When Dark Room opened in early 2023, it was an instant classic. Co-owner Matthew Gomez brings restless creativity to a drink menu that includes a damn-near encyclopedic range of ingredients. There’s interesting booze like Kümmel, Nixta, and Cloosterbitter; not-booze like Yakult and moringa; even kimchi brine and carrot. And every drink is a banger — Gomez is an absolute virtuoso, and he never misses a note. As if that wasn’t enough, ace chef and co-owner Amy Beaumier is in the kitchen slinging top-notch Korean-inflected snacks til 10 p.m., and the atmosphere is as lively as it is moody and dimly lit. 

Recently yoinked back from the cliffs of extinction by Sunset Tavern owner Max Genereaux, the Smoke Shop is a precious diner/dive combo that really exemplifies the grotty blue-collar spirit of Old Seattle. Genereaux gave the dining room a fresh paint job, some new booths and pinball machines, and a menu update — including a Jucy Lucy! — but the ‘30s-era bar has pretty much stayed its crusty old self. (The giant king crab is still on the wall, mercifully.) The late-night menu runs until midnight on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends, and they’ve got Evan on well. 

Hattie’s is like your cozy but stylish vintage sweater that somehow goes with everything. You can sidle up to the gorgeous mahogany bar and sip Bill Murray cocktails with a date you wanna impress or grab one of the wooden antique booths on the restaurant side and have a casual diner meal with your friends. It’s open for breakfast at 9 a.m. on weekends, so you can nurse a hangover here just as easily as you acquired it. And the crowd spans generations, like all the best bars’ crowds do.

Stampede makes some of the most inventive drinks in the city, and the bar excels equally at no-alcohol options as it does cocktails. The approach is as playful as it is crafty: tiki-adjacent with a wide palette. Colorful lanterns give the bar area a deep glow, while cool neon in the adjoining room give vaporwave and Patrick Nagel vibes. It’s like a party at an edgy art gallery only the guests will actually talk to you. 

One of the finest craft cocktail bars in Seattle, the Doctor’s Office is often noted for its selection of rare and expensive high-end spirits and its reservations-suggested energy, but it’s every bit as welcoming and fun as it is lavish. (And for the record, drink prices here are right in line with other craft cocktail spots in town.) You’ll be greeted with a gratis pour of bubbly and a warmed hand towel to settle in. Check out that kooky-cool red polka dot bathroom. Order a Spanish coffee and you might get treated to a cheekily over-the-top send-up of flair bartending. But the real draw remains the exquisitely balanced cocktails. Like thousand thread-count sheets, there are no gaps in the weave of these drinks.

Can a bar be sophisticated and cozy at the same time? James Beard nominee Rob Roy achieves that rare equilibrium with artfully placed gentle lighting, elegant yet comfortable leather stools (with, let’s celebrate this, back support!) a den-like sofa area, and an ace lineup of impeccably composed drinks. A venerable figure in the rise of Seattle’s craft cocktail community, it’s been open since 2009 and hasn’t stagnated one bit. The special move here is porting contemporary techniques and ingredients into classic cocktails: Sherry and a river stone tincture give their martini alluring minerality, while pandan and aged rum fat-washed with coffee-infused butter boost the Jungle Bird right into the stratosphere. There’s also an equally great selection of signature newer-school drinks, and an intriguing menu of no-alcohol cocktails. 

“Viet style tree house” Phocific Standard Time (PST) is an intimate bar up the stairs from Pho Bac’s downtown location that serves cocktails made with Vietnamese ingredients and flavors. Try the trung muoi, made with a pho fat–washed Japanese whisky, cream sherry, carcavelos wine, and salted egg yolk; or nuoc mat, a cocktail with soju, Cocchi Americano, logan, and citrus and jasmine flavors. Co-owner Yenvy Pham has whipped up a playful menu with offerings like a creamy, cheesy crab dip that perfectly compliments PST’s drinks.

Since 1990, this historic grunge bar/cafe has been luring customers in with its wise, winking neon eye gazing out upon First Avenue. Half diner and half dive, Cyclops is where the industry folks and old-guard Sub Poppers would hang out after shows at the nearby Croc or practice at Black Dog Forge around the corner — and where some still do. The food’s solid, the Rainier’s cold, the lamps are lava, the paintings are velvet, the dress code is hoodies and flannels. Get the crispy polenta fries.

The term world-famous gets thrown around a lot, but Canon has appeared on best bars in the world lists, and not near the bottom. Boasting a 181-page list of spirits that includes decades-old vintage bottlings, the place is a veritable Smithsonian of booze, and the drinks are often as attention-grabbing as they are creative. A luxe food menu includes bites like Taylor Shellfish oysters and salmon tartare, as well as larger portions like lamb chops and steak.

You can’t know Seattle’s craft cocktail scene without knowing the Zig Zag. Famous for bartender Murray Stenson’s tenure, during which he reintroduced the world to the Last Word cocktail, it remains a top-notch bar even though Stenson moved on long since before his death in 2023. Cocktails are detailed and composed, the staff is warmly hospitable, and the atmosphere combines moodily lit coziness with buzzy destination elegance.

Built in 1914 to host a social club for Arctic explorers, the Arctic Club Hotel is a Beaux-Arts masterwork and an architectural fave of locals and travelers alike — thanks in no small part to the iconic terracotta walruses on the facade. To boot, inside the expansive lobby is the snazzy blue-lit Polar Bar, definitely one of Seattle’s most beautiful bars. Longtime bar manager Mike has got all the dad jokes and specializes in the Smoke & Mirrors — basically a barbecued Old Fashioned, made using the nifty little cocktail smoker and a bell jar. A lovely way to have some birthday drinks, kick off a sexy date, or just celebrate a personal victory.

What’s more Seattle than a bar inside a record store? Especially one with a bunch of framed covers from The Rocket and a huge mural of Chris Cornell’s face? Out in the West Seattle Junction, Easy Street Records has been repping Seattle hard since the late ‘80s — a cafe was added to the shop in 2001, and since 2022, there’s been a teeny bar upstairs with menus on the backs of old 45s and punny cocktail names. It’s less of a bar in the sense of a room you can go inside of and more just the piece of furniture that is called a bar, but it’s no less a blast to pull up a stool behind the vinyl bins and have a Shirley Temple of the Dog. (That’s Olympia Vodka, grenadine, and lemon/lime soda.)