Blue Moon Tavern

I showed up for my 4^th time here to celebrate an acquaintances’ 50^th year on earth and as I was finishing my cider outside the doorman and his lady friend ran me off. Wish I could’ve seen my friends but nope some weird doorpeople had to judge people on the sidewalk. Never coming back. Hope your birthday was good Pete. So much for a free country.

Seattle’s greatest dive bar. Period. If you like dive bars, it’s an absolute must. Ah, the ambiance… the old school Seattle memorabilia, the books lining the booths, the lack of light, that perfect dive bar smell, the clientele who look like they’re melded to the seats… it’s outstanding. Unless you don’t like dive bars, in which case you’ll think it’s horrible and we’ll think you’re dumb.

The Blue Moon Tavern is hands down one of the best dive bars you will ever visit.
Parking sucks, and it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but if you go in you won’t be disappointed. First off, cheap drinks — generous pour. You get a lot of bang for your buck. And they have live music most nights of the week. I’ve seen a ton of fun local bands there!
It’s a really good time. They also have some games and (I think it’s still there) a pool table! All in all, it’s an awesome place to hang out with friends.
And the bar tenders are really fun. For years, this guy Montana Mike was the bouncer. He was so chill and would always joke around with the regulars — who make up a pretty good number of the patrons. You’ll always see them milling around outside taking a smoke break or talking.
And — it’s dog friendly! I took my boxer-​lab mix there to watch the Seahawks game! It was awesome.

Got to the venue early per usual went to check in with sound guy J.J. and was immediately thrown off by his fowl attitude. Went and spoke to the bartender got the same treatment, this place was extremely uninviting. I then watched 3 other musicians check in for the night and proceed to feel the wrath of J.J. the sound guy and the unapproachable rude bartender. We won over the locals and got em all to buy us drinks by the end of the night the sound guy relaxed a little. The pay was horrible overall a really bad experience this is not a real venue more like a bitter bar full of bitter vibes. Will not play again and reccomend to any serious musicians out there to stay away.

I am a musician, and have played here probably 6 – 7 times. From that perspective, this place sucks. The sound guy is the biggest jerk and has been doing sound here as long as I can remember. The sound is not great. Some of the bartenders are OK, just had a run in with one of them about drink tickets. He was done talking so I walked away and he called me out as rude for walking away. Their lines are dirty and the beer often tastes funny. It is a very divey dive. The only reason bands play here is because they don’t really discriminate, because they can’t. Chances are, if you are in a Seattle band, your first gig was at the Blue Moon. You will see some good bands here, and some very not good ones. Tonight, there will be many good ones, and I will have fun, and will wish I was playing nearly anywhere else.

Went during the day this time. It was empty. But the bartender was nice, the place was spotless and smelled like oak barrels (in a good way). I had a beer, threw some peanuts on the floor and went on my merry way. It’s worth a stop for sure.

i felt i was surrounded by bearded wise men. bUT they did not speak to me! Not that they were unfriendly, but clearly I was a newcomer.
In any case, i had two delicious manhattans. They were very good, and I felt, I am sure you think I was half-​drunk, but I felt that this was one of God’s unpredictably holy places. And the long walk back to my car in the radiant sunshine and cool breeze somehow confirmed it.

It’s a dive bar and dies it well. Live music some nights, I saw The Rams Rams this night.
The beers on tap are better and more diverse that some upscale city bars.
The décor is what you expect a lot of old posters and neon beers signs.
You’ll have a good time.

This place is awesommmmmme. They have a barrel of peanuts and you throw the shells on the sticky floor. I watched the Red Sox win the World Series here in 2013, along with an assortment of the neighborhood’s crusty old bearded white dude alcoholics and New England transplants going to UW. I think they have punk and maybe bluegrass shows here sometimes.

Always great bartenders, great bands, and a host of characters. This is the place to go by yourself, saddle up to the bar, and start good conversation. There is a soft spot in my heart for the wood booths and peanut shells all over the ground.

about as genuine of a dive bar as you can possibly imagine.
ever since the Streamline Tavern shut down, i have been looking for another place to call home.
i think it’s funny how, from a certain angle, you can see guys taking a leak. you can see their backs. not sure if there was a door, or it was propped open.
bartender was really nice.

I love a good dive bar. I rarely make my way to the U-​District but there was an Opera on Tap event going on that I wanted to go to. It’s definitely an easy to miss bar so if you’re band at finding places like me, I suggest taking a look at the business front before heading out. The places was quite packed, but the bartender got to me surprisingly fast and was very friendly. The group of people who I met up with go to Blue Moon on non-​event nights and tell me it’s usually not packed. I am a beer drinker and was quite happy with their beer selection. Seems like a great place to grab a drink with friends!

Can u say dump!!! Every sinks of BO and a dog was behind the bar as the bouncer got drunk !

I was waiting on a friend in the Wallingford area and stumbled into this joint. Luckily they were playing some live music (some interesting Russian named acoustic folk music band with drums, acoustic, and bass guitar).
If there was to be a photo of a true dive bar, this would be it. At first glance it looks like a run-​down pirate ship – the entire motif is wood – everywhere. Maybe it’s the whole Norwegian feel to the Fremont/​Balldar/​Wallingford area, I don’t know, but it just fit.
You’ll find the usual group of stalwart men in their forties or fifties, and I saw the occasional hipster male and females, a bit of a hippie/​folk-​like fcharm, and other varied individuals.
Interestingly enough, they do not serve Blue Moon at Blue Moon, but they still have a decent amount of great micros and plenty of the hard stuff, if that’s your thing.
If you are in Wallingford and killing time, come check them out. I didn’t get to stay long, but I would definitely come back again, as this is the epitomy of dive bars that you must check out.

All the history is fine; the live shows are fine, as they alternative between genuinely good and enjoyably bad; the service is fine and friendly. You can get whatever drinks you want at a decent price. That’s all just very well and fine. But the real draw for me is, well, let’s not mince words: I am an old man, and I live in the U. District. That’s a pretty bad combo when it comes to bars, because I don’t like drinking with noisome 22-​year-​olds who alternate hollering at the top of their lungs and puking up their first shot of Jim Beam. The Blue Moon is one of the few places in the area where I can go to drink, not be the oldest person in the joint, and relax because I’m in the presence of veteran professional drinkers.

Great dive bar, the staff are friendly & its very roomy inside. Open mic night on Wed, live bands THURS FRI SAT. Stage is nice & divey but the sound quality is awesome!
Security is great, & it’s easy to get to, a parking lot a block away that was pretty open on a Fri night @ 9!
Check this place out!

A hipster bar to end all hipster bars. A lot of live music, PBR specials, old wood floors, dark on one side and lighter near the bathrooms. All things considered, a fun place to grab a casual drink for those around the college-​age. If there’s a band, there’s a cover.

A Seattle Icon. A slice of history. A piece of a disappearing time. A dive bar, bar none.
The Blue Moon isn’t for everyone. It isn’t a «designed» dive. It wasn’t carefully decorated and deconstructed. It doesn’t care what the fuck you think about it. It is the oldest tavern in the University District (opening in December of 1933) and it looks and feels and smells like it. It has, what they call on Antiques Roadshow, «patina.»
This is a place to meet friends, but never a date. This is a place to drink, but nothing fancy. This is a beer in pitcher or whiskey neat type of bar. The service and the clientele can be gruff, but are mostly harmless. The men and women sitting around the bar, might have been sitting there longer than you’ve been alive and they are part of what makes the Blue Moon so fascinating. There is prime people watching to be had, amid some PSA’s about the realities of drinking heavily for decades.
There is live music many nights of the week and the Blue Moon booker (JJ) has his ear to the ground and a great one. Many local bands have gotten their start playing shows at the Blue Moon. Its the type of place on the right night you will later reminisce about, «remember when we saw so-​and-​so at The Blue Moon?» Playing on its stage is a right of passage in Seattle and should be worn as a badge of honor. Are the band’s always great? No. But there are gems to be found, for sure.
Snag one of the old wooden booths, watch the world go by, admire the history and the ceiling … every time I walk in the Moon I spy something I’ve never seen before. Be kind to the staff and understanding of the regulars. Be drunk before you use the bathroom. Appreciate that this place still exists, it is a relic of another city and another time, it is a character in a Vonnegut novel, its everything a dive bar should be and then some.
My favorite dive in the world.

what bar combines DOWNTOWN COOL with UPTOWN BREW its blue moon ya dumbass!
IRONICALLY they do NOT servew blue moon beer at blue moon tavern which is cool because whatever ig uess
i like the idea of eating peanuts and throwing hte shells on the floor but even better than the idea of it is practicng the idea in a real bar and at blue moon tavern you can do just that.
i went to blue moon with my #1 LOUNGE LIZARD HOMIE SHOUTOUT TO @CARLY EVANS and it was dank. we got drinks and peanuts. my friend curran and vivien came to the bar and we shared my peanuts with htme (well they werent only my peanuts but lets just say im a hog about eanuts)
i think blue moon is a pretty clutch spot if you are trying to drink in the u district and dont wanna pee in a nice bathroom
| — — — — — — — — — — -KEEP IT REAL — — — — — — — — — — — –|
thats the word and im out thanks for reading my review of blue moon tavern.
(p.s. carly lets kick it if yr reading this call me 206 9183 90 921)
thanks bye derek

Ah, unite! People of the street sitting next to college co-​eds united under Blue Moon’s roof and behind cheap libations and loud rock music.
If you’re headed to Blue Moon, make sure to smile at the man who is out of work, holding a sign and standing right off of I-​5 on the corner of 45^th, since he’ll likely be pulling up a stool next to you at the bar.
The grimy, little dive often hosts local bands and sometimes more well known bands play here under different names. Cheap drinks and cheap covers.