Ballard Loft

Yehhhhh~! :) I don’t venture into Ballard night life scene very often and this place didn’t disappoint at all in terms of good music and ample room for dancing.
After a round of drinks at King’s Hardware, my group of friends and I swung by here with the original intention of just hitting up «another bar» and based our decision on the guidance of Unilocal.Upon arrival, this place had no line, no cover, open patio like seating and overall, the music jam of various mix (old school jams, some new jams) kept everyone in the group on their dancing toes. The sound system is pretty solid and wasn’t too overly loud that your ears would bleed.
Given that this was a Saturday night, I was surprised to not see MORE people filling up this sweet spot. In a way, it reminds me of Rhino Room like vibe, minus the massive crowd.
Drinks were alright, not as strong (my redbull vodka was fairly watered down). Prices are standard (~around $ 10).
In all, I would definitely swing by here again if I’m in the mood to dance: D

Not a fan of the gratuity included automatically on every bill. I would have give my waitstaff a larger tip than the amount included in my bill, but then there was this tip included thing which made me feel like I’m some sort of jerk that wouldn’t tip unless they forced me to.
Their tot-​chos are tasty and the beer selection is ok. Boyfriend hated the Margarita but thought the Tom’s downfall was tasty.

I wish I could give this place zero stars. Disgusting, over priced frozen food. Service fee included instead of optional tip which would have been nice to know beforehand. Our server was fine, but damn this food is gross. Never again.

This place adds 20% service fee to all checks. Since when tipping is at minimum 20% ?? me and my girlfriend went there for a drink, got 1 cider and one mixed drink = total was $ 17.50. You normally tip $ 1 per drink if no food is ordered, the service fee was $ 2.70 and we had to wait for a waiter to ask for a check. After 10 minutes still no waiter.

Wow. Can’t write a bad enough review about this place. Came here to watch the Mariners opener, since it’s hailed as a sports bar. They had the patio and upstairs closed off. Odd for a Seattle sports bar on opening night. Found a place that could fit 5. Was greeted and got our first beers quickly. And from there a large group came in, and for the next hour we were ignored. The big groups got rounds of beer, food, and shots. One of the numerous waitresses never came to our table this whole time. Wound up having to go up to the bar to ask for our check. Told them how we had been ignored. Waitress and bartender didn’t care less. She gave me our check and pointed out that I didn’t have to tip because they already had a 20% service charge. TERRIBLE SERVICE AND THEY GET 20%??? That is ridiculous. Went across the street to Bad Alberts and got great service and a place to watch the game.

We held our rehearsal dinner/​welcome party here, in the private area upstairs. We mostly dealt with Alianna, and she was so great to work with. The vibe is casual, fun & very Seattle like, which is exactly what we were looking for. We had about 40 to 45 people and ordered 8 Large Wings, 8 Hummus plates, 8 Spinach & Artichoke dips, 5 House salads, 30 Classic cheese sliders, 30 Lil Montana sliders, 30 blackened blues sliders, 5 French fries & 5 tots, beer & wine. The food was soooooo delish, and we actually had a ton of food leftover to take home. Our tab was only around $ 1300 (that includes the service charge), which Is way under what I was expecting. The only issue we had, which wasn’t with the restaurant, but was the parking. I would suggest taking an Über or Taxi. All in all. I was very satisfied and hope to hold another event there someday.
Thanks again,
Amanda & Edward

The loft used to be one of my favorite bars in Ballard! The food is decent, great servers/​bartenders, awesome Trivia during the week, and weekly events. However, as a new policy change, the Loft no longer accepts tipping and added a mandatory service charge. The issue with the mandatory service charge is the Loft is actually keeping the service charge in their own pockets opposed to going directly to the servers. This is not ethical nor a good business practice for keeping employees happy and thus as a result, keeping the customers happy. Good service starts with treating employees well.

Loved this bar. Now the owners have banned tipping and instituted a service charge. By that I mean they’re stealing the tips that used to go to the wait staff and lining their own pockets.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of other places in Ballard where I can actually reward people for good service with owners that actually have some common sense.

Been to the loft a number of times. This place does a little bit of everything pretty well. They have some out side seating, bar seating, inside tables, decent food, a pool table upstairs. It’s got a lot going for itself. Not the 100% best service that beats your expectations, but it’s a good establishment and has a lot of variety in what it offers. Since its at the end of the bar row on Ballard Ave., parking is a bit easier to find to get into this place.

been coming here since I moved to Seattle late last year. Everyone that works there is Super nice and if you go in regularly they really take care of you. Ali, both Katie’s, Joanna are great behind the bar and make sure you have plenty to drink.
No complaints on the food as it is a good size menu with plenty of options and specials. LOTS of TV’s! probably the best place in Ballard to watch a game and especially on Saturday and Sunday when there are a lot of games and fans of different teams.
will always come back when in the hood and I think you should too

The loft is a great spot for pool and beer. We went on a Friday night and there was plenty of drink specials. We had a group of girls so we took advantage of the $ 3 Jell-​O shots. Down stairs the bar looked good for mingling and meeting new people. They played music from the 2000s and the music fit the crowd. There is a patio out front that looks good for summer nights. Lastly, upstairs there is a second bar, more seating, pool, and shuffle board.

Great place to grab a drink and watch football games! Fun for groups of people.
The food is a average bar food so nothing to write home about but it’s always a good option for a crowd and fun atmosphere with sports fans.
I’ve had the nachos and tater tots which are both pretty tasty and the service is reliably great!

A decent amount of reviews about this place are during a game, which is not the case for my experience. Here for trivia on Tuesday’s; excellent bar, tough trivia. The vibe is very mellow and laid back. At the bar, the bartender was super attentive for both drinks and food.
Beers are pretty solid, several on draft, and a good liquor selection. If you’re looking for a pretty good local beer, this place is a good spot to look.
Food was done well too. Buffalo chicken tenders came out hot and tasty (nice presentation too for being tenders!).
Overall this place is great. Excellent atmosphere and very cool setup. Good luck finding parking though.

Sweet set up with the shuffleboard in the loft, lots of TVs to watch whatever is on, great staff.

Went to Ballard Loft for breakfast and watch the Seahawks/​Bengals game yesterday with about 8 – 10 friends. My experience: much less than stellar. The classic breakfast: terrible. For $ 10, got dry white toast, runny scrambled eggs, 3 tiny sausage links and a couple of strawberries. Horrific. We had a table of eight and while the service was ok, we were on the patio and there was no audio available throughout the game. How do you have all of these flat panel TVs and want people to come watch sports at your bar and not have audio available to your patrons who want the full in-​game experience while watching their favorite team? Not a «Sports Bar».
Great place for evening drinks, but terrible for anything else.

The lady and I recently made a repeat visit. It probably will be the last. The atmosphere and food were pleasing, great gamr day spot, yet all that gets pissed away with poor service. We sat at the bar.
To sum up the service in a few instances. The gent behind the bar was a bar drink pusher more than a bartender. We would barely be at the halfway point of our drinks and he would ask us about refills, 10 mins later he asked again. Please let us finish.
Second, we found hair in our food. We let the bar tender know and he replied with a half a** sorry, took the hair, and went to help some one else.
Third, when the keg of Mac n Jacks blew, they were in the middle of pouring some one elses beer. They topped it off with Manny’s and just served it.
Fourth, was when we were close to finishing the nachos (nachos with pork were good, albeit they used the bbq pork for nachos) I had taken a bit and my lady noticed the bar tender standing next to me. I was tuned into the Husky game. He asked if we were done, she said «I think so, ya», Indicating she was done. I wasn’t able to answer before the plate was wisked away. I mentioned it when he returned upon his ask of how things were, then responding with another half a** sorry. A second later he gave me a dixie cup of jalepenos without being asked and he was promptly informed that we did not ask for more jalepenos. Sidebar, what I wanted were the small pieces of pork, chip, and salsa he took away from me.
Last, the male and female bartenders treated the barback with disdain, especially during two keg blows. By making sure the showed they thier superiority over him in front of other staff and clients. Barbacks bust thier a** and that is not helpful in building collaboration between staff or a good impression to patrons.

Probably one of the more chill bars in Ballard, The Loft is a solid place to grab a beer and hang out with some friends. A big plus is that you can actually hear the conversation without having to yell at the top of your lungs, as one would experience at a place like King’s.
Food is okay. Typical sports bar food plus a few additional items. Servers are usually friendly and attentive.
It’s clean and there’s almost always a table available during standard bar hopping hours. It’s usually the spot in Ballard where I like to begin or end my night for drinking.
Last time I was there fo da drinkin’, Outkast was on blast, so that’s worth at least 4 stars in my book!

It is a couple blocks from the busy area of Ballard Ave. Parking is usually easy to find within a couple blocks if not right in front. There is a large outdoor seating area that comes right up to the sidewalk. The ambiance is great. It is a nice place to meet up with friends on the way somewhere or even a great place to meet up and stay.

Okay this is tough. So my friends seem to not mind going to Ballard loft. My husband doesn’t mind going to Ballard Loft.
I do, because there are so many options within walking distance of the Loft where I get excited to get my eat and drink on.
It’s nothing about being bad. It’s about how underwhelming this place is. The food is just par under comfort bar food. The vibe actually makes me more tired when I walk in. It’s not a place that has a fun ambience but can be fun if you bring the right group.
We have had the burgers, the reuben, the poutine (I actually do appreciate that they melt actually cheese curds on the poutine versus throwing a bunch of fried ones on top), the salads, and when I eat it or ask my friends what they think, I always get the same answer, «It’s fine, it’s good. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse.»
So do I recommend you check this place out? Go for it. Do I promise you that it will be exciting and the most delicious place you’ve ever been? No. No.

So I generally only go to the Ballard Loft because they host Gonzaga basketball viewings there for alumni. That being said this is based on those event nights where it is busy.
The loft is right in the heart of Ballard. There is street parking but if they are hosting an event/​viewing there it is sometimes hard to find a spot. This last visit they had $ 3.50 Redhooks for pre-​game which was great and an awesome deal. They have your general bar food, beer, wine and liquor. It gets really packed on big game days so much that even arriving 45 minutes early to get a table only granted us a table near the open chilly doorway. Since the bar was so packed it took 25 minutes even to get the attention of a waitress for drinks or food and we literally had to stop her and ask her if we could order. She then told us they only have 2 people on staff for the whole downstairs area which as annoying. We finally put in our order half of the table anyway, before she abruptly took off and didn’t take the rest of the tables order. It was very odd.
The place has a great atmosphere and décor but the service is always slacking which makes it hard to go there most of the time.