Nobody can blame Seattle restaurants for dialing back the deals lately; wholesale food and booze costs have surged since the pandemic, and there’s no end in sight. But the fact remains that we need a good happy hour more than ever—especially after watching a Swiss stop-motion feature about death, or a film about a woman who wants to be a chair (real films showing at SIFF!). I’ve scouted out the best happy hours near all the SIFF theaters, so you can feed your soul (and belly) with cheap snax and drinx to recover from your post-film existential crisis. Every bar or restaurant listed here is no more than a quick 10-minute walk from the theaters in question, and usually way closer.
Paramount and AMC Pacific Place
Seattle has one of the best rum libraries in the whole damn world in Rumba—and this place has got a great happy hour to boot. Every day until 6 p.m., food options like deviled eggs (two for $4), Jamaican jerk wings (three for $7), Caribbean brisket sliders ($6 apiece), and ahi tuna tostadas ($8 per) keep things tropical, while drink specials include the Barbados punch ($9) or your choice of the three different daiquiris on the menu for $14. For $9, the R&R entails a Rainier tallboy and a 1-ounce shot of the Cuban-style house rum blend. Plus, it’s so pretty in there.
Lonely Siren in Pike Place is such a frickin’ vibe, with its big sunny windows and Iberian cuisine, wine, and cocktails. Two of their Portuguese wines are five bucks a glass, as well as draft beers and ciders, while bubbles and wells are $6. For $9, you can get a tônico, which is your choice of gin, ruby port, tawny port, or white port combined with botanicals and Seattle Soda Co.’s tonic and poured into a giant medieval goblet. Conservas—imported tinned fish—are $12, as is the luscious Siren Smash Burger.
SIFF Cinema Downtown
Fresh off a well-deserved James Beard nomination this spring, exquisite Roquette doesn’t need to have a happy hour. But it does, because it loves you. Specials include a buck off wine, beer, and bubbles, 12-dollar Negronis and martinis, and a daily menu cocktail that’s also $12. Also, there’s a huge discount on their signature high/low snack, an ounce of Osetra Caviar served with crème fraîche and Bugles, for $85. That’s $40 off!
In the historic old Sit & Spin spot—real ones know—Luka’s Sit, Sip & Roll started doing pub food and wonderfully weird cocktails on May 1. (Owner Jess Gifford, who formerly owned Lava Lounge, White Rabbit, and Mr. Darcy’s and currently owns Cottontail Club, named the bar after her pet rabbit.) From 4 to 6 p.m. every day, they’ll have $8 house daiquiris and a $10 smashburger-and-beer combo, plus additional daily specials as whimsy dictates. Make sure to try the Orange Juice Jones, a boozy take on an Orange Julius with acidulated pineapple and garam masala, and the house kvass made from fermented Raisin Bran—among other wild concoctions from cocktail polymath Dakota Etley (Sophon, Rumba).
Navy Strength will see Luka’s 8-dollar daiquiri and raise them a 6-dollar daiquiri, from 4 to 5 p.m.! Just kidding. It’s not a competition, guys. They’re different daiquiri concepts, too, although you won’t find any daiquiri quackery at either of these very high-level cocktail bars. This tiki joint also offers you a panoply of 10-dollar options, e.g., nachos, a rummy mai tai, or a glass of whatever’s in the slushie machine today. All of these items are gateway drugs for the real juice at Navy Strength, though, where owner Chris Elford goes HAM on the cocktail swag—we’re talking skull-shaped cocktail picks, submerged glowing neon balls, and drinks that have been set on fire.
Umi Sake House’s legendary happy hour is still rockin’ after all these years. The massive food menu is the reason to be here, with takoyaki for $7, agedashi tofu for $8, grilled salmon collar for $9, and garlic short ribs for $11… and that’s BEFORE you get to the sushi half of the page. Rolls are $8 to $11, sashimi’s $10 to $14, and the sashimi don—that’s your choice of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, or spicy tuna, served à la rice bowl—is $12. It’s all really gorgeous fish, too. Beverage-wise, there’s four or five sakes on special for $7 to $9, plus Sapporo on draft for $6 and wells for $8. You can stuff yourself like a fugu here for around $20, no sweat.
SIFF Cinema Uptown and SIFF Film Center
Because they’re European, the Sitting Room has Aperitivo Hour between Tuesday and Saturday, 4 to 5 p.m. (they’re closed Sundays and Mondays), with a $10 cocktail menu, wine specials for $9, and a dollar off draft beers. Snacks like truffle almonds, olives, and chips and salsa are also discounted, along with a special snacky-sized version of their signature Crunchywrap [sic]. Also, anyone who comes in before or after a SIFF show will get 10-percent off the regular, non-happy hour menu! You kinda can’t lose here.
The new-ish Traveling Goat serves Asian fusion tapas and craft cocktails, and their happy hour is normally daily from 4 to 5 p.m.—but it extends to the duration of every Kraken and Storm game. HH specials include $10 wings, $7 pot stickers, or a pair of tacos for $9 (try the ones made with Thai larb!). As for drinks, wells are $6, and a variety of classic cocktails like the French 75 and the Dark & Stormy are $8–9. Draft beers are $6, and Rainier and Coors tallboys are just $4.
MOHAI
Seattle’s WURST restaurant since 1988, heh heh, Schultzy’s Bar & Grill was recently bought by brother-and-sister team Will Schulze and Emily Scully—the kids of the original owners—who’ve worked there since they were teens. The scene is a little more modern now, with a punched-up food menu and some fancier domestic beers on tap! German sausage and beer are still the name of the game, though, and from 3 to 6 p.m., they have daily beer specials, 12-dollar cocktails (all of them!), discounted bratwursts and Seattle dogs, cheap wine, a very estimable soft pretzel with beer cheese, and the universally beloved Schultzy’s tots, smothered in cheese and bacon.
Heartbreakingly, the show’s over at the historic College Inn Pub on June 15, since the owners failed to find a buyer after searching for more than a year. So get your ass down there before it’s gone. This basement dive has daily HH specials on booze, Jell-O shots, and pints—one thing per day is discounted, but it’s always something different.
Shoreline Community College
This particular district of Shoreline’s a little scarce when it comes to happy hours, but Aurora Borealis, which is a venue with a bar in it, is boldly touting theirs as the best happy hour in all of Shoreline. The HH menu’s mostly food-based, and there’s lots of it—standouts are the birria fries, barbecue pork, and “lightly breaded” Wisconsin cheese curds. Drink specials include $4 wells, wines, domestic drafts, and shots of Jack Daniel’s, $5 micro drafts, and $6 shots of Tito’s, Cazadores, and Captain Morgan.
Honorable mention: Drumlin doesn’t have a happy hour, and it’s about 10 minutes away from SCC, but it’s one of the loveliest bar-restos in the fair city of Shoreline. Fresh off a winter hiatus, a menu refab, and a new chef/GM, Zephyr Paquette (Terra Plata, Brasa, Le Petit Paquet), the aesthetic is just a touch more haute than its pubbier previous incarnation. Order a light, floral Women’s Work cocktail made with all women-produced ingredients, along with the lamb albondigas, and absolutely do not skip the glorious roasted carrots. Next door, sister restaurant Ridgecrest Public House does craft beers and ciders, and you can order Drumlin’s food from there if you’d rather sit at the cozy bar.
