Eastlake Zoo Tavern

Great place to go for a few drinks with a group. I love all the games inside. There is skee-​ball, darts, pool, ping pong and shuffle board. Very divey but has a great large space.

I noticed that this place is listed as a «Dive Bar». What is it that makes a dive bar? According to Mike Seely, author of «Seattle Best Dive Bars», «no collection of characteristics can be melded to truly define what makes a dive bar». He really goes on the say that you really can define a dive bar, it’s more of a state of mind, that you just know when you are in one. I can’t agree more! And so that brings me to a tavern that I consider an old friend. A place that I’ve been many times, but is not familiar. A place that reminds me of what many bars in Seattle used to be like, even in the coolest areas of town. While these places are disappearing, it’s good to know that Zoo lives on.
I recently stopped in for friend’s birthday party, where the upper back window area was reserved. It turned out be a great spot to have such an occasion; the parking, the availability, the options for food and drink and reasonable cost all made it great. As the Friday night continued, many flowed in. They either partook in the shuffle board, fine beverages, billiards or skee ball. One thing was consistent; they were all having a good time. There was no pretense, just people hanging out and having fun.
As for the service, whenever you go up to the bar to get a drink, someone actually acknowledges you and serves you very quickly. Funny, now that I think of it, many douchebag bartenders purposefully don’t even look at you when it’s busy and pretend you don’t exist until they grace your presence by taking your order. Not at the Zoo, it’s like your buddy is working behind the bar and he’ll get to you when he can.
They’ve got food at the Zoo, although I didn’t try it. The birthday party had us bring in some pizzas from Pazzo’s. They were just okay, but I’ll leave that for my Pazzo review.
Be well, drink well, but not well alcohol.

The bar itself is really cool. The people and crowd it attracts however are rude and not fun to be around.
I really like however how they have a ping pong table. It’s hard to find one in the city and this place has a great one

Worst bar experience I’ve had in Seattle and I’ve lived here over 20 years. Smells of urine, degenerate regulars, bartenders on meth etc. Best they have to offer for food are stale packages of Lays potatoes chips. Stay away. You might see a cockroach or two.

I love dive bars because they usually have really funky stuff on the walls, the Zoo does not disappoint!
Several pool tables, even a snooker table, and some pinball machines for entertainment. They don’t have a very big tap selection, but that’s typical of a dive bar.
Be forewarned, this establishment is cash only!

This is local dive bar that doesn’t really look big from outside but there is a huge area in the back of the bar where they have pool tables, shuffle boards and etc.
We stop for a beer every once in a while to hang out with friends.
The most annoying thing is the antique pool table in the back which takes up a whole lot of space and no one is allowed to use it for anything!!! Seriously, why do they keep it there? This is the most useless piece I’ve seen in a bar like that. Just remove it and make people happy.

i love dive bars, this one included. fun, weird, friendly!

On a Friday night, I had a third of my beer left and a server came out of nowhere and yanked it out my hand told me and my friends to leave. We were not drunk or being rowdy, nor had we already been asked to finish up. It was so appalling I thought he must be joking. Nope. Worse still, there were still folks sitting at the bar who weren’t getting kicked out yet. I love a good dive bar, but you can do much better.

What isn’t to like about this place? They got pool tables, awesome music, dart boards, and the people that work there are probably the best part. Mojo tells it like it is… and in the summer time they set up the bubble machine. Doesn’t get any better than this. Great place to have a beer or to just hang out.

Relaxed vibe. Great beer selection. Wine was not good– not a wide selection, would advise wine drinkers to head elsewhere!

Unique dive bar, with some great Seattle memorabilia everywhere you look. The snooker table may not look pristine, but it plays very well and is WAY more affordable than the others you’ll find over on the east side. Jake the bartender was really cool, laid back and glad to help you out. I can’t wait to go back. Cash only so just go prepared. Thanks for the good time!

Fab dive bar that has the most awesome eclectic décor you kinda have to come in to check it out. My favorite piece is the GIGANTIC evil Dragon with foot tall horns and large red blinking eyes… gotta love it!

This place could be really fun. I was here pretty early in the night. Reasonably priced drinks. Many pool tables, ping pong, arcade games. I love the vibe of the building. Though it was SO HOT inside. They had fans going but I bet it was still 90 degrees. We had one beer and had to leave because it was just unbearable.
But I will defiantly come back when it’s not so hot out. Grab a group of friends and this place has the potential to be a great time.

I used to live in Eastlake for 9 years and two blocks from the Eastlake Zoo. It started a tradition where we hold our golf tournament team selection party there every year. As per tradition, we were all there on Friday night. It was great! Seems that they have done some upgrades and the staff has some new faces that seem eager to serve you a beer. The crowd was young, friendly, fun and upbeat! Looks like we will be back again next year.
If you need a shot, go to Pazzos next store.
If you need some food, go to Pazzos next store.
Bring Cash. No credit cards accepted here.
Want to hang out in a casual environment, play pool, ping pong, ski ball or darts all while drinking beer with some hip folks from all over the city.

Definitely a «dive bar”/ Tavern. If that’s what you’re looking for, then it’s a great option. We went in because they have shuffleboard. It’s a cash only bar, which is fine– just be prepared. My complaint was the rude staff and they charge for shuffleboard. I can see charging if you aren’t drinking. However, we were drinking and $ 3/​hr seems a little odd to me. I’ll stick w Bravehorse.

*Nice to have legit dives bars still, this place is def. not trying to be hipster but is by the very nature if you follow
*Beer was slightly warm which is my largest pet peeve, all you sell is beer and wine so make damn sure it’s ice cold right?
*bartender was cordial, no tude really, I love the golden tee and snooker table, it’s a legit hang out joint, no food but 14 carrot will bring food over at night

I always passed by and never went in until I did and LOVED IT. It is totally my kind of dive bar and the bartender was hella cool. The place is chill and cash only.
If you are all about your fancy cocktails then obviously don’t go to Zoo.
My point was made: it’s a chill bar with good beer.

Highly recommend folks to avoid this place.
It has all the trappings of a great bar: pool tables, ping pong tables, all sorts of fun stuff in the back. They’ve got cheap beer and great people.
Well, except for the cranky old guy bartender who kicked me and my friends out for no good reason.
Here’s the scoop: we were playing ping pong after drinking a few beers, so we were a bit tipsy already, but we weren’t being rowdy and we were incredibly respectful to everyone else around us.
There were a ton of beer glasses two feet away from the ping pong table that I mentally kept in my head and was avoiding for the entire game of ping pong that we played, except for the last serve, where I accidentally swiped two beer glasses onto the floor.
A friend of mine gets the bartender and asks where the broom and dustpan are, so we can clean it up for them (all the while apologizing for everything.) The old guy calls him an idiot and that if he were any smart, he’d avoid that in the first place, despite the fact that there was *zero* effort to clear out tables right next to the ping pong tables and despite the fact that we were incredibly apologetic and were offering to clean it up so the staff don’t have to worry about it.
I notice him yelling at my friend, to which I interject and say it was all my fault — he then calls me an idiot and that I should leave and never come back.
First of all: you guys run a bar. People are drunk. It happens to the best of us.
Second: you guys never cleared tables.
Third: you’re right, I’m never coming back. Thanks, assholes.

Local dive bar and cash ONLY!
I don’t come to Eastlake area often. I have been to a few restaurants/​lounges nearby. I know this place exists but never made it out here. I was here recently and was surprised how big the bar is! From outside, it looks fairly small. Once you go inside, it has pool tables and PLENTY of open space.
Staff are nice to me. It is a local dive bar so few college students hang out here. It is nice to go to a bar where customers are not solely college students. Definitely a great spot for groups.
Most drinks are under $ 10. Bring cash!

Pros:
— So many games! Shuffleboard, darts, pool, ping pong and some other random arcade games that are interesting after many beers.
— The Zoo is far away enough from the U District that the broey 21 year old crowd is filtered out. So the customers are usually better behaved young professionals.
Cons:
— Cash only! There is an ATM inside the building but I hate those sketchy little things.