Jabu’s Pub

Totally closed, signs in the window indicate a new bar opening in the space in January 2015.

Cool spot, I’ve only been there for taco tuesdays. Pretty simple concept $ 1 tacos, along with $ 2 beers. Good place if you are just looking to hang out during the week.

I’ve loved going to Jabu’s for years. The staff has always been great, and the atmosphere is laid back. But lately… things are not looking good.
Okay look, here’s the thing: Jabu’s has a lot of things going for it, but to be completely honest, the thing that has always kept me coming back is Taco Tuesday. I discovered today that the new owners have decided to stop doing their shrimp tacos. I hate to pigeonhole a business, but let’s be real, this could be a deal breaker.
They still have a decent beer selection. And I haven’t checked since the new owners, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they’ve still got karaōke, and good food for many diets.
But come on. This is the place that used to have a wall dedicated entirely to tacos. Get rid of tacos, and the wall, and you’re getting rid of customers.

The new management are mighty fine folks and they have some darn good beers on tap… go check em out and tell em large marge sent chya

Not sure what they cook in the tacos, but chipotle would be my guess. Awesome stuff! Good atmosphere and good service. I’m really happy this place exists on Queen Anne. Thank you!

I came for the karaōke and left because of the bartender. Back-​story; I had a wedding today, been in the same shoes all damn day, thought I’d stop in and see a friend that hosts karaōke here. I arrived about midnight, there were about 16 people there. I go up to the bartender and ask for a Manny’s — «we don’t have Manny’s» (even though it’s the first beer written in chalk on what’s on draft. I order something else, talk to Chris (great karaōke host btw), and 15 mins later I –try– to order another drink. The bartender raises an eye brow at me as if «fat chance of you getting anything». I stand patiently as she serves people to the left and right of me, totally ignoring me except to give me that stupid one eyebrow up look. Chris calls my name to sing so I perform and come back, there’s no one at the bar ordering and she still ignores me. I catch her attention and she says something to the effect of «you were almost cut off». Lame — my first drink, I’m tired in my shoes and she basically just called me a drunk. Meanwhile she served customers that had just come in from a wedding that had obviously had been drinking.
So if you enjoy being belittled without merit, judged without cause and served by a frownie-​faced bartender that never smiles or cares to engage in any banter, and plays favorites with customers she knows, feel free to patronize this place.
To top it off, I got prank called by a drunk couple that were sitting out on the stoop that saw my phone number on my vehicle. I gave this place a 2 because of Chris, he’s a 5, which means I rated this place a –1.

Looking for a great dive bar in Seattle? So many have been torn down but don’t fret, Jabu’s will satisfy your needs. Cheap drinks, good service, good location on Queen Anne, much loved divey atmosphere and let me not forget to let you in on the best kept secret… $ 1 taco night on Tuesdays! And they aren’t shitty tacos… they are fantastic! And if you have $ 3 to spare, do not pass on the homeade chips and salsa, they are the best I’ve ever had. Couldn’t be happier to have found this place and have gone weekly the past couple months.

Taco Tuesday is bomb! How have I not known that I could get DELICIOUS tacos for $ 1-​$ 2 each just a few blocks from my house?! Thank goodness my friend invited me here to find out!
Other than that, there’s not much of a draw for me to this place. The décor could win an award for «least inspired décor in Seattle.» You have to walk through a cloud of smoke on the sidewalk outside of this place during all hours that it is open, including to enter the establishment– gross. The (small) crowd was loud and obnoxious; I could barely hear my friend from across our table. In short, the clientele this place attracts is not my scene. I’d classify them as «anti-​bro» (more like stoners, and not the hipster kind, because no one here dresses like they give a damn) and I feel as uncomfortable around them as I do the «bro» scene at Peso’s nearby and most Ballard spots. Where are all the normal patrons at? Then again, what’s «normal» in Seattle?
Order at the counter and they deliver food to your table. You can’t order another round of drinks from your table– you have to go back to the bar to do that. Sort of disrupts the flow of conversation, so that sucks. When I ordered my food and beer, the bartender decided to keep my change ($ 0.60) for his tip, even though I had already stuck a 20% tip in the tip jar right in front of his face. That was presumptuous and um, theft, so yeah, not cool and watch out for that if you go. Maybe call him on it if he does it to you. I just didn’t bother tipping him the next time I went up for a drink since he basically had already tipped himself for me (not as well as I would have tipped, but that’s karma for him). :-/​
Lastly, $ 10 minimum for credit cards, so on Taco Tuesday you’ll have to order a lot of tacos and beer to reach that, but it’s okay– the tacos are really good! Go ahead and get 4 or 5; it will save you a trip back up to the counter to order seconds!

Power Hour! I like going here and getting $ 1 beers during the first hour of happy hour. I mean you can’t get a better deal than that. It only applies to a few beers but when you get a beer at a bar for $ 1 you can’t be choosey. Fun little dive bar that usually draws a fun little crowd of people.

This place is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but there’s more to like than dislike about it!
Dark, cozy, and laid back. Not quite full-​on dive status, yet, not quite the quaintness I tend to associate with the term «pub». Pool tables, karaōke, and TV’s are present for your entertainment.
Fairly eclectic clientele within. Reasonably quick/​friendly bartender service. Micro pints were slightly spendier than average from what I remember. Didn’t get to try any of the food, but standard pub grub is there for you if it’s needed!
Overall, this spot seemed like a friendly enough little neighborhood bar for those living nearby, just not necessarily one I’d go out of my way for otherwise.

It was fun & friendly! Kimmie’s service was great behind the bar! Chris, the karaōke guy, had a great selection, encouraged singers, & you didn’t need to fill out a slip. The price was right too! I’ll definitely be back!

Friendly place, good beer selection.

My first impression was great — it’s not really a sports bar, just a casual-​enough spot with two TVs and a pool table. The place was empty at 5:00, I walked up to the bar, told the friendly staff of my plans to watch the playoff baseball game, they switched one of the screens from SportsCenter for me, got me a beer, how cool is that?
A few minutes later, just as I was going to get up to ask for a menu, the other TV gets switched to an out-​of-​market football game featuring a winless team, the music is turned off, and the sound for THAT GAME goes on. I look around, I am still the only patron in the room.
Friends, you could have told me up front that you were expecting a football party, and maybe waited until any actual football fans arrived before blasting the game on the speakers.
So, next time I want to watch a game? Eek! Methinks not.

This is my local dive, so it’s difficult to be objective. The things that keep me coming back: a tough trivia night on Thursdays, cheap drinks, eccentric patrons, friendly staff, and no judgements. Come as you are, and cozy up to a pint (or five).

Perfect for a local pub. Staff is always friendly, regulars are easy to strike up conversation with, always great drafts on tap and the food is surprisingly good! Best of all, we’ll behaved pups are allowed to join!

If you are going to have a beer anyway, come to Jabu’s and have side of free karaōke on Friday night. The crowd is pretty good, it’s fun to watch and it’s fun to sing.

I have a wonderful time at Jabu’s. The food is great and I enjoy the people who work there. On Fri and Sat they have Karaōke which is really taking off. They have a pool table, ping pong, pin ball, touch video thingy and music. The beer choices are local micros for the most part and are frequently changing — although they also have spirits. It’s a comfortable neighborhood bar, with welcoming regulars and an inviting atmosphere. The owners work to maintain this mood; if anyone gets rude and obnoxious they are asked to leave. Consequently, I believe that is exactly why some of the bad reviews exist here on Unilocal.These people were asked to leave because they were behaving like rude and crude 5 year old children who never received any discipline!
At any rate, I’m grateful for the good food and great company. Thanks guys!

Lets just get it out of the way, it’s a dive bar. Came here for happy hour, burger, fries, beer, $ 13 nice. I was actually quote surprised at their burger it was a seasoned and flamed broiled delicious patty with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. I eat my french fries with mayonnaise, and they charged me for that. The bartender/​waitress was super nice and attentive to us even though we were in pretentious clothing (we were going to the opera after)
We played a game of pool, it cost $ 0.75 a game. There is only one cue and now long stick. AND when we had a solid and the 8 ball left on the table the cue ball went down the shoot with the other ones. We had to get going anyways, but that was a tad lame

A-​OK dive bar!
Prices are decent, happy hour rocks!

Dig Jabu’s.
Too bad I was being such a snatch the first night I went there. Major failure on my part.
This place is definitely my type of place. Laid back, quirky, tons of character and the folks working th bar were friendly and attentive. There are 2 seperate areas-​the night we went, they had some beer pong tables set up… the other area was dark and mysterious… like some cool basement club. They had buck hunter which was a plus and a good variety of drinks. This place isn’t pretenious and you avoid all the d-​bags that typically crawl all over QA.
I’ll definitely be back, hopefully in a better mood.

Went here with some friends last Saturday night for karaōke! We tried to go to Ozzie’s first, but that place is NO GOOD, so we migrated down to Jabu’s in hopes of a good time. We definitely found it here!
Jabu’s is kind of divided into two areas. There’s a small bar area downstairs, with bar stools and a few booths. The lighting is darker in here and it has more of a laid-​back feel. Upstairs, was another bar in a large room with lots of tables and chairs, booths, and bar stools.
We ordered our drinks downstairs, but migrated upstairs where the karaōke was happening. It’s a great room for karaōke. Plenty of space up front for singing and lots of places to sit.
This is likely the best place I’ve ever been for karaōke. The crowd was AWESOME! Everyone sang a wide variety of songs from all sorts of genres, and by the end of the night, everyone was loudly singing along to every song that came up. I didn’t catch the name of the lady running the karaōke, but she was fantastic. Super friendly and nice and she made sure everyone got to sing in a reasonable amount of time. There was no bias here for regulars, which we appreciated.
I will note that one of my friends was double charged for his drinks. He’s in the process of working it out with the bar and is hoping to get it resolved soon.
Anyway, we will definitely be back for karaōke here! It was a ton of fun and I’m looking forward to our next visit.