The Spectator Sports Bar

Fun bar, good happy hour specials, and lots of games. They have ping pong and couches. Nice bartenders. I’m only giving it a 3 because it was freezing. Like… arctic tundra freezing. I was there to watch a football game so unfortunately I was there for hours. When we asked about turning it down, we were given a long explanation about how it’s automatic. However… other than the temperature, it’s a great bar to watch a game or grab a drink.

Great bar to grab some snacks, beer and watch a game! Good location on Queen Anne, easy to find parking in the area. Burgers are awesome and we love the tater tots! Nice beer selection.

How I heard of this place: My friend Paul first introduced me to Sport by showing me a coupon he had acquired for a free 8″ pizza or appetizer (valued up to $ 10). Sadly, the two of us did not have the chance to try it before he left Seattle, but he generously offered the coupon to Chris, who split an eight-​inch pizza with me (appetizer before our Johnny Rockets dinner two hours later).
Type of cuisine: Pub grub. The ultimate sports bar, with nachos, burgers & sliders, thin-​crust pizza, sandwiches and meal-​sized salads.
Ambiance: A sports bar taken to the tenth degree, every booth at this establishment has its own, personal television set from which to watch the game (of your choosing) or Wheel of Fortune, as the case may be. This does not include the movie screen sized television at the far end of the restaurant! Dark interior, sports paraphenelia, including a collection of baseball cards, football jerseys and photographs are interspersed as décor throughout the establishment. Greens, blacks and white accents made up the colors around the large space, bedecked with many booths and table/​chairs throughout.
What I ordered: Because it was free, my dining companion and I opted for The Works… everything except the kitchen sink! pizza ($ 10) with sausage, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomato, and mozzarella. My dining companion also ordered a very sweet and tart mango-​kiwi lemonade ($ 4).
What I loved: The thin crust on the pizza, topped with everything delicious.
Why I loved it: The server was friendly and did not question when we ordered solely the free pizza. My dining companion cracked me up, especially when the server came by to check on us, «How is the pizza?» and he almost declared, «FREE!»
Cost: Average ($ 7.50-$ 10.50 for a personal, eight-​inch pizza at a bar)

I have been to this bar at least 5 times in Seattle and I wish I could write two separate reviews…
As a karaōke bar…
This place is really fun. The drinks a good prices and they have a very wide selection of songs you can choose from. It also gets pretty crowded. The lounge styling seating is great for this purpose. The only downside is that if you are a karaōke amateur you might not enjoy it as much because it can be intimidating to sing after so many rock stars.
As a sports bar…
This place left much to be desired. They do have a decent number of flat screens but they are very poorly placed and some were broken the last time I was there. The placement of the TVs forces you to be exceptionally close or far away from the screen.
My main problem is the service. It took quite awhile to track down someone to order a drink. The bartender was rude about showing ID’s (we were all multiple years over 21). I do think that could have been a misunderstanding but his reaction to someone asking why he needed to show an id was «so me your ID for beer or get out of the bar». As Ron Burgundy says «well that escalated quickly». When I ordered a pitcher for $ 15 and gave a $ 20 he gave me a $ 5 bill back with a look like I was supposed to tip him that much. Thankfully I had change in my wallet. They also clear your plates without asking which is frustrating because their portions are large (good price) and take time to eat.
Overall this place is fun for karaōke but I would not recommend it as a sports bar and the service really ruins it for me.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. In fact, if I could give this place –7 stars, I would. But unfortunately Unilocal requires me to give 1 star. And thus I will. Here’s my story on Spectator Sports Bar from earlier tonight and you make your own choice on the quality of this place and the people that work there…
My friend was up on the stage singing karaōke tonight — and while she was up on the stage, the bartender took her drink from the bar and poured it out. It was ¾ full and sitting on the bar next to our group of 8 people, and he grabbed it and threw it out. When we asked the bartender about it and asked if we could get a replacement drink, the bartender lost his mind. He said, and I quote, «You want another drink? This is coming from the person who gave me a $ 2 tip on the drink? Fuck that, and fuck you. Get out of here.»
Mind you, nobody was drunk, and nobody was unruly. This was just a random fun night with a few friends. This was a goodbye night for a friend who was leaving Seattle. The bartender was insanely out of control.
When I confronted him about this situation, trying to ask him calmly what happened and whether we can get her drink back. He said, and I quote, «Your bitch friend only tipped $ 2, fuck her.» Needless to say, we gathered our group of 8+ people and got out of there.
This bartender was the worst I’ve ever seen in my life. We came in here because we have fun in here in the past. We’ve had good times before, but this has soured my opinion of this bar forever. I can’t believe this is how we were treated. I hope management sees this… This happened on 8÷16÷14. Management — please look up who was bar-​tending tonight.

Thursday karaōke is where it’s at. The bartender is the beer whisperer. Just ask for the new thing and chances are it’ll be delicious and you’ll see it at every bar in Seattle a few weeks later. Little Sumpin Sumpin, No Li, Fresh Swueezed, and now Victory’s Summer Love. All fantastic. All around great bar.

Karaōke on Friday and Saturday nights is great. I imagine it’s quite a different place other nights, but karaōke nights are fantastic. The song selection is amazing, and the KJ is pretty fun. I prefer this over a lot of other karaōke places in the city. However, on game days, it can be pretty awful due to the ridiculous drunk fans from earlier in the day. There was puke on the ground in front of the bar once. Gross.

My favorite sports bar in Lower Queen Anne/​Uptown/​Belltown! I can’t even begin to estimate how many good times I’ve had here. Buckeye fans, come one, come all — they broadcast all the Ohio State football games, even those that begin at 9AM. Solid pub menu, including a breakfast menu that’s perfect for the early games. Beer selection is decent; the selection doesn’t change much, but I can always find something I like or would like to try. Bartender Joe is always quick, friendly, and vigilant. Karaōke with DJ Ivan is a blast!

Great place for a filling breakfast while watching a morning football game or any other sport with friends. The breakfast burrito here is very filling The sausage that they serve is from a local butcher and well seasoned.
Sat night is always fun. There is a good crowd encouraging the karaōke singers.

Cheap drinks ($ 4 – 5 for pints) and a friendly crowd. One Saturday nights they have karaōke but on Sundays and game days it turns back into a sports bar.
Great staff, great prices, great experience.

The Spectator has below-​average food, cheap but boring drinks, and a dodgy sports-​bar atmosphere that attracts its share of louts and boors to the otherwise fine LQA location. There’s two things to recommend it: a good staff who are accommodating and friendly (and did a solid by a friend of mine who got hassled by some asshole), and Ivan, the KJ for Baby Ketten karaōke, currently in weekend residence at the Spectator. He’s efficient, cool, chummy, and has the absolute best book of any karaōke set-​up in Seattle. That’s why you’ll find me there; if the Spectator lived up to its karaōke, it’d be the best bar in town.

i hit karaōke at the spectator about three or four times a month and have plenty of nice things to say about it (friendly staff, stiff drinks, good food, world’s greatest karaōke songbook hands down, no contest), but an incident that transpired last night drove me here to make sure someone gets due props:
i was closing out my tab at the bar last night when some LL cool J-​lookin’ dude came up behind me and kinda punched my ass with his fist. like, he fistbumped it.
i turned around and said, «did you just touch my ass?» and he was like «yeah, i did,» and i was like «uh, do i know you? because i don’t think i do, and that’s super fricking inappropriate. you can’t just walk up to women you don’t know and help yourself.» he just grinned at me, kinda laughed, and walked away. i went after him and yelled some more. he thought he was real cute.
the bartender asked me, «what just happened?» and i told him and he was like «eff that. want me to throw him out?» i was like «.. . yeah, actually, that’d be great.» so he did.
i don’t know the bartender’s name – mike, i think? he had a hat? – but i was just really touched by that. mike-​i-​think, you’re awesome. that could have been a dangerous scene for me, and you were very helpful. not every busy bartender would have stepped up. i really, really appreciate it. spectator 4 lyfe.

I suppose that this place has dual functions and could serve the purpose of two crowds; the sport-​obsessed and the lyrically inclined. That was a round about way of saying that this is both a sports bar and a karaōke joint.
The Thursday night karaōke is alright. For some reason it seems a little hit and miss; sometimes it’s busy but, I think, that usually it remains more-​or-​less docile. Personally, if I’m going to make a fool of myself I want a number of witnesses. The song list is pretty extensive, though I think that the patrons tend to be a little snobby (music-​wise) so this might not be the place to go to belt out Journey or s Spice Girls hit.
As a sports bar it is pretty classic — loud and busy with a bunch of big screens. The food is of the greasy spoon variety. There’s a smattering of a few beers (some local) and it maintains a full bar — I think that they even offer a few signature cocktails. I’ve never run into bad service here
All-​in-​all, the Spectator is a little uninspired but I’ve seen other places do worse.

The Spectator did an awesome job accomodating for the UCLA alumni when a big mess of us came to watch the UCLA-​USC game. The waiters and bartenders were very attentive, especially considering how many of us there were. I would highly suggest coming here if you’ve got a big crew of people coming for a game (be cool and call up first so they can reserve the spot for you). Otherwise, this place is still a great sports bar, with a lot of TVs, decent food, and a great staff. If you’re not here for sports, it’s still a good bar to chill, have a beer, play some darts, and shoot some pool (or digital deer)
Super tip: The Spectator is in front of the bus stop on Queen Anne Ave that services the 1, 2, 8, 13 and D lines. Handy for those who don’t want to drive!

Visited here last night for karaōke with some friends of friends. I hadn’t heard of it before, but I was pleasantly surprised. This place is really set up for karaōke. There are plenty of screens to display lyrics, and the song selection is HUGE! The DJ even said that if there was a song that someone wanted that wasn’t on the list, he’d be happy to buy it from the Internet on the spot. Not a bad deal.
As previous reviews have mentioned, it’s kind of divey, but whatever, it’s a karaōke bar. Grab a beer, saddle up, and belt one out to the cheap seats!

Good prices on drank. Food is above average, happy hour pricing is a little suspect.
Service is good if they’re staffed properly but can be hit or miss.
Points for having darts and Big Buck Hunter.

One of my favorite Queen Anne bars to go to when it’s not busy. The bartenders are friendly and attentive, but sometimes the bar will be understaffed and you’ll have to wait quite a long time to get your drink order filled. Despite the wait, I still love it.
Plenty of TVs to catch your sporting event. Their food is better than mediocre, especially their tater tots. I dream about their tater tots. One of the best dive bars around, in my humble opinion. Oh, and there’s karaōke and a shuffle board. I’m not much for the former, but count me in for shuffle boardin’ the night away.

I am not a sports fan but I do love The Spectator. Best karaōke in town and I’ve seen my share. Great selection of songs, better than I’ve seen anywhere and you can lounge in a living room situation right on the stage. Very cool.
Oh yeah, they have beer.

The food sucks, but it’s a bar. The patrons mostly suck, but it’s a sports bar. I come here for the karaōke. The karaōke is awesome. Baby Ketten has the best songbook I’ve ever seen, and reasonably high standards for his equipment and setup. The rotation is ridiculously long on Fridays, but on Saturday and Sunday it’s livable. Ketten prefers that people not do the usual annoying overly-​long and obnoxious cliché karaōke songs (although last time I went he still let an overly-​drunk tonedeaf girl do Bohemian Rhapsody for some reason). But it’s karaōke, so whatevs.
Decent beer selection (although I wish they had a local stout or hefeweizen and not this Guinness or Blue Moon crap), well-​stocked liquor selection (never tried a mixed drink though), the bathrooms are clean, and did I mention the karaōke?

Booths and booze. That’s about all I have to say to sum up this spot.
As Unilocal suggests, a 3-​star review is for a spot that’s A-​OK. And trust me, this place is a 5 star dive. So keep that in mind! Service is good, the bar is large, it’s conveniently located in LQA and there’s plenty of room here to bring a large group of friends any night of the week.
Sure it’s not spotless, the food isn’t fancy and you might not get a killer Sazerac if you asked for one… But dive bars are great in their own way. This would be an awesome spot for a fun bday party, a good place to catch a game, or like me — a perfect spot to nab a drink with friends before seeing a movie at The Uptown next door. Next time you’re in the area, pop in!
Oh — And if you like karaōke, this is your place!

I had resisted going here for a long time, mostly because I am not a sports bar fan.
However, going in for a happy hour special and on a non-​sport specific night turned into a pleasant surprise.
$ 2 Rainer beer cannot be beaten. They have a nice happy hour food menu, but I elected to for a sour dough burger w/​bacon and Thousand Island dressing. Service was friendly and causal paced which was perfect for the Monday night I was there.
If I were a sports aficionado, the 15, 30″ or so flat screens hanging about the bar are easy to see from most places. There is the standard pool table. And though maybe not a dive bar by Xav’s standards, it’s certainly a pleasant «grungie» bar.