The Tin Hat

On a Tuesday night, The Tin Hat is the greatest place on earth. A pitcher of PBR is $ 9. Tacos are $ 0.69/each. Grab a friend or two, share a pitcher, and eat all the cheap hard shell beef (or bean) tacos you can possibly cram into your stomach. For me, 8 is usually par for course. 6 if I want to take it a little easier. If you order less than 5, you’re doing it wrong. Around the 6−7pm hours you may have to wait a couple minutes for a table to clear, but I’ve never had to stand around for more than 5 or so minutes.
Other nights have other food specials going on — I’ve heard nothing but high praise of spaghetti night. The vibe of the place is also really cool. Retro board games and show posters decorate nearly every surface. There’s usually a cheesy VHS movie playing on the TV screens. The bathrooms are hilariously decorated with really old «gentlemen’s magazine» ads and photos. An all around great little neighborhood dive.

I love this place very very much.
They don’t particularly give a fuck about you or me or anything, they’re just out there being a basic awesome, solid neighborhood fuckin’ BAR. It’s weirdly refreshing.
I’m majorly gluten intollerant, and I’ve already embraced that by choosing to eat here, I’m choosing to get incredibly sick every single time. The menu even calls me names for it, and I’m totally fine with it. That said, the tots (which are very, very glutinous) are to die for (literally, in this case, ha.), and the lamb burger (sans bun) is WAY better than it has any business being at a place like this. Get the nachos, but pass on the meat options; it’s delicious but way too sweet to be on nachos; it’s likely the same thing that’s on their pulled pork sandwiches. Oh well, c’est la Tin Hat.
We nearly always sit under the velvet painting of Bruce Lee. It’s just perfect.

I love tacos. I love Tuesdays. When the two come together I go to Taco Bell.

I absolutely love this dive bar. Drinks are on point and the food is good for a good price especially considering that it is bar food! Taco Tuesdays are extremely popular and Spaghetti night on Wednesdays are my personal fave. They have drink specials everyday from 4 to 7pm ($ 2 PBR, $ 3.50 micro brews, $ 4 wells) and all day on Sunday.

We came in and tried to sit down but were yelled at. There was no sign indicating as much but apparently I needed to wait for seating, it was a little weird. Unfortunately that same person ended up being our waitress.
Clearly a local hang-​out, the place was popping on a Tuesday for $.69 tacos and low priced brew. The atmosphere is fun, and the food is pretty good.
This is a fun divey place and reasonably priced spot to come in to meet friends for food and drinks.

Great staff and pretty damn good food! Been here a few times since moving in, and still am amazed at the old toys on the back bar.

First off DO NOT ORDER BEER ON TAP! I work for a brewery and know how kegs are suppose to be stored and it’s not sitting outside a refrigerator! There is a reason you get the kegs cold… if you do order beer on tap check out the clarity in the glass and you will see for yourself it looks hazy!!! Bad beer! To the owner: you need to keep these cold always because the beer is going bad! Our waitress was horrible and one of the rudest girls I’ve ever met. I don’t understand how she is getting away with treating customers like this?!? You have a pretty cool bar! But the «theme» about shut up and drink somehow translates to this waitress as ooo let’s be a B**** un expectable! On the ticket it said her name is T Diddy but she is short, white girl with glasses, kinda on the larger side and not nice at all!
If you ever go to this bar, don’t get this waitress! Don’t drink their beer on tap! And you will love this place. I would have given this place a ⁴⁄₅ star had it not been for these 2 things.

Not so welcoming of a place. Was a quite night only a few people staff was stuck up, and rude. Food no good. I love drive bars too, just not this one. Won’t be back.

I have been coming to The Tin Hat for 5 years. This is one of my all time favorite neighborhood bars. I usually go on Mondays and/​or Tuesdays. Tuesday’s can be a bit crazy because of the taco madness. Monday’s however, are my jam! The patrons are great and I absolutely love the bartender. He is always nice, quick, and helpful when it comes to life’s problems and crossword clues that I can’t seem to figure out. I would recommend this bar to anyone who likes a non pretentious crowd and a great staff. I love them all.

Unfortunately I have to give this awesome spot only one star and it’s really a shame. The main bartender here is rude and disrespectful everytime I come. He will ignore every customer whose is not a beautiful woman. If he does acknowledge you, he won’t let you get your order it before he’s walking away to help someone else. Very unfriendly And makes my experience lame every single time. Never had a good interaction with this dude. However the girl waitress /​bartender, Nikki, is a smoking hot bad ass who should beat that dudes ass and take his job. She’s awesome.

Best dive bar in Seattle. Just sayin. Great food and don’t miss the tater tots & Fresh squeezed juices for your cheap ass well drink. Also the best $.69 tacos in town & the bartenders are friendly with just a touch of sass — just like they should be.

To call the Tin Hat a dive bar would be an insult to the burgers and the specialty cocktails they serve here.
They have simply cultivated an alternative environment to the pervasive gastropub/​cocktail bar/​beer halls that are so popular now.
And they serve one of the best burgers in Seattle. They also do Taco Tuesdays and $ 10 Micro Pitcher Thursdays.

So far my favorite dive bar in Ballard. The lamb burger with goat cheese and pickled onions was fantastic! Piles of tots, cool retro board games and b movies plying on VHS on old school tube tv’s.

Fresh-​squeezed citrus drinks, 69 cent tacos every Tuesday, cult classics and B movies on the VHS player, black velvet paintings, bathroom decoupaged with pin-​up pictures…
What else needs be said?

A friend took me to The Tin Hat because it was one of his favorite local spots around Ballard and it was AMAZING.
Such a great vibe and pleasant staff. They are always playing hilarious movies.
The chicken fingers are delicious, they are panko breaded and the perfect level of crunchy. Spaghetti Wednesday is also very affordable and tasty!!!
The Tin Hat juices all the fruit for their drinks. Vodka and a juiced orange or gin and a juiced grapefruit were so amazing (and dangerous!)

How I heard of this place: I had driven and walked by numerous times, but had never felt the urge to go inside, until my friend Ashley had a hankering for bar food!
Type of cuisine: Greasy pub grub. What you expect from an old school dive.
Ambiance: It’s a dive at its best. Bar seating, booth seating, high tables and chairs! Crowds can be found all over, speaking loudly, drinking like fish and laughing heartily!
What I ordered: Having already enjoyed a large dinner at Carmelita, I was there to keep my friend company, but I did enjoy a sample of her fried chicken and grease-​dripping fries.
What I loved: I loved the crispy fried chicken, golden, breaded and flavorful, dipped in ranch.
Why I loved it: If you are in the mood for a greasy and salty dish, The Tin Hat can be added to your list of dives to enjoy.
Cost: Average ($ 5-​$ 10 for food options)

Every Tuesday I’d set aside a little time to cry, but lately I’ve noticed I haven’t been crying as much anymore.
That’s because I’ve discovered the Tin Hat’s taco Tuesday’s. Delicious beef or bean tacos that hit the spot every time & go well with an ice cold beer. Very low price.
I guess I don’t have to cry anymore.

So I’m from Austin and we probably have more diver bars per capita than any other city in the nation. I’m used to dark dirty bars with food trailers that serve delicious local beer and have an eclectic mix of folks all looking for a good time. Tin Hat couldn’t have been more like home for me.
I had an order of Chicken Wings with no sauce as I was super hungry and they were every bit as delicious as I expected them to be. The local beer selection was great and I loved everything about the dark and divey atmosphere here.
This is a bar I could see my spend lots of time just hanging out alone drinking in. The music is great. the food isn’t bad and the beer is local! What more could you ask for.
If i had to make any complains it would be that the interior is almost more like a sit down restaurant than an actual bar which made it a bit more complicated to roam around and talk to new people.
I’d recommend this place to any fans of dive bars in general.

My first impression was that it was rather dirty. The walls were inundated with a lot of posters (? — can’t remember) and the place was dimly lit.
However, my experience at this dive bar was very pleasant. Our waitress was the only one working that evening and seemed to be running things pretty smoothly. She had a big smile and warmly welcomed us to our table. Being there for the first time, we asked her what good drinks to order there. She recommended the Seattle lager and a Strongbow apple cider. My apple cider WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I thought it tasted like apple juice. YUM YUM.
We also ordered ten tacos that we scarfed down because we didn’t eat dinner and it was already 9 p.m. It was super cheap — $ 0.69 per taco. My husband liked it but I thought they were less tasty than Jack in box tacos where you get 2 for a dollar. It tastes more like elementary school cafeteria tacos. Taco Tuesdays was okay but I don’t think I would come back because of the tacos. I’d definitely come back for some delicious cider. Overall, I enjoyed date night here.

I’m a fan!
Taco Tuesday is a win. 69 cent ground beef tacos aka crappy American tacos. The beef tastes pretty good though. It’s obviously beef and not filler.
Seasoning was decent «taco» seasoning with shredded iceberg lettuce and chopped tomatoes on top. They serve them in an appetizing way. I was impressed in spite of myself! However impressed one can be by ground beef tacos, that is. :)
My pint of Georgetown Porter was $ 4 including tax. Can’t beat that!
Server was super nice. Thanks to my friend for introducing me to this dive. Fun spot. I’ll be back!