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Canterbury Ale & Eats
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11 am - 2 am
Sat-Sun 10 am - 2 am
- Delivery:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Late Night
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Tue, Wed, Thu
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Ambience:
- Dive-y
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
187 reviews for Canterbury Ale & Eats
Review Highlights
"...the fact that they have pool tables and a shuffleboard and..."
(in 20 reviews)
"I enjoyed the pool table but I love the shuffle board."
(in 9 reviews)
"...I can't forget to mention Big Buck Hunter 2006 (which is..."
(in 4 reviews)
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187 reviews in English
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Review from Lauren B.
1/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
A delicious burger and fries, affordable, tasty, drinks, and a friendly waitress. Also a great spot for Saint Patrick's day!
When I went back here I realized just how much I had missed the last go-around (a whole 'nother section of the bar!!) with pool tables, PINBALL (Indiana Jones... yes...), and sweet '90s bar computer games including one with nekked ladies. Aww shucks. -
Review from Doug S.
9/23/2011 4 Check-ins Here
Why do I never seem to remember leaving this bar?
I can remember walking in just fine. I can remember ordering my first sapphire and tonic (with lime, thanks). I can remember ordering my second one, too. And I often get a third one.
SOMETIMES I'll get crazy and order a fourth. I can remember that.
What happens after that is kinda fuzzy. Is it possible to walk home down Capitol hill 10 blocks and not remember it? And how did that frozen pizza box and pint of ice cream, both empty, end up on the floor of my kitchen? Why is the oven door open? Why is every single light on in my bathroom and living room the next day? Why are all my sheets off the bed and in the washing machine? Why did some of my friends text me, from what appears to be from the middle of the night, telling me to "go to bed"?
Next time I'm bringing a detective with me to this bar. Too many mysteries that need to be solved. -
Review from A R.
Seattle, WA
9/14/2011
It's a divey, dirty place in Capitol Hill.
Drinks are good, but not as cheap as one would think. Everything, including food, gets ordered from the bartender. DON"T ORDER WINGS - I'm not sure which parts of my giant pieces of chicken were actually wings.
Go for what it is, and don't expect anything. -
Review from Rix G.
1/4/2012 2 Check-ins Here
New Year Day Brunch - Great Service and Fantastic Food. Enjoyed the Bloody Mary and I am very picky about that as I like them SPICY! However, I admit, I added some ghost pepper to mine. We brought the Ghost Pepper with us. I will be back!
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Review from randi s.
12/18/2011
Fun dive bar, met up with some friends here..the thing that I liked the most about it were the bartenders! They were your typical dive bar types that know if you're a regular or not, but are still nice to you if you aren't. The guy serving us was your typical Seattle cool bartender that has probably been bartending since jesus was a child.
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Review from Benjamin T.
Seattle, WA
12/2/2011
I went there on the night of December 1st, 2011 with a group of about 8 people to watch the Seahawks defeat the Eagles. Generally speaking I am not a big sports fan but it was a good excuse to go some place different and get away from the chilly outdoor tempuratures. Right away I could easily see that the Canterbury is a dive, but compared to most of the dives I've seen it was a bit nicer than quite a few of the others I've seen. The crowd at the establishment was an ecclectic mix of working class, hipster, indie hip-hop and and a little bit of yuppie culture was also there. My only small complaint that I had about my visit is that I didn't really have a good spot to watch the game from as I was seated in a far corner of a room that had a large TV in and my veiwing angle wasn't so great.
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Review from Michelle F.
Seattle, WA
3/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Divey, divey, divey. Christmas lights up in March, including decorating the moose on the wall. Something smelled faintly of puke. Not sure if it was the bartender or the rag he was using to wipe. Ick. Definitely a dive.
That said, they pour heavy, the staff is easygoing, and the drinks are affordable.
We literally walked from Hopvine (no seats available) to Liberty (no seats available) to Canterbury (lots of seats available). I was glad to get a bar with seats open!!!
Canterbury is the kind of dive the doctor orders after a long week. More whiskey! -
Review from Laura P.
10/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Yes, as people have reviewed already - this is a dive bar, which is obvious the second you walk in - so you know what you're getting into from the beginning. Yes, the smell of this joint wasn't comforting but my friend and I were in desperate need for a cocktail and something quick to eat so there were no high expectations. The tables were sticky and i felt weird eating my tater-tots without sanitizing between bites, but the food was just like any other regular bar food, the service was fine-( it wasn't that busy so we lucked out) - and they poured an alright Manhattan. They have a nice variety of bar games - so it'd be fun to hangout at with some friends on a random night when you're feeling a bit competitive.
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Review from joshua w.
Seattle, WA
6/16/2011
Its a dive bar. Keep that in mind. That means unidentified substances on some of the tables, aggressively questionable taste in the decor, and lots of loud music on the jukebox. It also means if you order something other than beer and shots you're going to get a couple of shots of well liquor splashed into a glass. If you want the fancy drinks, go to an upscale bar and pay for it.
If you just want a couple of beers with your friends or you want to be left alone this is a great place to go. The food isn't anything special but its perfectly edible. -
Review from Angelina V.
Seattle, WA
3/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
The bar's attractions are fun. Pool, video games...
What's not fun is waiting in line for a beer.
The staff was rude and told me they were only going to run my card once that night if I chose to close it out after my first round.
Fine by me if your business makes that much money that you can just write off future purchases. -
Review from Krystin T.
Seattle, WA
Updated - 3/21/2011
I hadn't been here in awhile and ended up here a few weeks ago to visit with a friend from out of town. It was definitely crowded - I guess about twenty minutes before I arrived, the drink line had been to the door. While there wasn't a crazy line for me, it did take awhile. The bartender let us order from the side of the bar (not the specified drink-ordering area) which was appreciated.
This was probably 11pm on a Saturday, and the front area with tables was fairly empty, but the back pool-table room was packed. We found a nice corner, but kept being poked and prodded by pool sticks. That's the price you pay, I guess.
My boyfriend ended up becoming BFFs with Jared the bartender, who was awesome for various reasons. And we had a good time overall. It's casual, laid-back, and fun, but it's also very crowded & very loud. Not the place I'd necessarily come to sit back and chat, but somewhere fun to go on a weekend night and play pool or meet up with a large group.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/10/2008
The Canterbury is an interesting little place. It's definitely a dive bar, which I can appreciate.… Read more »
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Review from Lee S.
Seattle, WA
8/28/2010
Great place for a beer and some bar food. It's divey, has leopard print carpet (or maybe that's a tiger, who knows), gratuitous suit of armor and a ton of room in the big room to stand around some arcade game or a pool table.
Now what's not good... The music comes out of one tinny, terrible speaker. It's painful. If the bartenders ponied up their tips for speakers I bet they'd make that investment back in tips easily enough. To say nothing of the owners.
Non-beer drinks. Just don't bother. And getting one of those drinks when you don't have a waitress means you have to deal with the bartenders, that's not fun, either.
The smokers corner scares off plenty of patrons. I've seen more than a few people waver by the door, glance at the smokers hanging around there, then just keep on moving. Their loss, but sometimes I feel the same way. -
Review from jason l.
Los Angeles, CA
2/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
Damn these drinks are strong. My friend took me here straight from the airport to unwind with some cheap drinks and pool. I met some pretty friendly people and closed the bar. There's really nothing extraordinary about this place, but they have plenty of seating, pool tables, a good jukebox, pretty standard bar food and some arcade games.
It's just an overall great dive bar (judging from the one time i've been there and the stories i've heard). No crazy obnoxious people in high heals and perfectly trimmed facial hair and gold bracelets. I'm going to kick it there here again when I'm in Seattle again. -
Review from Michelle H.
Portland, OR
5/19/2010
ORDER FROM YOUR BARTENDER.
Not mine. Not your friend's. Yours. If you don't, god help you.
Huge laminated signs stick out like a sore thumb in this spot. When the bar feels it's necessary to post these kinds of things, I'd say that's a pretty good sign of what's to come. Either:
#1) the bartenders are douches
or
#2) the bartenders are douches
Guess which one it was?
To their credit, this place is huge and there are tons of bar activities to partake in, but the drinks were horrible and expensive, the music playing was terrible, and yep you guessed it, the bartenders were d-bags.
Considering the primary activity that a bar is centered around is drinking and getting said drink from an employee of the fine establishment, if either of those things are not up to par, I have little reason to bother.Listed in: Thanks for Having Me
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Review from Andrew C.
5/9/2010
Who do I have to kill to get a decently poured drink in this town?
Canterbury-Ale 7 Eats charges $5 for super weak, well drinks. You read that right. WELL. In a small glass, even. $5 for less than half a glass (with ice in it) of Old Crow? No thank you.
I'm a pretty glass half-full kind of guy when it comes to service. I've never really had a -bad- experience but hot damn. The folks there last night were pushing the limits.
I walked up to the bar in some random spot. In between empty bar stools. The bartender shoots a shitty look in my direction and raises his hand over his head motioning to go around. No words with this, mind you. Just a quick motion and crappy look. Thanks dude. It's my first time here, you don't need to motion to me like I'm your pet dog.
Once ordered and walking back to the table, we were behind another member of the staff who was backing up and strafing side to side. I don't think he realized we were going right where he was standing but he walked away angrily mumbling aloud something about "UGH I was trying to get out of your way but you're not...." then he was out of ear shot. Someone in our party asked if we were making friends after being in the bar about ten minutes.
After we finished off our respective beers and horribly overpriced mixed drinks we took off. Those two douchebags drained all desire of spending another dime in there.Listed in: Uno, Seattle (and the surrounding…
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Review from Kayla S.
Seattle, WA
2/21/2011
I went to the Canterbury a few nights ago and honestly thought it was mediocre. When we entered, there was kind of an intense host at the door. He was just ordering people around and making people feel uncomfortable. I understand that the people were blocking the door and needed to get in and out, but it was a little uncomfortable. The bar tenders were nice, the drinks were pretty strong, and the onion rings/fries/courdon bleu bites were sooo good. There were pool tables and some arcade games, but as for seating in the bar area, it was really packed.
The main reason why I am knocking a start off is because the atmosphere was a little uncomfortable at times. -
Review from Cameron L.
Seattle, WA
8/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
I rarely go to capital hill, when I do I try to visit here. I have a feeling that the strength of the drinks and the vague smell of barf are related. Lots of fun games and good music, though it can get a little loud and packed in there.
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Review from Em A.
Seattle, WA
5/9/2011 3 photos
It is not much to look at, but it is not bad. I love having breakfast here. There is never a wait and the food is consistent and inexpensive. I have had several birthday parties here, due to the low cost drinks, loads of seating and the bars general laid back attitude. I like the people that work there and the people that hang out there. It is not the Ritz, but it is a great little dive. It has everything I would want from a dive bar/cheap breakfast greasy spoon.
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Review from Clarissa O.
Seattle, WA
3/22/2011 3 Check-ins Here
It's the Canterbury.
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Review from Aaron Thomas M.
Seattle, WA
8/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
Strong drinks, tasty food, games, great jukebox, and free pool all day sunday and monday (Free pool till 4pm on the other days) make this place hard to leave. Dimly lit, rough around the edges, and set it in it's ways, this large local dive bar is one of the last of its kind in Seattle's rapidly changing Capitol Hill neighborhood.
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Review from Kim V.
Seattle, WA
9/6/2010
My friend suggested to go here for drinks and a bite to eat. She's been here before, but this was my first time. Unfortunately, I had a terrible experience there. Drinks were fine and cheap. Food was alright, except the nachos! The price is typical for nachos and it was huuge...problem is, the chips were freaking STALE! Stale chips do NOT make good nachos.
What basically made me rate this as 2 stars is the waitress- she sucked! I understand that she's the only one waiting tables, but she was just awkward, rude and not very "waitress" like- aka not really doing her job. Also, it wasn't just me and my friend who had issues with her, but I noticed other people having problems too. Hopefully the next time I go there I'll have a better experience.
Food and drinks are okay. Atmosphere is fine- definitely a chill place to go just for drinks. -
Review from Patrick D.
San Francisco, CA
8/25/2010
Canterbury is a pretty middle of the road English pub in Seattle. It's a little divey, got some decent local beers on tap, and standard bar food.
I had a bacon cheeseburger, my girlfriend the quesadilla, and my two friends a couple other sandwiches. I'll be honest, the food was surprisingly good. My burger seemed fresh and was tasty. The quesadilla wasn't soggy or bland, filled with chicken and jalepenos, and our other friends seemed to enjoy their sandwiches too.
So why 3 stars? Service of course! The waitress was pleasant, but the food took half an hour and she didn't really follow up on us in that time to see if we needed anything. Also, the beer came in a standard pitcher, but with schooners instead of pints. There are some things about Canterbury that are just off, but it was a better experience than I expected. I would go back in a pinch. -
Review from Emily T.
7/5/2009 ROTD 4/27/2010
Along charming 15th Ave, tucked in among quiet coffee shops and laid back eateries, you will find Canterbury, a rough around the edges dive bar that is not only people friendly, but also pooch friendly.
The Canterbury has the potential to be Capitol Hill's Cheers bar. The regulars will nod at you when you enter and pat your dog. The kitchen serves up some good pub grub with standout nachos and chicken strips. Oh, and they serve milkshakes! C'mon.
In the winter, grab a table near the fireplace and sip on a specialty warm cocktail. In the summer, lounge on a bench near the large open window and share a pitcher of cold beer.
Nothing about this place screams classy, but no one there wants it to. Canterbury is a dive. It knows it and it's a-okay with that and so am I. -
Review from Inna B.
Seattle, WA
2/25/2010 1 Check-in Here
The Canterbury is good because....... they have plenty of space for a big group of people? Booze? Good nachos? Giant cans of PBR? (Not that I'd ever order one of those. NO THANKS!)
I wasn't that fond of the staff or of the credit card minimum because I wasn't planning on drinking more than one beer, but some friends helped me meet that minimum by convincing me to order the nachos. Apparently that was a great idea because those nachos were surprisingly good!
That staff situation was odd. They weren't very pleasant and would stop big groups of people when they came in so they could make them wait in a very slow line (with people actually ORDERING food/drinks right away) to card them. It was a bit of a clusterf*** at times.
I doubt that I'll be rushing back to the Canterbury anytime soon.Listed in: Drinking on Capitol Hill
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Review from Tim O.
Seattle, WA
12/1/2007 ROTD 8/14/2008
From the Canterbury Tales:
Inkeeper and Host, said to the pilgrims traveling to Canterbury
"It's that you each, to shorten the long journey,
Shall tell two tales en route to Canterbury,
And, coming homeward, another two,
Stories of things that happened long ago.
Whoever best acquits himself, and tells
The most amusing and instructive tale,
Shall have a dinner, paid by us all,
Here in this roof, and under this roof-tree,
When we come back again from Canterbury."
1. I'll get this round.
2. There's some serious drinking going on at this bar.
Those are my two tales. -
Review from Mike V.
Seattle, WA
5/21/2011
We've been frequenting the Canterbury for 14 years now and we've never had a bad time. Its an excellent place to get strong drinks, good pub grub, and play some games (pool, shuffle board, foosball, etc...) all on the cheap. Now that its been "discovered" it definitely gets more crowded than it used to, but for good reason.
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Review from R M.
San Francisco, CA
4/20/2008
Holy-Moly!
Its a wi-fi, order beer at the bar, sit on a purple couch, eat your weight in french fries, watch Seattle attacked by mutant snow-flakes, choose between TWO sets of bathrooms, watch hipsters drink tall-boy PBRs while playing Foosball, free pool available, another shuffleboard table, CASTLE.
Its like Disneyland for Kids. Kids who are slightly alcoholic...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shout out to Riss, Joey, Sean and Betsy (Who always brings out the whore in me. BTW most of those stories are fictional. Fictional I tell ya!!!) -
Review from Katie S.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2007 ROTD 5/18/2007
The shifty, albeit tipsy looking knight in 'not- so- shining armour' should be a green flag. A big 'gone medieval on yo' ass' green flag.
If you want cheap strong drinks and some laid back dive bar atmosphere, this is your place. It's a big joint with lots of space and a huge game room- pool, vids, etc. Lots of local talent make it great for people watching. I can't emphasize this enough.
Upon my visit, I was also was lucky enough to meet a super sweet Jack Russell (apparently a regular). When I asked what his name was, the 'rockstar' bartendress, laughed a pointed at this overly excited little guy and said, "Rocket'- and now you see why!" Where else??
**$10 credit card min, but you should have no problem. This is not the kind of place where you stop in to sample their cheese and wine list and have 'just a glass'.
I'll be back, but not soon enough.. and not before I find a decent chain maille halter top.. for summer, of course.
3 chivalrous yelpers up and out!Listed in: Down n' Dirty, Fit for a Longshoreman., ROTDs a la KTown
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Review from Nancy B.
Slickpoo, ID
1/30/2010
I used to work down the street from this place - a million years ago when I was totally psyched to make $1000 a month and get to class often enough to keep a steady stream of off the books income from the parents. It was a lot of pitchers of Redhook, lots of packs of Drum on the several tables we would take up, lots of trips to the alley, lots of rinse and repeat the following night.
I haven't been much since that time; its dirty and sad and most of the food tastes like some element of the dish pit has made its way onto the plate. The clientele has always been an odd mix of hopeless drunks and people that I had never seen anywhere else on The Hill, which made me more suspicious/wary of them than intrigued by their mystery.
This was, mmmmmmaaatttthhhhhh........uh.....17 years ago or so?
Made a stop in last night to see some people in person that I only seem to interact with online these days. That was nice - actual faces were nice. Communicating with people in full paragraphs set in the correct context - rather than blurted random thoughts in a status update format or a quick clip in a chat box, or a few sarcastic, and maybe harsh words thrown around on a talk thread - was good. The microcosmic life of work, social networking and the inside of one's own head can get to be psychically isolating.
Anyhoo....what has changed in all these years?
It's still dirty.
It's bigger.
There are more pool tables.
I'm still not eating that food.
I don't drink anymore, so I had me a GO GIRL!
I can't go anywhere on the hill without running into someone I know from long ago.
More often than not we're really happy to see each other.
Which makes me feel comfortably ensconced.
Whatever, they have beer and bar food here. In a Renaissance Fair meets Sports Bar setting. Suits of armor and big TVs. Yes. -
Review from Jim C.
WA
9/12/2008
Seattle's idea of a "dive bar" is pretty ridiculous. To most Seattle kids, a bar is a dive if they don't have an extensive tapas menu, play the latest acid jazz over a pristine sound system, or charge $15 for ridiculous flavored-vodka martinis. The Seattle crowd feels like they're "slumming" if there isn't a bathroom attendant.
The Canterbury isn't a "dive" -- you're not going to get knifed, no one's going to kick your ass for touching their Hog or looking at their bitch. You are going to meet some local characters who drink much, much more than you do on a much more frequent basis. The bartender will be very friendly, and pour incredibly strong drinks that are an amazing value. You and your friends who cluster in the back room to play board games will not only not be mocked by some Belltown Beauty in a miniskirt, you will be warmly encouraged and asked about what you're playing.
The atmosphere is great, the drinks are wicked strong, and the crowd (at least during the day) is laid back and serious about their drinking. Two thumbs up from the Bear. -
Review from Riss J.
4/20/2008
I loved it here. Dark, mellow, and a layout that makes the dark and mellow flair permeate.
Purple couch!! I have no idea why some furniture gets me so giddy, but a purple couch is on the list of things that will do that to me..for those of you taking notes.
Free pool till 4pm every day, shuffleboard, pin ball, and enough silly signage of rules to put the Kenmore Inn and their "no step noise" to shame.
Too much fun was when mr regular walked up to a bar school...glanced at the cup of coffee, shot of whiskey and a beer all lined up neatly on the bar, he casually said, "Oh, huh, Dave must be here".
I had my first ever mack n jacks (*ducks*). Not a big beer gal, but it was nice. I did TRY to not drink at one yelp gathering, but Nadja was *not* having it.
Good, standard french fries. They are better when thrown at you from across the table with erupting giggles.
Joey is real! For those of you doubting it. I have a hazy memory of him making what I have now dubbed his "pre-O" face and muttering something about pirates and ninjas.
Shout out to Sean for recommending we follow up Linda's brunch here! It was great hanging with Nadja again...that girl can spin some titillating "fictional" stories !! ;)
Good times!Listed in: Candy is dandy, but difficult…
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Review from Aaron E.
1/30/2010 1 Check-in Here
It's hard for me to give one star to a place that makes ridiculously strong drinks and quite delicious nachos. Seriously, their mixed drinks are 99% liquor, .5% mixer, and .5% ice. And their nachos are generously covered in cheese.
Besides the strong drinks and good nachos my experience here wasn't so great. I've never encountered such grouchy service and the wait to order a drink was intense. Seriously, it took about 20 minutes to order a drink when the line wasn't even that long. After tipping in cash all night I left a $0 tip on my credit card and thought the bartender might kill me. Sorry, I wish I hadn't left any tip at all.
Even though I've already mentioned it.... the service sucked.... thank god I was with some of the coolest people in the world! -
Review from Ian S.
Updated - 1/30/2010
This was the first time in memory when I was accused of being passive aggressive when I was trying to be nice.
The failbar tenders take a really long time to get things done. You wait in line at the appointed spot. You may have to wait in line to show the bartender an ID to be allowed further into the bar. Mooing is appropriate as it might take 10 minutes to get a drink in this most enjoyable line.
The happy hour food menu is to be avoided. I was reminded that "BBQ pork" is the cold pork loin that's been dyed red and served with doom mustard here. Oops. I forgot about the asian-food-for-whites thing.
This isn't a dive bar, but they have some bad attitudes. [Un]happy hour. No wait staff detected.
Only advisable during the slowest of hours or if you want to hangdog at the bar.
The staff just isn't fun.
The did have Jolly Roger on tap. That was nice.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/4/2007
I knew I was going to like this place when drunk girls were catcalling me when I came in the door.… Read more »
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Review from Sarah B.
9/29/2008
I disagree with the idea that this is not a dive bar.
There are strange dents in the wall of the game room and the bathroom looks like a set from one of the Saw movies. I also didn't see a single chair that was missing less than 25% of its upholstery. If other qualifiers are necessary for the Canterbury to become a "dive bar", I am shocked and awed.
This place is the distilled personification of what would happen if King Arthur's long-lost gay brother went on a month-long bender and forgot to close the windows during a dust storm. That said, it's still kind of awesome.
The fish and chips are pretty dang good (a half-order is MORE than enough) and the drinks are unethically strong. There's a lot of interesting characters to be found - both in the local "wildlife" and the giant moose head on the wall, complete with resplendent tinsel eyelashes and dangly mardi gras beads.
This would be a three-star review, but the server/tender that was handling our tabs during the Diplomacy game was totally awesome about fixing a mis-billing issue. I was expecting a bit of 'tude for bringing it up a good 30 minutes after I closed out and not catching it sooner, but the guy was super-helpful and fixed everything quickly without a lick of surliness. Good on ya. -
Review from Betsy H.
Seattle, WA
4/22/2008
There's something great about a place that is bitchy enough to only take orders from one spot of a u-shaped bar.
Awesome....
It's very spacious, though I imagine it can get very very packed in there. The plate of fries that we got was monumental. Holy....!!
It was very cool. I will be back. -
Review from Matthew F.
Seattle, WA
6/2/2010
Canterbury is a Capitol Hill staple and a 15th Ave icon in my eyes.
Food is ho-hum, service is OK, but the atmosphere is awesome. On one side of the joint, you can have a quiet conversation in a booth, or on the other side, you can have a raucous and rowdy time playing pool, air hockey (or whatever it is that they have), or just plain old gettin' hammered. 16th Ave has a few box hedges that you can stumble to for an emergency vomit episode, and they have a little smokers' hideaway just around the side of the building.
Speaking of smoking, I don't partake in cigarettes any longer (I'm wearing the patch at this very moment!), but I really loved it when you could smoke indoors at Canterbury; it was the icing on the cheap store-bought cake, so to speak. -
Review from Victoria T.
Seattle, WA
9/11/2008
There is some sort of happy hour but our waiter wasn't really able to fully explain it.
Whatever.
Bring us a pitcher of Mac & Jack's.
My sandwich was standard, albeit the bread was a bit on the stale side.
I attempted to warn the waiter (friendly fellow, with kind eyes and an easy manner) that serving my friend too much Jagermeister was a bad idea. Either he didn't believe me or she was more convincing than I was.
FYI: She said she felt like a two dollar hooker on a Sunday morning the next day. Told ya' so.
The twenty questions about the salad ("Is there iceberg lettuce in there?") were well tolerated. Good for you, waiter dude. I would have punched my table mate in the forehead for being a bar snob.
Apparently, there's free pool before 4pm. Like I ever get outta bed before 4pm.
All in all, it was okay. A dive bar filled with loud, obnoxious people.
Works for me. -
Review from Anje V.
Seattle, WA
6/19/2007
I've walked away from the Canterbury truly annoyed and truly satisfied. My most recent visit began with me walking towards the spot in total trepidation. Why? Because the service isn't consistent...at all. Service at the Canterbury depends on which waitress one receives and how busy the place is. Friday and Saturday nights are packed with people. During the day however the place is less full but service doesn't seem to be contingent on shear volume alone but rather the waitress.
My last visit involved well over an hour wait for my food. I was terribly hungry and this is not an uncommon experience at the Canterbury. I didn't mind however because the waitress gave me the opportunity to be sympathetic and again, this can happen here and often does. I am by no means an unreasonable person. I didn't complain once and the waitress apologized profusely for the situation. I've had other moments though where one waitress in particular could care less if a patron was sitting in a booth on fire right under her nose. The Canterbury experience can be made or broken based on its service alone. The lady with the glasses and septum piercing will offer the best service and experience at the Canterbury.
The drinks are stiff and reasonable. Affectionately being known as the Can't-barely. Toss back a few and one will know why. Canterbury seems to be for serious drinkers and ironically a place for traveler's tales; Canterbury eerily earns its namesake. Don't feel awkward about venturing into the Canterbury alone as the banter in surrounding booths will keep one entertained, or brazenly saunter up to the bar and hold your own amongst the regulars.
The food isn't bad at all and the coffee will keep a seasoned long haul trucker awake. Castle like dcor and seating that won't make one sore. Games in the back, or...to the right I suppose, a jukebox with ironic rock for some and old standbys for others. Telly near the bar and the game area which is usually turned to sports when it is on. It's a decent sort of place, been around long enough for my parents to talk about when they use to go there. -
Review from Knate C.
Seattle, WA
11/1/2008
I LOVE the Canterbury; it is exactly what I want in a divey, friendly, neighborhood bar. The drinks are priced well, as is the food (which is surprisingly good), and the decor (sort of a British neo-renaissance feel) makes me feel like I should be wearing a sword, or possibly carrying a blunderbuss.
It's maybe not as clean as it could be, and the furniture has definitely seen better days, but that's kinda part of the charm. Like maybe it would be okay if a friendly bar-fight broke out, and afterward all parties would sit down and share a pitcher.
The place is almost always less than crowded, and I've only once had trouble finding a seat. While I'm not much of a pool player, they have several tables, as well as shuffleboard (which I have NO idea how to play).
About the only complaint I might actually have is that their evening food service is really inefficient on the rare occasions that there IS a crowd, since it requires that you hear a fellow on the far side of the room quietly mumble your name, elsewise someone almost inevitably steals your food. That being said, they're super good about replacing it, so as long as you're patient there's no real problem.
All in all, one of my favorite bars in Seattle!! -
Review from Gabriel A.
Seattle, WA
5/10/2009
I could genuinely see me coming back to the Canterbury pretty often if I lived in Capitol Hill. Totally good beer, friendly (if a bit slow, but I was in a good mood and it didn't bother me one bit) service, and DOGS.
There were DOGS.
I ordered a Black Butte Porter because they had a sign up for it but what they brought me was a Maritime Nightwatch Dark Ale. They don't serve Black Butte anymore. The waiter explained that to me, waited for me to taste it, and asked if it was okay more than once. I liked that. I got turned on to a new beer that I absolutely loved with the option to return it if I didn't like it.
I'm glad I went. The party I went with was kind of packed and I appreciate the waiter's courage in braving so packed an area with so many small dogs to mistakenly step on.
