Of the 47 happy hours rated in Ballard this week, GoTime.com has put The Hi-Life happy hour as top in the neighborhood.
Using user-generated voting, the national online happy hour guide creates a weekly top ten list for happy hours all over Seattle, organized by neighborhood. The top ten in Ballard this week includes: Matador, The Peoples Pub, King’s Hardware, La Isla, Zayda Buddy’s, Root Table, Bastille, The Old Pequliar and Snoose Junction. The site lists all the happy hour offerings for each location.
They also combined the data from all the neighborhoods to create one massive Top 100 happy hour best-of, in which The Hi-Life and Matador came in #2 and #3 in the city.
Ooh! Now I have to go on a mission to figure out which of these spots is the best… thanks for the reason to mob around at Ballard happy hours!
Trish: The Old Pequliar. But I recommend doing your own research, more fun that way. :-)
My vote is for bastille because the food. Then King's because of they have Rogue Hazlenut Brown on happy hour prices.
I never even think about this place when I need a drink…totally off my radar. Just yesterday I went on a stroll looking for a place for a tequila and a couple IPAs. Ended up at the Old P, which was fine. I need a place where I can belly up to the bar, get a tequila better than well (no cuervo), a nice bitter IPA and either look at a sporting event or read the weekly. Would high life fit that mold? I seem to recall it felt more like a large restaurant than a bar…but it's been a while. BTW I prefer liquid happy hours (I try not to eat out).
Have you tried Molly McGuire's? I can't attest to the IPA (I never look further than Harp) but they do have a few tequilas and usually have 'the game' on. And if it's not on the bartender is usually open to suggestion.
I have…I like that place (was there on monday, actually). A bit of a hike for me, especially if its raining though. They have Elisian IPA on tap :-)
Seems like Happy Hour is about the only time anything is worth the price – or am I just getting old? I love hot wings but a $1 wing (basically) on regular menus? $10 burgers? $4 pints of local brew? We only hit places now during HH if we get a chance – we're a couple in our 30s and 40s and earn what's considered here a decent “living wage”. Your thoughts – seriously – maybe it will help put things in perspective for me. It just seems like a plate of nachos really should not be $9 or more (chips n cheese!).
I agree with you completely. I only eat out at Happy Hour. It's nuts how much some places charge for simple bar food otherwise.
Matador and Hi-Life at the top of the list?
Yes, they both have decent cheap food, but neither of them are anything special and they're not bars. Both of those are restaurant yuppie hangout spots. You don't see much variety in the people in either of those places, and I'd hardly want to go to either by myself with a book.
At least People's Pub is #3. Their happy hour is truly awesome.
Did I miss it or did they not include Ray's? OK so it's not “hip” but come on, the food is amazing, the prices are right, and the view is the best in the City. Someone really missed the ball there (unless it was me not seeing it on the list).
Funny but last time I was at HiLife I was consciously impressed by how different the people in were in the dining room: straight couple w/ infant, middle-aged garden clog lesbians w/ two internationally adopted kids, Shoreline looking family w/ grandparents and teenagers, rock-star tatooed hipsters, older trench coat long hairs who looked like musicians, couple of chinese dudes, etc. I was like this place is a real slice of middle-class North Seattle life.
Matador on the other hand is a bit more of the glossy pick up zone, no?
Looks to me like the list is based on some kind of voting scale? Hi-Life has 77 votes while People's Pub has just 20 – Ray's only has 2 little votes!! I just gave it a 3rd ;)…
It's been a few months since I've been in Hi Life, I'll give it another try soon.
Yeah, Matador is all about the shiny shirts and overly done hair.
And quiz night on Wednesday is fun!
oops – was trying to respond to the Molly's thread
I agree. I'm a big fan of the HiLife and their happy hour, and I hardly fit into the demographic described by LiltingMissive. They also play such good music, and the atmosphere is just right for being able to carry on a conversation. Love it.