA
Bar · Ballard · 20 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Bartender Jay Kuehner is all about on-the-spot cocktails anchored by smoky mezcals and herbaceous amari, tequila drinks with a desert-evoking finish, and effervescents blended with exotic eaux-de-vie. Read more.

Sol Liquor Lounge is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

6. Sol Liquor Lounge

8.6
607 Summit Ave E (at E Mercer St), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Capitol Hill · 53 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Sun Liquor is a top Seattle spot for old-timey gin drinks—its owner and manager are so obsessed with that spirit, in fact, they’re distilling their own at a second location a few blocks south. Read more.

Sun Liquor Distillery is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

7. Sun Liquor Distillery

514 E Pike St (at Belmont Ave), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Capitol Hill · 56 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Sun Liquor is a top Seattle spot for old-timey gin drinks—its owner and manager are so obsessed with that spirit, in fact, they’re distilling their own at a second location a few blocks south. Read more.

Tavern Law is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

8. Tavern Law

8.0
1406 12th Ave (at Madison St), Seattle, WA
Speakeasy · Capitol Hill · 113 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Tavern Law attracts a comely crowd that sips expertly wrought flips, slings, sours, and punches while snacking on small plates rich enough to hold up against those potent pre-Prohibition potables. Read more.

Vito's is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

9. Vito's

7.5
927 9th Ave (at Madison St), Seattle, WA
Lounge · First Hill · 42 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Vito’s now offers 18 specialty cocktails, among them popular oldies (the Corpse Reviver No. 2) and contemporary options like the Red Hook, a rye-based mixture invented on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Read more.

The Walrus and the Carpenter is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

10. The Walrus and the Carpenter

9.1
4743 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA
Seafood Restaurant · Ballard · 201 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Fresh simplicity defines chef Renee Erickson’s food at the Walrus and the Carpenter. It also describes the cocktail menu—the creation of her partner Jeremy Price. Read more.

Zig Zag Cafe is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

11. Zig Zag Cafe

8.9
1501 Western Ave, Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Pike Place · 143 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: To out-of-town guests we present the Zig Zag the way we do the Market, Mount Rainier, and gloomy-gray-gorgeous Puget Sound itself—secure in the knowledge that there is nothing else like it on earth. Read more.

Barrio Mexican Kitchen & Bar is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

12. Barrio Mexican Kitchen & Bar

1420 12th Ave (at E Pike St), Seattle, WA
Mexican Restaurant · Capitol Hill · 135 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Grandly scaled, candle-bedecked locations on both sides of Lake Washington have a touch of corporate chill, but the tequila-focused bar program is on par with the best in town. Read more.

Bathtub Gin & Co. is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

13. Bathtub Gin & Co.

8.7
2205 2nd Ave (at Blanchard St), Seattle, WA
Speakeasy · Belltown · 117 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The most easygoing of the speakeasy set, rollicking Bathtub Gin—and especially the subterranean back room—is where icy Seattle finds its inner friendly. Read more.

Cicchetti is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

14. Cicchetti

8.2
121 E Boston St (at Eastlake Ave E), Seattle, WA
Italian Restaurant · Eastlake · 21 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: The liquid offerings benefit from the endless infusions, tinctures, bitters, and brandies concocted by longtime “bar chef” Chris Bollenbacher (at both spots) and team. Read more.

Copper Gate is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

15. Copper Gate

6301 24th Ave NW (at 63rd St), Seattle, WA
Bar · Ballard · 14 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: Aquavit cocktails, a viking-ship-shaped bar pinned with antique pornography photos, and dill-flecked French fries: a few of our favorite things at this oddball Scandinavian spot in Ballard. Read more.

Hazlewood is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

16. Hazlewood

2311 NW Market St (at Ballard Ave), Seattle, WA
Bar · Ballard · 36 tips and reviews

Seattle MetSeattle Met: In an era where craft-cocktail bars are 
too-often bedeviled by fastidious exactitude, Hazlewood employs a refreshing lil’ bit of this, lil’ bit of that approach to mixing drinks…and everything else. Read more.

The Hideout is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

17. The Hideout

8.5
1005 Boren Ave (at Madison St), Seattle, WA
Speakeasy · First Hill · 53 tips and reviews
The Hunt Club is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

18. The Hunt Club

900 Madison St (at The Sorrento Hotel), Seattle, WA
Hotel Bar · First Hill · 18 tips and reviews
Il Bistro is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

19. Il Bistro

7.4
93 Pike St (at First Ave), Seattle, WA
Italian Restaurant · Pike Place · 39 tips and reviews
Liberty is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

20. Liberty

8.6
517 15th Ave E (btwn E Republican St. & E Mercer St.), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Capitol Hill · 109 tips and reviews
Oliver's Twist is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

21. Oliver's Twist

8.8
6822 Greenwood Ave N (at 68th), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Phinney Ridge · 37 tips and reviews
Quoin is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

22. Quoin

403 N 36th St (at Phinney Ave), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Fremont · 20 tips and reviews
Rob Roy is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

23. Rob Roy

8.3
2332 2nd Ave (at Battery St), Seattle, WA
Cocktail Bar · Belltown · 97 tips and reviews
The Saint is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

24. The Saint

1416 E Olive Way (at Bellevue Ave), Seattle, WA
Mexican Restaurant · Capitol Hill · 49 tips and reviews
Spur Gastropub is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

25. Spur Gastropub

113 Blanchard St (1st Ave), Seattle, WA
Gastropub · Belltown · 59 tips and reviews
Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

26. Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge

8.7
601 Queen Anne Ave N (at Mercer St), Seattle, WA
Cajun and Creole Restaurant · Lower Queen Anne · 260 tips and reviews
Seattle Metropolitan Magazine is one of 10 Top Seattle Bars (Plus 15 More).

27. Seattle Metropolitan Magazine

1201 Western Ave, Seattle, WA
Office · Seattle Central Business District · 5 tips and reviews