I also like the 6 guys that always stand out front hollering at "B$#@&es" at all hours.

Great read, good luck with the book.

I love the Fortune. They're always so friendly and take good care of me. It's true that during happy hour the crowd are people who are down on their luck or coming down on something; but depending on the night especially after happy hour, there is a crowd of 20 something or karaoke and pool with the regulars. This spot is truly diverse: diverse in economic status, lifestlye, age, race, personality. But for sure people at the Fortune are so nice that people from all walks of life come here to make it their spot. I am sure the writer only went there once.

Imagine my dismay when after living elsewhere for 6 years I move back to Seattle and find that people eat food at the Frontier Room, frat boys are having a smoke in front of the Comet between musical sets and the Storeroom is clean, remodled and bears the name of The Mars bar. All the scary bars of my youth where I hardly ever ever had to puchase a drink are now gentrified.

Good piece of writing. It gagve me pause that Tom is from my grade school as well. Sister Dolores would be so proud!

I too, have a fascination with Dive Bars. When I saw the cover, I was hoping you had included the Dome Tavern, and you had! I love there old 1970s sign out front, I decided one day I was going to check it out. It was very intimidating, only a few customers (all who turned and stared at me as I entered), and they only had Bud and Bud Light. So I walked in, looked around, and got the hell outta there.
Thanks for the article!

Ugh, what a grossly classist piece of shameless self promotion. Condescending hipster irony fluff by a guy who seems to find it cool to slum it for a bit before going back to the safety and comfort of his capitol hill condo.

All of that aside, Belltown is not "Seattle's skid row." Yessler is Seattle's skid row because it is the original and namesake of all skid rows!! This would be like saying that Queens is New York's Brooklyn. NO! New York already has a Brooklyn and Seattle already has skid row. Jesus, get your history learn on before you go writing swill like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row

Ugh, what a grossly classist piece of shameless self promotion. Condescending hipster irony fluff by a guy who seems to find it cool to slum it for a bit before going back to the safety and comfort of his capitol hill condo.

All of that aside, Belltown is not "Seattle's skid row." Yessler is Seattle's skid row because it is the original and namesake of all skid rows!! This would be like saying that Queens is New York's Brooklyn. NO! New York already has a Brooklyn and Seattle already has skid row. Jesus, get your history learn on before you go writing swill like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row

I'd rank The Dome as deep a dive as there is. Beats out Kelly's since Kelly's actually has windows.

Sorry to see some of the great old dives go by the wayside, like The 1890s with the geriatric waiters on the first floor of the Victorian style apartment building leveled for the Cheesecake Factory, or The Palms that became the equally tacky tropical My Suzie's and is now the swanky Pampas Room. What about the Mirror at First & Pike and the other dangerously filthy tavern next door. Both gone to a Tulleys and a t-shirt shop. Check out Cinderella Liberty for a glimpse of the dive and stripper lined 1st Avenue of the 60s.

The smoking ban has taken a crucial dive element away. Yup, how can a bar be a dive without an ashtray full of lipstick smeared butts in front of the bartendress, a blue haze, or the last of a smoldering cig flipping out of the ashtray as the filter outweighs the weed?

If Dino's on Madison was still open, how'd it rate? That was the one bar in Seattle I couldn't bring myself to enter.

I spent a lot of time in this place back when I was car wash geek at the Elephant Car wash(92-93). Car ashtrays full of quarters but only take 50 cents. Don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg.Do that all day. At end of day hustle to Kellys in time for one dollar pints. Offer good til 6 PM but if you gave bartender ten bucks he gave you ten tickets so you could drink at happy hour prices all evening. Back then it wasn't the kind of place you would want to bring your date to but it has to be rougher now since places like My Suzies and the Hawaii West closed(which used to be where that place on first ave with the tiki head right next to coney island is). Hawaii West was Native American hang out before Mark Sidran ran them all out of town. Before Belltown become whatever it is now.
Big Giant Indian used to panhandle down there...always asked for 13 cents. Bars opened at 6. Package store on first across from Coney Island opened at six also . Misery parade started at 5:45AM. The misery parade was those people circling the block until bar or store opened.

Since Jiff brought up the Mirror on Pike...right across the street from where the Turf USED to be...How bout Spins Friendly Tavern across from court house?....show your King County Jail release papers and you get a FREE BEER.
Both Bars owned by Greek Jews that hated each others guts.

Angie's is great. Every time I've been in there people are friendly and happy to meet you. Okay so the women's bathroom is a problem so I try to limit how much beer I drink there. Tell SPD to leave Angie's alone. Last little bit of the old Columbia city that's left. I remember the Elbow Room--now the upscale Columbia City Ale House--where we used to get $1.25 Cuervo and OJ and they had the best R&B juke box around. Sigh.