The Sitting Room
Categories: Wine Bars, Lounges, Tapas Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: Queen Anne108 W Roy St
Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 285-2830
- Hours:
Tue-Wed 5:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Thu 5:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat 5:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Sun 5:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Best Nights: Thu, Fri, Sat
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
59 Reviews for The Sitting Room
One of The Sitting Room's Favorite Reviews
Here's a little story about my blind date at The Sitting Room...
***** On the phone before the date *****
Him: Let's meet at 7 at The Sitting Room.
Me: (thinking, perfect, good place, he's decisive...) That works for me.
Him: Wear nice shoes.
Me: Excuse me? Wear nice shoes?
Him: Yeah.
Me: (slightly confused) Ok...
***** At the date *****
Him: (arrives late, swaggers in, sits down) Why didn't you order me a drink?
Me: (stunned... flustered!) Well... that would have been presumptuous... I don't know what you drink. I probably would have ordered wine and maybe you don't drink wine.
Him: Yeah, I don't drink wine. You would have been in trouble.
Me: (thinking, who is this guy?!) Excuse me, before this date proceeds, I need to understand the "wear nice shoes" comment. Who says that? I need an explanation.
Him: I think you liked it.
Me: (definitely flustered now) What?! No! Seriously, who says that? Why did you say that?
Him: Well... it's just that this is a nice place and it would be inappropriate for you to wear running shoes or something.
Me: Ok, a) it's weird that you'd assume I'd wear tennis shoes if you had not instructed me otherwise and b) we live in SEATTLE! Even if I did wear running shoes, no one would care!
(everything goes downhill - WAY downhill - from there, but I got a great story out of the evening)
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Things I love about the Sitting Room:
1) Great location - Queen Anne but not right smack dab, so you can actually find parking with a little patience; close to bus routes too for those nights when you have one too many glasses of wine or for when you need to dash out of a bad date - just claim that you have a bus to catch
2) Great atmosphere - Nice lighting, comfy seating, just generally a nice feel to it
3) Good menu with options for sharing with a group
4) Nice neighborhood place - There are regulars here but not so many that you feel like you're interrupting a private party if you're not a regular
5) Friendly servers... who are happy to confirm that it's fine for anyone to wear tennis shoes, even if they are a little casual - I asked!
6) Finally, I love that I've had enough very pleasant evenings at The Sitting Room to wipe out any bad associations I might otherwise have due to one bad date
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Yes, ambiance lures you into a bar, but service keeps you there. I'm happy to say that our server handled every curve ball we threw him with aplomb - our group started out as four, then became 9 in fits and spurts, then shrunk back down to four by the end of the night, and every one of us was promptly attended to throughout the evening. We even ended up ordering another full round at closing time because the server was patient enough to let us make up our minds to do so.
Also, if you can't bear the lines outside the door for Salumi, you can come here instead and get a Salumi Salami appetizer. They were generous with the cornichons and it makes perfect group snacking while you speculate as to why the pseudo-couples keep getting up and going to the bathroom in groups.
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Perfectly cozy for a neighborhood happy hour spot. One block from home is a bar with great specials both for eats & drinks. My gal pals and I were in search of martinis to toast many reasons to celebrate. Great small plates and nice, strong cocktails. The service was friendly & welcoming. You can see that the clientele walks to the bar from their lower Queen Anne apartments to join friends for a nice, casual outing. I can see myself sitting at the bar enjoying a drink and reading the paper or finishing a crossword puzzle.
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In one word: classy.
I love this spot. It is perfect for (strong!) cocktails with close friends and/or a glass of wine (or two or...) with a date. The menu is tapas-like and I've always enjoyed the food. This isn't the place for the Ozzy's crowd, but is less snooty than 10 Mercer. Minus one star for not having a full menu. The table service can be a little spotty if it's crowded, but no problem at all on slower evenings or before the On the Boards audience/cast shows up.
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What a great find in LQA! The Sitting Room is one of those places that reminds you why you live in the city. This is an intimate space to grab a quiet cocktail over some conversation with a date or a friend or two. Upscale without being snotty and casual without being low brow. The staff is unobtrusive but they have a sixth sense when it comes to knowing when you want another round. The cocktails were perfect for pre-dinner and the bartender knows how to make the classics in a vodka Redbull-dominated world. They serve a light menu, which I have not tried but looked appetizing. My only complaint and the reason for 4/5 stars is that they are closed Mondays, which if you need a happy hour, Monday is usually the day. Beyond that, I love the place.
I liked the environment at the sitting room. The server made great wine recommendations. Their menu needs some help. You can have a small menu, but still still offer variety-a concpt they need to explore. Everything seemed to have common ingredients and common flavors. Gourmet cooking is a hobby of mine and I remember the day I realized I was in a rut and that everything I was making seemed to taste the same. I was drawn to the same flavors and no matter how my meal was planned always went down the path of what was becoming my signature flavor. It became predictable. I've emerged from this and really had to step outside my comfort zone and not think about what I like when I'm cooking. I feel like this restaurant is in the "restaurant version of this 'rut.'"
We ordered antipasti and tapanade. The tapanade was on the antipasti dish and the separate tapanade didn't have anything extra (but some yummy crackers) so we had lots of tapenade. Still hungry we ordered a cheese platter. The cheese we got was the same cheese that came with the antipasti, garnished with the same things as the other two apetizers...This continued with the meats... Even if the cheese would have been accompanied by a fruit spread or honey (something sweet) it would have changed everything. I feel like no matter what we ordered we got the same thing and it tasted the same.
Maybe I'm beating a dead horse, but I don't know how to best describe where they went wrong, if you haven't had a similar experience. Poor menu planning, perhaps. I feel like maybe they have a small kitchen, limited sorage...A talented chef could make it happen with less.
Ihope you appreciate where I'm coming from. I hope they fix this because this place has a lot of potential, but for now its a cute place to go for drinks before or after dinner. And don't waste your time or money ordering more than one thing because they all taste the same.
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This place was a welcome surprise when I moved to LQA. It was a five minute walk from my apartment and it was a good standby when I couldn't think of any other place to go with friends, or just a mellow place to hang out on a week night.
One of the best first dates I ever had was here. We actually ended the night at Sitting Room with cocktails and Scrabble and I got my ass beat on triple letter scores.
Definite pluses: great staff, cheese plate, outdoor seating, people watching
I really enjoy the Sitting Room when it isn't overcrowded with people going to a Seattle Center event. I like that they don't do the "no happy hour specials during Seattle Center event nights" unlike other LQA establishments (I'm looking at you, 10 mercer), especially since I live in the LQA and seldom attend Seattle Center festivities.
My favorite time to visit is when it is sunny & warm outside and the garage door is open. It's one of the few bars I could imagine being perfectly comfortable hanging at alone for an extended period of time.
As somewhat of a Francophile, I'm a sucker for bars like the Sitting Room. I was taken by the attention to detail put into making this place. The bistro tables with the authentic ornate table bases and marble tops. Light fixtures, artwork, WC signs it's all here to give you the feeling you are in France. They even use a pot Lyonnaise for their wine service and I've also noticed a couple of European accented servers.
The place has a nice feeling to it. After work it is frequently crowded. Late night really cool feel with the dim lighting. Summertime the front opens up for an outdoor experience.
With this great atmosphere, ambiance, it's too bad about the spotty service. It's been OK to poor. Slow getting to you and often a painfully long wait to get your drinks. We witnessed our drinks sitting on the bar for close to 10 minutes before our server brought them to us. On one occasion, we paid our tab with a couple of twenty's, waiter gave us change for $30 and didn't come back. When he finally did, and we pointed out his "error" he didn't bat an eye or even apologize and just nodded his head and gave us a ten, he knew it all along.
The small plates are good but nothing too special. Perfectly adequate bites to go along with your drinks. Nice selection of European wines by the glass. Happy hour gets you a glass their current house wine for $4. If they upgraded their food service a bit and improved the level of the wait staff more than a bit, this would be my favorite bar in the city. Parking can be an issue.
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On this weekend's trip to Seattle, I was fighting the cough from hell. I think the fact that it was chilly bones jones cold all weekend wasn't helping and so to combat the coughs and the runny nosage, my friend and i decided that a Hot Tottie would fix me right up!
And so we traveled to this little place and ordered a round up, along with a few nibblies. We ordered the Bruschetta with blue cheese, pears and walnuts on a toasty, tasty bread, the salumi plate which was yummy with the cornichons and the olive tapenade. All were deelish, but the standout one was definitely the Bruschetta. Apparently they change it all the time, but this was one I will be stealing for my next dinner party.
As for the place it is pretty sweet. Apparently it's a converted old mechanic's garage and they kept the theme going with the pull up door in the front, which was pretty neat. I also really liked the interior and the warm vibe it possessed. Very unique and comfortable.
It's a great spot, so check it out!
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Ulta chill. Romantic lighting. Plenty of seating. Delicious libations such as the Sage Greyhound. Come here and swoon over your date half the night. It's sexy.
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Four of us tried the Sitting Room on Saturday night and had a wonderful time. When we arrived the place was pretty well packed, but the host came right up to us to help find us a seat! A few of us were hungry and ordered their antipasti plate and pate. Antipasti plate was delicious, the pate was not so good. I tried one of their signature cocktails, a pomegranate cosmo. Nice idea, but perhaps with muddled lime it would have been better. The wine list was fabulous, and other than being a bit of a noisy room, the ambiance is great. I would definitely go back and bring more people!!
The Sitting Room is great! Perfect neighborhood bar with a happy hour going from 5-7pm. Draft beer - $3.50, house red/white wine - $4. The food is more European (salami, bread, tapas, cheese plates) etc. which is pretty good and reasonably priced.
The place is kind of dark, which I love. So cozy. Comfortable seating - get the couch if you can. It's always busy, but I've never seen it PACKED. Go there now while it's still slightly undiscovered and you'll love it!
Okay, so here's the reason for the 4 stars and not the 5 stars...........
All was good, great happy hour......and so on.
The draughts were three and half dollars and the smell of tapas ruled the air...My god what luxury in the quaint part of Queen Anne!
Drinks were great, however, I could've done without the roller derby practice session going on upstairs.....ARGH!!!!!
Not the kind of place I frequent, but!...
I always end up here at the tail end of a date where I'm nursing them back to the here and now of sober-land. The server/service has always been nice, and they're surprisingly not put off - though I manage to stay pretty coherent which I'm sure helps.
Drinks are good, people are nice.
Food, I have no idea.
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This place is all ambiance. It's warm and inviting, and a great place to pull up a chair and chat for hours with a friend who has a good sense of humor.
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I went to The Sitting Room on Friday evening with a friend. We arrived at 5:30. There were plenty of tables available. The atmosphere is mellow, not too dark. Our server was pleasant. The food was light and just enough. The prices are affordable. I will definitely return!
I had my first visit to the sitting room quite recently, and I will definitely be back. I was too late to enjoy their tasty-sounding menu of appetizers, but I can't wait!
I had several delicious cocktails, but didn't feel like I was in a "cruisey" bar.... just a cool place to relax and unwind after a long day.
The wine list seemed a little pricey and nothing caught my eye- this looks like the perfect spot for a cosy little wine bar, too, so it suprised me although I suppose I should taste them before judging.
Also... cute bartender.
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I came here after a dinner date for dessert and wine. The ambiance is mostly what shoots this up to four stars, because the wine list is just ok. The desert (as far as I can remember) was a fruit tart and was quite tasty.
I kept eyeing everyone else's stuff and all the little appetizer bites looked great. I don't know about sitting in the back...I think the little tables by the window are where its at. This is a perfect date place or good for catching up with friends. Very lo-key so don't expect a rager over here.
Also, don't expect great service...the night we were in it was impossible to find or flag down our waiter....we just had to be patient, but the more time I live in this city the less it bothers me....meh.
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Another great QA neighborhood place. I love the Happy Hour when I can make it. All of the small plates I have tried have been great.
Friendly staff. Nice atmosphere. Like the low lighting. Nice place to relax with friends or significant other after work or later. Has never seemed like a meat market.
I'm generally disappointed with the bars in Seattle. Most Seattle bars are just packed with loud, pretentious, drunken idiots, who drink just to get drunk and hit on anything with legs. The Sitting Room is not like this however. It's one of the only chill bars I've found in Seattle where you can actually go in, sit back, and enjoy good conversation and food with friends without having to shout over the crowd or the annoying house music. It's kind of pricy though which costs it a star.
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Annoyingly hovering yet somehow also slow service.
20% Service charge assigned to bar service (and perhaps others) which is likely why everything is so slow and bitchy; they're getting paid no matter what they do.
I would think that this place would be more comfortable with a name like "the sitting room." I was thinking there might be places to sit instead of little high perched stools that made me feel like some kind of alcoholic vulture.
House cocktails seem alright if you dont mind $9 drinks. If they were better, I would say more about them.
Noisy, uncomfortable, and expensive while remaining boring. Quite a feat.
I will not be returning.
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It is probably a good thing that the Sitting Room is nowhere near my neighborhood or I would go broke hanging out here every night, devouring cheese and wine like a bohemian French(woman). Instead I get to treat myself when I'm in the QA hood, and therefore I look forward to it even more. I was here last weekend for a long overdue visit prior to HUMP 3 (which I don't recommend and will never attend again) and it was just as lovely as always. My friend and lounged on a comfy couch for 2 hours enjoying happy hour wine and apps. A lovely pinot was matched with an excellent cheese plate, a sublime quince and goat cheese bruschetta, a salumi meat platter and a fantastic pate. The bill? $40. When I am going back? As soon as possible.
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My first visit to the Sitting Room took about 20 seconds. We went in, looked for seating and then left because there weren't any.
I didn't go back for quite a while. But when I did, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. They have a great happy hour with delectable appetizers. I indulged in the European Cheese Board, red wine and European Smoked Salmon.
We were only going for an appetizer and ONE glass of wine. Yeah right. That one turned into three real fast!
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The sitting room is a great place to relax with friends or take a date for some cozy conversation. It's dimly lit and cute as hell inside. I always sit at the bar and have a few glasses of cheap wine for happy hour. The bartenders are always willing to chat, and one sweet girl let my husband and I pester her with questions about France (where she was from) for an hour.
The menu is limited but very tasty for a light snack - a great cheese plate and some good salads.
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Love their cucumber pureed gin cocktail. Very refreshing during the summer months. Great place to relax and enjoy good conversation. Cocktails are pricey but well worth it. My only qualm with the place- you can use more couches. It is after all named The Sitting Room.
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Ah, Sitting Room. You were my first "grown-up" bar. After moving into my tiny studio apartment, I decided to find a bar I could call my own. Ozzies was tried, and even enjoyed for a bit, but the immature crowd and over salted bar food grew tiresome.
I then discovered the Sitting Room, right around the corner. The "Happy Hour 5 - 7" sign brought me in, but it was the atmosphere, the hip and friendly staff, and the food and wine that kept me going back for years. Unfamiliar and unpronouceable foods were intimidating for a novice such as me at first. The Sitting Room soon became the favorite place for friends and neighbors. I miss those cold rainy nights having a half price glass of house red, bowl of hot soup and anti pasta plate.
The Sitting Room is great for: after work drinks, light meals, and a cozy place to hang out with friends. They serve an excellent cheese plate, and Salumi salami, not to be missed. Homemade soups are very good, and there is a different bruscetta feature each week.
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I love the ambience. Just the general amber tone of the lighting--it's dark and comfy. And it makes me feel like I've been transported back to Europe. Could be London; could be Paris. I take any cool visiting friends here.
Their menu is lovely and over the past 4 years has changed a lot. They used to have lovely soups and paninis, now it's very light appetizers, but they are high end and low price. I long for the days when they were in kahoots with the French pastry chef though. Ah well.
I could easily give them a 5 but the fact that the staff seems to revel in being SLOW in an attempt to be, what ... more European? No, it just equals inattentive no matter how you analyze it. I do appreciate being left to enjoy my drink/conversation/meal without feeling rushed, but some nights it's just bad behavior. Surely it doesn't cover all the waitstaff, but I've experienced it with three different servers over 4 years so I began to fear it was endemic. Not as if it's keeping me away though.
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I prefer squatting or hunching. Where is my room.
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Super pricey and totally crappy service. It is one thing to over-charge if the service is good or the atmosphere, but come on.
The cheese plate is embarrassing, go to Whole Foods and you can buy 4 times as much for the same price.
The beer is okay, the cocktails are weak. I was really dissappointed. We have tried this place multiple times but everytime we end up saying "why did we go there again?"
The staff is some of the most rude, ignorant and non-interested as I have found, everytime I have gone.
How could I not know about this place for so very long? It is such a cute little neighborhood bar tucked into Queen Anne. The Sitting Room is very reminicent of the small neighborhood bar I went to in Spain and even has tapas and salted almonds!
The drinks went down a little too quickly, and the menu is compelling enough to come back for more. Tasty!
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Small bars are always the best bars. This place isn't incredibly small but it does not seem to encourage large crowds...if there is a place for you and your group to sit..take a 'SIT" and enjoy a fine cocktail.
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Just went there for a quick drink. Ended up getting the delicious cheese plate also. Cool waitress, good drinks selection. Parking's a bear, but it's lower QA.
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Good for sitting indeed!!! The atmosphere was warm and inviting and our waitress was very knowledgeable about the drinks. The guys I was with were all swooning over her faint British accent. This is a great place to sit back, grab some strong drinks and catch up with friends.
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I truly enjoy hanging out here, the atmosphere has this laid back European feel about it which I love. The armchair and couches are great to relax and hang out with friends. They have a small but good wine list and the snacks they offer are a great way to start or end the night. I always leave happy and content from The Sitting Room I just wish I lived closer to it.
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This is in my neighborhood so I have to be biased :)
I really like this place it's a great place for a date, or for a more intimate setting with friends. They have plenty of seating and on warm days have a few tables outside.
Their food is mediocre at best, and their happy hour is really only useful for drinks.
I love the sofas they have there where you can sit and lounge for hours over cocktails and beer.
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Perfect neighborhood spot. Great lighting and overall atmosphere. Yummy cheese plate and lox. Staff is always friendly. Can be crowded during happy hour, but usually have no trouble finding a table late in the evening.
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Chill lounge ambience
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I am so lucky. I live less than 2 blocks away from the Sitting Room. I don't have to twist my Capitol Hill/Eastlake/Other hood's friends' arms to meet me there.
Awesome place to go with girlfriends, boyfriends, dates, alone, parents, or anyone else for that matter.
Love the food, love the drinks (although for some reason I always feel they are pricey, which they really aren't- I think it's the chic french atmosphere which has me thinking 'rich'), love the glowing globe on the counter.
Hmm, can't really think of anything bad to say except I wish they were open Monday evenings as that always seems to be the night I walk my dog by and want to get a drink/food solo.
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A girlfriend and I tried the Sitting Room for a drink and quick dinner before catching a show at the Seattle Rep down the street. The first thing we noticed upon walking in was that the place smelled fabulous - not sure if it was the candles or some dessert baking, but it was definitely enticing and made us feel warm and welcomed!
We ordered off of the happy hour menu, which is a super deal. The house red wine was great for $4, and we were satisfied with our smoked salmon and cheese platter. I felt like the fruit was a little skimpy (4 or 5 apple slices?) on the cheese plate, but the cheese selection was yummy and ample for two people. They also had carrot-apple-ginger soup on the menu, which looked very tempting. We only had aboout 30 minutes before we had to leave for the show, and the service was prompt and friendly.
Would definitely recommend if you're in the neighborhood and looking for a small bite and a good drink selection. It's an ideal place for an intimate outing with a friend or date.
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