Caroline Tavern

Don’t listen to the negative reviews from recent transplants complaining about Seattleites not catering to their every whim. You’re not in south lake Union. This place has been around since before prohibition and there’s a reason. It’s not catering to bros and woo girls – it’s just a neighborhood bar that is frequented by people who have lived in this part of the city for decades.
Rock on!

Friendly neighborhood bar. They sure know how to pour a drink, if they were any stiffer you wouldn’t need a glass! The menu needs major surgery, however. Ordered their fish and chips last time, the fish smelled like it was leftover from the last time Will Rogers was there, wont be ordering that delectable delight again. To be fair, I don’t believe they’ve the kitchen space to do much in the food department. My suggestion for them would be to concentrate on making a good burger. That being said, I’ve no plans on boycotting the place. If you want to get a load on, $ 25 will do the job.

One word ” Dump” To call it a dive bar would be a significant upgrade. No personality, just an armpit that serves alcohol.

This bar is the best thing that happened to me living in Seattle

It’s almost like they don’t want new customers. It took me 20 years to find out the name of this place. One of the landmarks of the Fox News Circuit, for sure.
Great parking!

I must begin this review by divulging the convenience that this bar would bestow upon my life. I live two blocks from this bar. So going into this experience I had much invested in this being the bar of my dream, but the bar of my dreams i did not find. If I had to distill my review of Caroline’s into one word it would be, «stinkhole». Don’t get me wrong, I love a good dive bar; but even with that history I’m not willing to dive down that far.
As you walk in the bar the first thing you will notice is the scent of an aged motel. The second thing you will notice is the frosty stare of the even more aged alcoholics that inhabit the bar. All of this I would have been able to look past if their had been even a single beer on tap of higher quality than Budweiser; sadly there was not. We didn’t try the food so perhaps their mozzarella sticks are a notch above the rest, but considering the fact that this is a bar and I am there for beer. Sadly I will never be going to Caroline’s ever again.

Strong drinks and a whiteboard of regulars’ birthdays each month: pulltabs, arcade games, reading material collection, and staff that asks for names and shakes hands upon introduction. My big sin/​mistake was living here so long without checking the place out (almost too far away for a walk, not at all comfortable with driving under any level of intoxication). I like the eJukebox, the quiet convivial and friendly tone. Best of all, no «Piano Man» by Billy Joel! No pretension here.

I had super high hopes for this place and if I hadn’t tried to eat there they may have scored higher.
My deep fried mushrooms were still frozen on their first serving to me and not any better on second. The pizza– reheated? 5 people didn’t finish a small — it was that un-​appealing. They have a ‘special’ sausage. People were daring each other to eat it. Shouldn’t you want people want to eat it? It was compared to animal food.
Appeared to only be one staff person working– super friendly, good music.
Not sure we’ll be back and I can’t recommend. Super disappointed.

I’ve been here a few times with friends and my parents, definitely a really cool place in Lake City ish area. Never hard to get a drink from the friendly bartender. Definitely strong drinks. My friend and I came here for drinks after pre gaming and ordered two mixed drinks, two shots, and a beer. The total for us both was only $ 19.25! Highly recommended

What a shock! Just moved in the neighborhood and walk every day. Was looking for a sign on the outside of this place, so I could look it up. No sign. It looks like a hole in the wall and yet when you step through the doors, you feel the warmth of the place! It truly is mind blowing. Everyone, super nice. Bartender super nice, good drinks. The Jute Box does have some great music playing… super surprised by that too. Pretty much the place blew me away. It has been there since 1929, at least that is what one of the regulars told us. Lots of condos and apartments around here, you can have a great evening out and walk home:) No worries!

The Caroline is rad. Stiff drinks, great prices, delicious fried food, super service. Covered smoking section. Clean bathrooms!
Jukebox and pull tabs. Plenty of seating. Interesting (albeit a little handsy) clientele.
Bonus: stone’s throw from my house, so no drinking and driving here. Great little dive.

Cool neighborhood dive bar. Went here with friends and as soon as we walked in it’s like they knew the other regulars in the bar. Bartender is awesome and poured us some good shots to start off the night. Good selection of beers on tap and love that they have PBR. Put some money into the jukebox to add to the great music lineup that a regular started. Only one pool table and one pinball machine but who needs those when you’re having fun chatting. Not a whole lot of seats so we stood a lot and wandered around visiting people.

Ok, so I gave this place an extra star because I met my boyfriend here.
Call me biased, I can live with it, he’s a GREAT guy.
Neighborhood «dive» bar in the kindest sense. Friendly regulars, even friendlier bartenders.
A great jukebox, good location (for me, as I live about a mile and a half), stiff drinks, reasonably priced, and a touch of history (Will Rogers drank here, no, really!) make this a great local watering hole.
I haven’t tried the food, as it’s mostly fried, but everyone else seems to like it.
And while I can’t call my boyfriend a regular as we met on his first visit to the Caroline, I can say I’m partial to the people that wander in here!

I drove past Caroline’s many times before stopping in. It’s now the only bar I ever visit. I enjoy the drinks, the atmosphere and most of all the welcoming regulars. I’ve never been one to drink much but I have to say, I visit Caroline’s once a week just for the entertainment. Becky and Jessie are two of my fav’s as far as bartender’s are concerned. I’ve even introduced this place to a few of my friends that like the «Hole in the Wall» experience. I’m hooked!

The Caroline is a nifty little neighborhood place that’s been operating in the middle of nowhere since prohibition. It is said to have been visited by Will Rogers in 1935 (
), and now caters — as one imagines it always has — to a pleasant cross-​section of ages, ethnic groups, and subcultures.

Well its my first review on Unilocal… very cool… so i went into carolines tavern last week. The place is small, unless its nice outside where you can take your drink and sit. Its your blue collar neighborhood bar… good beer selection, and very good stiff drinks.
The bartender was cool, and it seemed to be a place for regulars, but i struck a conversation right away with the folks at the bar…
a killer juke box… daft punk and cocktails and pool. and i was a happy man that night… like i said earlier its small… so if you go with a group of 4 or more that could cause problems for sitting.
carolines i will be back soon
first review in the book… cheers everyone