The Apartment Bistro

I’m astonished by all the «hate» reviews about The Apartment bar located in Belltown. I’m not sure why they all say this bar is trying to be LA or NYC. I am a fan of The Apartment. Yes it’s a little small, but you can avoid the crowds if you go on a «non-​party» night. Meaning, if you hit up happy hour or go Monday-​Thursday you might have better service and actually chat with nice/​normal individuals. I do think the drinks are overpriced, but hey, it’s Belltown. Most drinks in Belltown are overpriced. I ate dessert at The Apartment and I’m a fan. I think The Apartment is definitely a place to visit, but if you have a problem with it then go someplace else.
Update: This place is now called List. I forgot. A ton of places in Belltown change names.

I found this place about 3 years ago, while trolling in Belltown. I agree with others that it is a little small, a bit loud at times and you do occasionally run into a wannabe type, but those are the same reasons I loved the place to begin with. On my first visit I was solo, had some great drinks and superb appetizers at the bar, made small talk with the lovely hostess and left a happy middle aged man.
Months later I took a young lady there on our first date, we had a great table, met one of the owners (David) and had two great dishes. I had the halibut and my date had the scallops. I learned from our conversation with David that his family is in the seafood business, and he culls off all the top of the line catch for the Apartment kitchen. So if you go, make sure you have the seafood.
That first date, turned into true love and we will be returning, for the first time as husband and wife, for our 4^th annual visit. It’s now our little tradition and I simply love the place.
I also loved the comments folks made about the fish in the bowls being cruel (as they feasted I am sure on the halibut, with a caper dill sauce).
Ah Seattle, you are such a conundrum…

I agree with most folks on here that the Apartment gets pretty pretentious in the evening much like several other of the other lounges in the Belltown neighborhood. It’s Seattle’s LA/​NY city wannabes who try to pretend that Seattle has such a trendy nightlife that they bring with them the attitudes.
However, I think it’s a much different experience if you stop by after work for a happy hour. The bartenders are all pretty friendly and chatty. Food is pretty decent for dinner but can be spendy.

SIZE OF A DAMN SHOEBOX
But worth a drop in if you can squeeze in this space! I absolutely adore this place. Can I move in?
I was walking around in Belltown after work. Haven’t been here in awhile since I’ve been gone for x-​amount of years. What is this «the apartment bristo» and decided to step in. what a cute place, small, but cute. I dont care for the people who were hanging out there at 6−7pm in the evening. My friend and I sat at the bar and we ordered some stuff off the menu and martini. I felt like having soup since the weather in Seattle can suck feet all the time. So I ordered the Asparagus Bisque. OMG it has a very nice flavor to it and no the asparagus did not make my urine stink! The brisque was creamy, rich, and smooth. Later I had ordered a pomegrante martini and it was SO GOOD i loved the taste of the martini. I think that’s the best $ 5 martini I had ever tasted in my life!!!
I’ve tried to go there during «bar-​hours» in the late evenings and I can scratch that thought off. Only would come here during dead hours when everyones at home exhausted from work and depressed from the weather sucked inside to watch re-​runs of reality TV shows.

Went here for the conclusion of a very fun girl’s night. I’m always at Umi next door but this was my first time at The Apartment.
The weather was perfect, so sitting outside was perfect, but on an indoors-​only night, the place is really small and you better really like the person you came with. If there are 3+ people in your group, go elsewhere.
We started out with strawberry champagne, which was great, and then got a drink called a strawberry shortcake, which was okay. (I remain unclear as to what is in a strawberry shortcake.) Didn’t try the food.
It was the first Saturday night of the summer and the crowd was mellow (in a completely good way) despite the bustle on the sidewalk. The staff was very fun and friendly and engaged my friend and I with two guys who were also there hanging out. We ended up in a great conversation about traveling Europe and successful employee management. This may not be a great Saturday night for *you* but it was for me!
I’m originally from NYC, and The Apartment totally reminds me of a Manhattan lounge — tiny, loud music, nice attire, interesting/​calm crowd.

Wasn’t my cup of tea.
Went in there during HH hours right after work. Had a $ 5 citrus martini. Bartender/​Server was hospitable but the size and the décor of the place ruined it.
It’s tiny. Some ppl like that– but my friend & I went in with the intentions of scoping out the place for his grad party for 30+. He had actually called in and they said they would be able to accommodate a party of that size in a back private area. Um… are you kidding me? I felt like it was a full house with just the two of us occupying the place.
I wasn’t sold on the «look» either. And I’m pretty big on how restaurants/​lounges give off a certain feel. It felt, stale. And the décor wasn’t thought provoked :|
Granted, I went in around 5pm– It may have a totally different vibe when the sun goes down & Belltown comes a live. So stay tuned for some editing… first impressions can sometimes be wrong? I hope.

Yes, it may be a bit faux-​swanky, but at least it’s trying. It doesn’t draw Sea-​Sound Lounge crowd — which for me is a *huge* plus. It’s small and intimate and the patrons are well dressed because they probably just got off work and are enjoying a drink. Heaven forbid a place in Seattle that has men wearing slacks with a button-​down and tie. GASP!
The food is slightly better than mediocre — though certainly nothing to write home about. The specialty drinks are fun and fruity and the beer selection is small but decent. The facilities are clean and the staff usually pretty friendly. In the summer, I believe they open the large «garage» style windows to let the breeze through. Ahh, Summer.
Because The Apartment is centrally located around a million other Belltown bars, I’d say this place is perfect for a quick meal and/​or drinks after work with friends before the real fun starts.

Things that make The Apartment Bistro a 4-​star spot for me:
1. Fruit infused vodka, this isn’t a girly drink friend, just a little cantaloupe flavor to make your bowl of vodka more refreshing.
2. The calamari, it isn’t fried, and it’s great
3. The size of the drinks
4. The very comfortable, plush bar stools.

So, i can’t speak for the food. And I kind of like it just being a bar/​lounge/​tree place (anybody else confused why the third things on their website for description is «tree»?). But, I just wanted to make sure and rave about Wine night! Tuesday Night is «Half Price Wine» night! All of their bottles of wine are half off! Now, you ask why only bottles? Probably because the price of one bottle can equal the price of two normal glasses. We got a bottle of pinot for $ 14.00…4 glasses…2 people…$ 7.00 for two glasses of wine.
The ambiance is nice (flat screen was playing Airplane the movie) it’s VERY small and I hear their infused vodkas are crazy good.
If I could speak for the food, I would, but I loved Tuesday night at The Apartment.

I went here last night on accident… I was supposed to be meeting a friend at Umi and totally went into the wrong place. Anyways while I was waiting I sat at the bar and the bartenders were super nice and asked me if I needed anything… I said I was waiting on someone… they didn’t harass me and one of them got me water without me asking… which was super nice. I get a text from my friend and she says she’s running super late, so I ask for the drink menu… that’s when I realize I’m at the totally wrong place! It took me a while to get up because I felt like I dingdong… but when I told the bartender he was like «oh yeah that’s next door», so off I went! I didn’t eat or drink anything, but will come back for sure. I liked the atmosphere… the music was good and they play movies in the background which is fun. Tuesday wines are half-​price at happy hour which is a steal, but they are known for their martinis, so I’ll have to try those out too!

Pretty standard place — came on a Sunday night and the ktichen was closed so no food, no snacks. The place was pretty empty but then again, it was Sunday. It definitely has that scene-​y vibe so I can tell it would be one of those «chi-​chi» places on the weekends.
My favorite part was when the bartender turned up the lights at 11pm just to kick some guys out (he pretended the bar was closing then). When the guys left, he turned the lights back up. I always like good judgment and resourcefulness.
Update: Came back on a Fri night and as expected, it was jumpin, jumpin. We were still able to grab a booth and some drinks, though, so all was well.

Hate. Ducked in here after getting my hurr ‘did (’cause you can’t just go home after you get all styled up) for dinner and drinks. As Matt mentioned also, they were out of three things on the very short menu, leaving… a whole lotta not much to choose from. A Tanqueray martini was… wait for it… wait… ELEVEN dollars. For Tanqueray. And it was truly the worst martini I have ever tasted in my long martini drinking career, including the one I made myself while drunk trying to use vinegar ’cause I was out of vermouth (definitely a drunken thought process there). Not only that, but the martinis were served in those shorty style martini glasses with a big nubbin on the bottom instead of a stem, which are fine for $ 4 happy hour martinis at Chapel, but for an $ 11 martini I’m gonna need a stem to keep my fingers from warming it while I nurse it for two hours because I can’t afford another one!
Also, those beta fish on the tables simultaneously grossed me out and made me sad. They can’t possibly be living long happy lives in their murky water between being right next to the table’s candle and all the things patrons inevitably do to them while waiting forever for overpriced appetizers.
Apartment Bistro, you are mean to fish, have a stupid name, and clearly do not understand martinis despite being a bar! HATE!

Don’t blink, you will miss it when you’re walking by.
Good, professional gin and tonic. Done perfectly.
Good HH — calamari with vodka was mighty tasty.

This place wants to be LA so bad it hurts. I can tell they were aiming at hip and swanky, but I think they fell short… it’s cool design gets overshadowed with too many IKEA-​type furnishings. The drinks are great, but way overpriced. The staff is cute and nice, but the table service was very slow. The crowd can be very 1^st Ave Belltown, i.e. bridge and tunnel yuppie twenty and thirty-​something douchebags that are grabbing a drink after work at their office before they drive back to Bellevue. Still, it’s not horrible place to hit for happy hour before it fills up or for a cougar on the prowl (the one chick I know that loves this place falls into the cougar category). Grab a seat at the bar rather than a table, you will get drinks faster, get a good chair for checking out the place and people watching, and they do have that cool movie screen.

I had what was arguable the best Mojito I’ve had in Seattle here.
This is definitely one of the nicest spots to hang out with your friends on a Friday or Saturday night. The layout doesn’t lend itself well to meeting new people since most people are in the own booths but it is fun nonetheless.
I recommend this place as a starting point for a night out.

Ok, typical bar for the neighborhood. However, when we went in, it was not crowded and the hostess was just superb. Usually when you tell the wait staff that you are going somewhere else for dinner and just want to order something very small to hold off hunger, there is not a good response. Our waitress brought us a cheese and fruit plate and refilled the Macrina bread twice. Delightful! My cocktail was fair to decent and the fresh squeezed juice was pretty tasty.

Typical Belltown Bar. Frou Frou food and fusion vodka. Get there for happy hour which ends at 6 pm since the drinks are a little on the pricy side.

Bad points: It’s not as cool as it wants to be. It’s crowded. The drinks overpriced. The cucumber martini is pretty nasty.
Good points: It’s a great place to people watch. They played Breakfast At Tiffany’s when I was there.

the whole fish at every table in a bar seems like animal cruelty.
the drinks were ok.

Another over priced tiny bar in Belltown, not impressed.