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Mon-Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
This place reminds me of college.
Dirty dive, loud, cheap beers and wells, graffiti covered walls in the bathroom and money covering the ceiling. Good place to see local bands, super loud, and usually new in the music scene.
Cover is cheap, live music, and cheap drinks, and a sweet neon sign. Party on Garth!
Do I like The Comet? Can anyone really like The Comet? It's dirty. It's crowded. It's loud. There's money on the ceiling -- taunting all the student-loan-laden patrons. The bathrooms are filthy.
But... they serve white-trash beer and the bands are always trying hard, so 4 stars!
The Comet owns.
The prices are awesome if you stick to the basics. (Cans of beer, well drinks).
The womens room is easily one of the better in the dive bars of this city. (Sure it's covered in sharpie and sometimes the doors don't close, but the ladies at the Comet seem to never pee on the seat.)
The regulars are all good people. The doormans always too indifferent to be a dick. Live music plays here almost nightly, and if there isn't any, the bartenders iPod is usually playing all the songs you forgot you totally love.
A very diverse mix of people end up here due to the booking (letting just about anyone play) which is both good and bad.
man, f-*k this place. every sound guy, booker, bartender, and doorholder ever working there in the last ten years can suck me. it's hip to NOT be in belltown, but only kinda when you are still blowing that ten bucks mom gave you on a pitcher of pabst here. make sure to stop by on fridays when they give out beards or tight pants or hand lotion or whatever the f*-k goes on in there anymore. eat me comet tavern. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THEY REPLACE YOU WITH A ROW OF CONDOS.
As my new home base for benders, I am obligated to tell everyone how much I love the comet. The comet is like home. You vow never to go back, sometimes they kick you out, you love everyone there, you know everyone there, sometimes you get into fights, sometimes it's filthy, sometimes you eat a hot dog outside and spill it all over your christian louboutin shoes...
no? That's just me?
I love this bar. I always feel safe here. The male regulars are the best kinds. I love them. They're all amazing. The bartenders are wonderful. This place is home and they're all family.
The prices are reasonable.
The selection of beer is not great, but they have some micros on tap.
This is a great place to see local/regional bands.
The place has a cool setup for seating and viewing.
The staff was really friendly.
While I was in Seattle for 4 days I stopped in here every night and it was very consistent with all I have said above.
Great venue...awkward setup but it makes it interesting.
If your bar looks like a dive, is covered in spilled beer and your doorman can't look up from texting to check ID's, where do you get off charging $15.50 for a pitcher of Manny's?
Dive bar with yuppie prices; the old time alcoholics are being replaced with a new generation of trust-afarians. It was cheap and charming 4 years ago before they started serving hard alcohol and taking credit cards. Now you get the same crap for twice the price.
Unfortunately I can't hate on your booking agent and the hot lady bartender, but I loathe when I want to see bands preform here since it has the dive charm at way too high prices. Good sound engineering however.
Flashback 20 plus years ago to my younger days of the punk mash pits and the alternative / goth way of life and you will have arrived at places similar to The Comet.
With $3 tall cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beers, painted red & brick walls and toilet paper "spit balls" covering the bathroom ceiling this is definitely not the place for you to go unless you like the dive bar scene and are not needing to place a napkin where you sit in fear of what you may sit in...
Why go???
The music, plain and simple. $6 cover charge and bands that range anywhere from being reminiscent of vintage David Bowie, a Black Sabbath tribute band, Seattle Grunge to Classic Punk... It's a great venue to listen to some great music.
Or as it's affectionately known as: The Vomit.
The Comet is a TOTAL dive bar, but there's something happy about it. It's dank & smells like onions from the hot dog stand that's next door, but when I look around @ the people dancing to the music, I see nothing but happy faces.
Or really REALLY drunk faces.
Inevitably every time I'm there, some drunk dude (or girl) either falls over or into me and I wind up having to hoist them up and pass them onto their friends, who are usually equally as loaded. I think it's become a staple for me there.
But that won't stop me from going to see good music for cheap ass prices.
Hmmm...maybe I should get some body armour for the next visit.
Previously I would have given the Comet a good review. Please note the word "previously". Never again will i set foot in that piece of crap. I would urge you to check your bill after going there. I went there the other night, during happy hour. I later found that they charged me $30 for two pitchers of beer. F'in $30! I mean if it were some posh yuppy bar I could understand getting stiffed. It clearly isn't and I am not some tourist asshole so WTF!!
Usually I love dive bars. I used to love the Comet. Not any more.
NEVER AGAIN, buyer beware.
Dive bar for sure. A very diverse mix of groups. We had a our drinks, but this place was never really packed...
The Comet is a neighborhood dive bar. Don't come here from Bellevue expecting more. Really, if you have to drive here on a weekend, don't come - there is no parking.
$2 Rainiers and tall cans of PBR are the staple at the Comet. $1 Rainier during Happy Hour, which goes till 7 I think.
They have been booking some interesting bands, local, Portland, and beyond, and you will pay between $6-$10 cover. Sound is okay, and you can usually watch a bit of the band from outside if you are uncertain you wanna shell out money .
There is almost always a drunk asshole that starts a fight and gets tossed out of the Comet at some point in the night... sometimes it seems to be someone from a band complaining about how little they get paid or that the order got messed up. Sounds like their booking agent needs to work on this. Bands are decent, sometimes crappy, sometimes amazing, about what you'd expect for the cover.
The hot dog cart on the corner fills the bar with the sausage and onion smell, which the bands constantly joke about. But at the end of the night, you'll be glad the cart is there.... and the Comet as well.
You ever have a secret about a place that you can't tell people or the secret will go away?
The comet has a secret thing about it and I can't tell you... ever... because I don't want to see it go away. I'm going to challenge you to figure out what that secret is, and then get back to me! The winner gets a date with Tad Hamilton!
That said... the Comet is a great small band venue for bands that ROCK!. There's no soft jazz or Um-pa music at this place, but good old fashioned Seattle Rock and Roll! This place is slowly becoming an institution! I might even dare to say that it could fill the Crock hole if someone out there had more then a little ambition!
It's certainly got a better location!
Dirty in a good way.
I don't go here to drink, I go here for music... that said, they get a lot of great music... I was there 2 weeks ago for Agent Ribbons with The Tempers and another local group that I only know the singer's name of, not the actual band name... but $6 for 4 hours live? Definitely. I went for Agent Ribbons and was, because the energy was so high during the second and third shows alike (though they were toooottttallly different kinds of music), exhausted at the end of it all as I called a cab, realizing that I'd never catch the last regular bus to Queen Anne and didn't feel up to hanging around a bus stop with the homeless beggar crowd for an hour or riding the night bus for 3 just to get within a mile of home. Still, $6. 4 hours. All good, the last 3 hours amazing. You do the math.
The sound varies... they have a young punk girl who is a performer that also tinkers with the sound, and she's great about really getting the interference out and pumping up what the band requests ... so while the bands are sometimes far louder than they need to be in this tiny venue, it's a-ok... worth it. As one singer mentioned, though, "You're going to have to bring me in here with the big LCD screens of politicians you can't even hear and have no closed captions for... not that I want you to turn their volume up... just a distraction, that's all." I can see her point--it's a weird mix, CNN and ... and... punk music.
The crowd varies by performer. The Tempers, for instance, had their own crowd that apparently follow them evvvverywhere. Agent Ribbons had me and a couple others, but they're a Cali band, so until they do Showbox in June (shameless plugs, I know), they will be mostly unheard of here... still, it all sounded great, and it reminded me why I never feel bad about going to the Comet, even if/when the band isn't so awesome.
If I were a big drinker, I'd definitely be there during happy hour--unreal prices...
It is really hard, whether you're a punk or a flirty cutesy flower girl or a stiff businessman or me, that kind of uncategorized person who only gets stereotyped on the East coast where there are a few more people like me, well, it's just hard to hate the Comet or even to really dislike them. They are what they are and have no pretentions about being anything they aren''t. That kind of genuine "yep, we're a dive bar alright!" idea doesn't even make them icky to me despite excess alcohol consumption not really fitting with my health professional background, let alone the current nutritional sciences courses I teach to nurses and PAs that may someday take care of these heavy PBR drowners. I guess since people will do it regardless, it's probably better that they have somewhere like the Comet to do it at. If you want a bit more swanky spot to do your drinking or a bartender with a thousand stories, try Moe Bar over at Neumo's, right across the street (where you can conveniently get tix to Neumo's shows). If you want pretention out the door, hit Comet Tavern. Everyone should try it once or twice as a Seattle dweller.
I thought I heard Fugazi...I had to investigate...HAD TO
I start peering through the door, but the crowd keeps me from viewing the band. So I flash my best "I'll eat you alive" smile and puff up the love muffins towards the door man and gain admittance. Come on, with these Bea Arthur good looks, who could say no? Although, it probably helped that it was 12:30am, the door man was bored and the actual band-Das Llamas, was almost done with their set.
The Comet is like the independent coffee houses/bars and old punk venues of my spent youth. The types of places where the sound is awful, the drinks are strong, you're exchanging unwanted fluids of fellow patrons cause it's so crowded and you could literally smell the band's Jack Daniels ingested breath cause they're that fucking close to you. On the plus side, it gives you great people watching of the crusties, dusties and smelly hipsters. "Here pretty pretty hipster...let momma feed you a big mac to fill out your 13 year old sister's jeans".
At the close of Mama's Big Night Out, Ms. Mel and I were drawn across the street from Moe Bar into the presence of The Comet, AKA The Vomit, AKA Diana's Living Room for the whole of the 90s.
The seductive sounds of a Fugazi cover beckoning, we stood at the threshold.
Me: Dare I enter?
Mel: How can they possibly remember?
Me: Oh, they remember....fuck it. Let's go.
No one BEHIND the bar to remember me - but plenty sitting at the end.
Mike, Chris, Don: THERE'S OUR GIRL!!! Where the fuck have you been?
Me: Sober!
Wow. 7 years later. Wow.
This was my living room for 11 years or so. I was 86'd from here. That was my cue to quit… Read more »
I give this place four stars for the following reason:
$2.50 for a bottle of hard cider, I have never paid less then $3.75 at a bar for cider up until now. This made me a very happy girl!
I have yet to see a band here that I didn't at least enjoy a little. I like the level of lighting in the space. Having the band right at our feet (and sometimes milling around us) is how I like to be served with rock. The bathroom is a bit on the gross side, but I've come to expect that at most clubs/bars. It's certainly not the nastiest I've ever had the (dis)pleasure of using.
I like the Comet more than most of the spots in this area and will be back for more debauchery and cider soon!
I moved to Seattle 4 months ago. The first bar I came across when I got here (this was during the day) was The Comet as I had to pee and I noticed they had 1.00 beers! The day crowd, although few and far between were awesome, very inviting, very friendly. The bartender was super cool as well. However, I have revisited this bar on a couple of different occassion since then as I live on Capitol Hill.. I can tell you that Friday nights are full of pretencious trendy twats to say the least. I was treated like a tourist on both occasions. Charged 10.00 for a watered down double whiskey and coke. The second time I visited on a Friday I was already buzzed and the asshole at the door hassled me about getting in. I just wanted one drink, I wasn't there to see the bands, but offered to pay the cover to just get a drink. The door guy treated me like a bitch and threatened to give my money back because I was "too buzzed." I have never been denied entry to a bar because I was buzzed or even drunk.
All in all, Friday and Saturday at The Comet is lame and a waste of money and time. As for the bands, I've never been inclined to be in there longer than 20 minutes.
I did love the seedy bar thing, bathrooms and cielings were horrid and beautiful. I wish it was a better place to hang.
This place has been called the Seattle CBGB's and it certainly is - though maybe a little cleaner.
If you like your punk rawk hard and your bars raunchy, this is the place.
There are no small plates, no microbrews (that I could find), no gastropub fare, no shoegazer tolerance, no air freshener in the bathrooms, etc etc - and I like it.
It is what it is and makes no apologies.
Most of the music that comes through here is darn good ... but use your discretion because "different strokes for different folks" and sometimes the Comet strokes until it bruises. Some like it rough.
There is a really great grunge/garage revival thing going on here, and great psych/genre unnamed??!! bands come through here on tour.
The smell of bleach outside this place can be kind of overwhelming. So can the hot dog stand perched on the corner right outside - you might get sucked in. You are guaranteed to make at least one bad lifestyle choice in a night out here.
I really didn't think I would like this place much. I wouldn't even go in at first and instead had my boyfriend take me to Quinn's across the street to wait for friends to show up. Said friends appeared, I went in, the band was playing, and I was liking Comet Tavern!
Getting a drink took absolutely forever, though. One of those order-two-at-a-time places.
I also wouldn't dare go into the restroom. You could just tell they were going to be disgusting. After a while though, I finally just had to go and surprise! They were clean! I was fooled again.
Give Comet Tavern a chance. It looks scary, but it won't bite!
If you have to see a show here, well, then you have to.
But don't come in here for any other reason. Case in point:
I'm seeing a show at Neumo's. The opening act is a real loser, so we duck out to grab a drink at the nearest next place: The Comet. Dude behind the bar is not cool, he's not a hipster; he's more of a fat headed fratboy, but he's got massive attitude and proceeds to ignore the shit out of us. We get an order in, two gin and tonics. The drinks come, and they are approximately 99.96% pure.... tonic water. I've never had a drink so weak in my life. He won't tell us the price, and he never again looks our way. The bar is almost entirely empty, but bighead the bartender is busy chatting up a cute girl who appears to be there with a date of her own. Finally after I shout at him for the second or third time I get him to tell us how much we're down for our shitty drinks, and pay him.
The good news was, we got back to Neumo's just as the opener left the stage, and we got a pretty decent spot for the headliner. So, I give the Comet its one star for being close enough to Neumo's that we didn't miss the show.
Every time I go here it's like a bitch slap to my common sense.
It's filthy, the drinks suck, and it's full of awful, unwashed people. Clearly I should leave.
But my friends play shows there. So I have to stay.
But every part of my body is screaming at me to run away. Run!
But I have to support my artsy musician friends. They're so cute.
But that drooling dude in the corner just gave me a "come hither" look. Eww. . .
Sigh. I'll keep going as long as my friends insist on playing there, but I won't like it.
Four stars for the memories and for the sweet bartenders, but if I were granting stars based on recent experiences here I'd probably dole out a few less. As you probably know, the Comet recently came under new ownership, and consequently gained a credit card machine, some hard liquor and a new paint job on the walls - all of which I could really care less about. I guess my real question is this: If you can afford to put a fancy jukebox full of crappy NOW cds on the wall, why the fuck can't you get around to fixing the girls bathroom? For the last six months, there's only been one working stall at a time, which is infuriating every single time.
Also, I really miss karaoke Wednesdays.
But this is a great place to join a football pool.
I used to think that strong drinks were what I wanted. Now that I'm a little older, a little wiser, and still a wuss when it comes to the taste of liquor, I appreciate mixers. Hell, if I didn't want any tonic, I would have just ordered a vodka and vodka. But, alas, I ordered a vodka tonic and got a shit ton of vodka and a weeee bit of tonic. Maybe 4 drops.
I should preface by saying that this is during the Capitol Hill Block party. I'm sure most rules go out the window when you have masses of people coming in and out. Not to mention high pressured water guns being utilized in the bar.
This place also seemed quite dirty. I'm not sure what it is like at night, but during the day, things can be seen in a much better light. It's not pretty.
Thank god I didn't have to use the bathroom.
Cool tattoos though, ladies. You inspire me. Or maybe I was just drunk.
This place is great.
I love this place now and I've loved it for years.
Years ago - when this place was more like my living room than a bar - if you could scrounge up enough $$ for a schooner, you'd be set up all night. This place was quite happenin'. Especially on Tues. Lord, I have no idea why.
Now, you can see bands play where they used to have a dartboard. I can safely say I never saw a single person ever play darts there. But that's great!
It's kinda dirty, they only take cash, and I guess that the pool table doesn't work (this would explain the dudes using it to read newspapers).
That being said, where else can you enjoy a band from a couple feet away, standing face to face with the singer? That's awesome. Grab a pitcher and enjoy.
I do love a bar with lots of character, and bartenders that actually pour my whisky and cokes with an acceptable ratio. If I wanted a soda, I'd order a soda. When I order booze, I want to bloody well taste it, and strongly. I know many others out there may not appreciate that, and prefer to cover up their booze. But, if like me, you like your drinks properly strong, this is a good place to go see a show. Normally I have to tip really well for one or two nights before my drinks consistantly arrive this strong.
Nice.
A great, quality dive, that I will definitely check out again.
For a real piece of music history this place is brimming with attitude and memories. Nirvana, The Gits, Soundgarden, to name a few have played here. I love the casual attitude and the down to earth decor. It's amazing to be in and the sign is priceless. Loved just having a look around but unfortunately was not in long enough to catch a live band.
My band has played here a few times. It's always fun and I have no problems with the sound guys or the service. Sure, there's attitude, but you can bitch about it with your band mates later and get it out of your system. The big problem is that when you play they give you drink tickets worth NOTHING. You can get a well drink or a cheap beer. It's fucking insulting to play a joint and not get any drink I want for free. Ok, maybe not the top shelf stuff, but no Manny's? You only get two tickets so there's no big loss for them. I don't get it, Comet.
My favorite venue on the 'Hill. The Comet has been booking great local and national bands with outright fury since 2007-2008. The venue itself could use a little work with the sound, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it, Chances are 99% that you'll be standing right in front of the band you came to see -seeing that the "stage is about 12" high and only big enough for a drum kit.
Be sure to bring cash as they DO NOT TAKE CARDS!!!
This is the best dive bar/ small venue to see music in Seattle. It's loud, they only serve beer and wine, and they only take cash. Plus there are dollar bills tacked to the ceiling.
If you want to see great music that's a little edgy, go to the Comet on the week end. Bring earplugs, because It's really loud, but the sound is spectacular. I think all the old wood absorbs the sound enough to have it loud but not too loud for the room. The stage is also only big enough for the drummer so there is no separation between the crowd and the band.
The place is run down, but it has character, good local music, and a good beer selection. What else would you want from a dive bar.
Okay, the pool tables may be garbage, but they're available, and they're only 50 cents. I would rather play on their shitty table than have to challenge some pool master for a table at Linda's.
I give this bar 5 stars because I don't go there for quality and a perfectly smooth pool table, I go there when I'm drunk and I want to spill beer.
Plus they will play entire albums on the stereo, which I feel is awesome.
I have been a comet fan since 1982...
when sam was the owner and might still be, and a huge cast of great bartenders made it fun. even Alice, in the back corner... dark and serious.
we lived through a shoot out on new years eve , one gun, one idiot..
13th ave cops where right on the money.
1 pitcher of HARP and a roll of nickles to to toss....we openend and closed that place from 1982 through 1993...
KXRX and the screaming tree's...
i will never forget it.
it has changed, I went back in 2003 after my last visit ever in 1993..
Vinnie, if your still there, we love ya..
Mark and Randy..
rip 19and something...
It's a decent enough dive bar, ok selection of taps but pretty average. The reason it doesn't get another star is due to the collection of knobs that made up the clientele when I was there. Jeezus it's like they thought they were LA elite or something. The funny thing was that when you really drilled into it with them, for all their pride in being 'locals' half of them came from Indianapolis or some other such place.
Christ it's a dive bar, not an elite social club. Get over it. Of course, that's not the bar's fault, but being from Chicago I just am not used to that kind of BS.
The Comet Tavern is one to the few bars in Capital Hill I actually like. It's grubby and rock&roll. The beer is cheap. Cash only. Some bartender attitude, but that's to be expected because all bartenders are arrogant assholes. The Comet has been booking good shows recently too, though the sound quality is awful. And the shows start late; you can wait until the sun goes down to go out, just like the people who live in real cities do.
A drunk at the Comet told me one night while I was trying to pay for my drink at the bar that it became world famous for its selection of port.
I don't like port.
PS - Are they EVER going to fix the pool table in the back? (You know, the one that is so slanted that the worst pool player in the world can always sink a corner shot?)
It's a cruel, cruel world. If you need proof of this, then go into the women's restroom at The Comet. So gross I was THIS close to hyperventilating. Ladies, please, tampons do not go on the ceiling.
I never have to worry about being dressed up enough when I'm here, so that's a plus. It has great shows, although I've only been to one. I have never been to the bathroom, because I know better.
A Seattle insititution despite it's seedy reputation. Another great neighborhood bar, an awesome place to see your friend's band play because you can actually SEE, and....IT'S THE COMET FOR CRIPE'S SAKE.
Neighborhood: First Hill
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: First Hill
Category: Bars
Neighborhood: Ballard
Category: Dive Bars
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Category: Dive Bars
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