Boxcar Ale House

I am a fan of dive bars (yes, even though their floors are dirty), with nice bartenders and strong drinks. Add in a fun draft selection and good food, and you’ve enticed me!
Went to Boxcar Ale House for the third time last night. I believe they usually have a pilsner on tap, which I prefer, but they have a delicious hazelnut beer which I keep coming back to. Husband gets the Men’s Room… whatever that is.
What surprised me last night was the food. My sister ordered a burger and fries, I ordered a basil and sundried tomato chicken sandwich, and husband got the wings. We all loved our food– bacon was perfect on the cheeseburger, wings were nicely sauced, and everyone had a bite of my chicken sandwich, because it was surprisingly freaking awesome!
Took away a star for slow service; I think they just have one guy cooking all the food. We waited a while (20 – 25 min), and it wasn’t a weekend so I don’t know how long you’d have to wait for food on weekends.
Overall, I’ll be back with friends. Maybe some time I will try out trivia.

It is what it is… a shitty local bar.

Too bad, so sad. This place is «we haven’t cleaned in 5 years» dirty. The inside is dark and dingy. The outside misses the mark. This location would benefit the neighborhood if there were some reevaluation. I won’t be back and I wouldn’t drink their beer on tap given the state of the place. Unfortunate.

Boxcar Ale House is a great little dive. The place is small and noisy, a good seletion of tap beer is available, people are friendly and music is good and loud. We had a great time with friends.

I’ve been to this bar a couple times since I live nearby. I plan on going more frequently because there are definitely a few things that make this bar stand out from other dives. First the Juke Box has a large selection of music. I had a hard time figuring out though, I recommend asking for assistance. They have an awesome outdoor area with… Ping Pong! It’s covered and everything for all season playing. Careful though there are a few sharks who will absolutely dominate you. Same with the pool table. Also and change machine located inside for convenience. You’ll start seeing quite a few regulars here, the bartender is always friendly. Something interesting always happens when I visit. Serves all of your favorite standard beer: manny’s, mac and jacks, pbr. what more do you need?!

Stopped in here a few nights ago with the boyfriend. There weren’t many people there and we were served quickly. The bartender was pretty cool. What blew our minds was the amount of Iron Maiden that was played, being my boyfriend is a huge Maiden fan.
I think we would honestly just return for the awesome music. Great little place. Glad we stopped in.

Great local bar with karaōke and ping pong tables. Very friendly staff and great service. Food is solid, but the drinks are what keeps me coming back!

Out with the gal, needed a good spot to watch America’s best pastime. Took in the Mariners over a few cold drinks. Was after a Schlitz but a Miller would do.
The place had all of the characteristics of a dive and it was a gem of a dive.
We had free pool and good service, a fine patio, and regulars were out enjoying their Sunday. It’s obvious that this place pulls a community and is an asset to Magnolia.
Bob don’t care.

A great dive bar! Good bar food, I especially like the chicken wings! They have pool, ping pong, board games, and a great juke box. And the bartenders are great, shout out to Eric! He rocks!

Best little pub in town! Mellow days, packed nights and really great service! If youre looking for a regular place where the bartenders remember your name and drink every time, go here! Love you guys! :)

Loved this place… Until I got my tab. Three small whiskey diets turned into $ 28.00. That number isn’t even divisible by three. I would have asked had I not been in a rush to go to the game. On a more positive note, there’s good energy and service. I didn’t eat, but the food looked delicious.

I’ve been here a few times. I usually come on Thursday karaōke night’s but its a good place to have a burger and a beer. Try the pepper jack burger special.

This is a hideaway bar and I like it. Not an eye-​popper when you walk in but the people are down-​to-​earth and the wings are amazing! I love it. Saw a guy who was either super drunk or crazy cause he was just mumbling jibberish. Me and my gf had a craving for wings and this place didn’t disappoint. Meeeeoooow

Love the great service, good food, and extensive music selection (jukebox & kareoke)! Friendly neighborhood bar. The outdoor patio is great on a nice day. Stop by on a Thursday or Saturday night kareoke for entertaining and diverse performances run by a skilled host.

Although I’ve been dubbed the duke, I really only visit a couple of times a month. Boxcar is a solid 4 star dive bar. They have great staff, good Karaōke, and really good pub food. A great out of the way place to have fun and drinks with friends. For a 5-​star dive bar, Boxcar needs to upgrade the «décor».

Just to clarify the Boxcar Ale House isn’t a dive, it’s a neighborhood bar. It’s my neighborhood bar, it’s an easy place to get a drink and maybe a burger and jalapeño poppers on a Tuesday night when a friend comes to visit you and you have no beer in the fridge and you can’t be bothered to cook something up for them.
The bartenders aren’t overly friendly but they do acknowledge that you’ve walked through the door which is far better than the majority of restaurants in the Emerald City. In fact if you go in on a weekday/​weeknight everyone in the bar will look up and acknowledge you’ve come in and I think it’s tied to most of the folks in the Box knowing one and other in some fashion.
The food is great for what you should expect burgers, sandwiches and fried food. The guys in the kitchen take pride in their work and the burgers are consistently good. In fact I’d say it’s one of the better burgers in Seattle never under or over cooked. I love the jalapeño poppers and my favorite burger is the Cali with pepper jack. The drinks aren’t cheap bu they’re also not unreasonable.
Now let’s talk the back of the bar. It’s not nice. It needs work. It has a pool table and it’s obviously a work in progress and someday ten or so years from now perhaps they’ll figure out a better lay out. However for now I suspect it’s what works best for their karaōke. I recommend either sitting up front by the door or hanging out on the porch, these seem to be the more welcoming places in the bar.
The weekends are busy and strangely full of college students. It can get a little rowdy but it’s mostly harmless. The crowd is primarily folks from the neighborhood somewhere in the 30 — 40 demographic.

The first couple of times that I came to the Boxcar I hated it. The tables aren’t clean, some of the servers will intentionally ignore you, and their back room is so depressing you should have prescription meds handy before entering. The day drunks present there are downright scary (I have seen fights nearly started between the guys for no good reason, and skin flashed by the girls that no one needs to see).
But then I wondered why so many people actually came to the Boxcar. The reason is, that in comparison to many other bars/​restaurants in Magnolia, it doesn’t feel fake. It in fact feels very real, with real people; some of whom have real drug problems and real regrettable tattoos. Three stars.

A good bar in Magnolia. Not too fancy. Lots of street parking out front.
There is a great happy hour menu. Cheap food that we missed out on.
There was also Karaōke when we went. Phoenix even went up to sing :)
I like this place because it’s not too loud so you could talk to your friends while drinking. Also to pass the time, they had a few games you could play.. . we played a few rounds of Jenga. Would come back.

Their food has gotten so much better. I actually enjoy coming to this dive bar for the specials on drinks/​beer as much as the food. I get the Luau Burger with a veggie burger patty, no cheese.
And. they have tater tots done to perfection.

A good friend of mine works in Magnolia. When he has free time for lunch, I’ll swing by his office and we stop here for food. Each time we’ve visited, we have enjoyed burgers that are well-​made, tater tots that easily rival the Tin Hat’s and superb service.
It’s never been super-​crowded between noon and two so I imagine the bulk of their business is at night. And I’ve never been here at nighttime so I cannot review the service or the patrons.