Clever Dunnes

Holy Guacamole Clever Dunnes has new food!
Soooo there’s a new menu with super delicious food, they even brunch starting at 10am on Saturdays & Sundays now. Six TVs with multiple football games playing, new darts & pool cues, and seriously some of the best bar food/​brunch I’ve had in a minute, plus bartenders that know what they’re doing (stiff drinks.)
Come drink and eat yourself stupid at the updated but forever dive-​y Dunnes.

This review is for food delivery. I reluctantly ordered food from this place last Friday night. I say reluctantly because I rarely order from anywhere that has a $ 5 delivery charge that I’m not familiar with. But they were the only ones that had burgers and fish/​chips for delivery.
WoW! was I pleasantly surprised. Within 30 min the delivery driver called (following my Eat24 special instructions, they seldom do) and 10 min later I had my food.
The Burger was so big I had to cut it in half to eat it and was delicious. I ordered salad instead of fries and it was fresh and tasty. The fish and chips were perfect, large battered cod fillets, golden brown with just the right crispness. The only thing I can say adversely is that the fries that you could tell were originally cooked just right were a little soggy. This was definitely due to the packaging which didn’t allow moisture to escape. I called the restaurant, they told me it was a problem they were trying to overcome. I therefore changed my 4 stars to 5.
Thanks guy for a great meal.

Just ate at Clever Dunnes. Yes it is a dive bar. However — the food might be the best bar food in Seattle. I just had a Bella Salad with romaine, edamame, Parmesan, tomato, bacon, croutons, and chicken. Absolutely fantastic. My husband had a bacon cheese burger. They come on a very gourmet bun. He said it was one of the best burgers he has had.
Give this bar a chance. Good drink prices. Great bartenders and location. AMAZING food.

OVERALL A++
Let me absolutely honest… I ordered a Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup and didn’t show up until the latest forecasted pick up time only to find out upon arrival that something vague and terrible happened and there would be a delay.
The fellow who told me this was visible uncomfortable which instantly endeared him to me due to my own years in the industry. I enjoy a beverage or two so I saddled up to the bar only to be further charmed by the lively and colorful conversations occurring around me.
Well, after a Vodka Tonic and nip of the well whiskey I had my dinner in hand… and well, GODDAMN it exceeded all expectations!!! I believe it may be the the best goddamn grilled cheese and (slightly spicey) tomato bisque I have ever had the pleasure of ravishing.

Reasonably priced (much better than just across the street) but comes with other costs. This place is also a bit more divey than the Montana bar across the street but the air flow and temperature of the place is much better due to architecture and space.
It felt «clicky» during my visit here. Many regulars that know the bartender (maybe they were staff) but there is an easy hierarchy of service. So if you want to be in with the good here, go often but other than that, it slides on the scale of suck if you’re a newbie. The service is rude so be very nice and they will come around. Kind of rough and straight forward in a way, if they were looking for a dive bar theme, they have got it down on service.
Billiard table is available and fun to play around since they have a dedicated space in which you’re not bumping up on other customers which is pretty rare in the seattle bar scene (due to space constraints).
Food quality is not that great but above bar quality average. if you’re in line for drinks, be patient while regulars cut in front of you.
What you see is what you get at this bar, I wish I could give it more stars as I love dive themed bars. It is misleading as the sign seems fancier than the inside of this place and located on a corner lot. A-​OK in my book even with the bad service just because of value in price and neat atmosphere.

The food is TERRIBLE.
Arrives SOGGY and BELOW ROOM TEMP and UTTERLY INEDIBLE.
I was so disappointed because in the past I ordered food here and it would be fresh and hot. Now it arrives as a soggy disgusting inedible mess.

We ordered a hamburger with fries and fish & chips. Both meals were disgusting. Waste of money and I won’t be surprised if we get food poisoning. I didn’t finish it nor did my husband.
Delivery driver didn’t even come to the door in spite of the call box instructions. He asked us to come down.
Yuck!

Favorite neighborhood bar! Cheap drinks, great food (happy hour is where it’s at) and plenty of room. The bartenders are always chill it usually only gets packed on the weekends.

So the Dunnes is a dump, this is true. But on the upside you can always find a place to sit, grab a cheap ass drink, scarf down some surprisingly good cheese curds and more often than not someone has loaded the juke box with 90’s hip hop. Also a plus that most of the bartenders are super cool. Great place to shed the shackles of the normal Capitol Hill pretentiousness and just drink.
Side note — pretty raucous place to catch a Seahawks game.

Go to place for me. Great food. Great beer. Pool table, darts. People are pretty cool here! Great location. I heard they have a trivia tuesday I think.

my favorite bar on capital hill. I love almost everyone on staff! friendly witty and kind they only cut me off when I deserve it! great burgers and wings!

Service by bartender was quick and friendly. They seemed to be more on the expensive side but great atmosphere. We sat right by the big window and got a great breeze. It was awesome since it was a hot day. Definitely some bar games there, bit didn’t play any

This is a go to place for my coworkers and I. Happy hour ends at 6 and we usually have a few drinks and appetizers by then. Cheap drinks and food and it can usually fit 6 – 8 of us with no wait around 4:30−5. Nothing too special about the food or drinks, just a good place to bs/​vent about work lol

This place recently opened up near my office so I had to try it out. They’ve got a decent happy hour (with both drink and food specials) that goes until 7pm (so it’s perfect for people who don’t start HH right at 4−5pm). Here’s my thoughts:
Their irish nachos ($ 8 on HH) were pretty good — corned beef on potato chips — and perfect for sharing. Also, I don’t remember drinks being weirdly expensive either. The «bar» definitely feels a lot more like a restaurant — I remember thinking the venue was too well lit for being an Irish Pub but it’s not a deal breaker. Would be interested to see how it fares on the weekends.
I’ll be back because the service has been solid and it’s so conveniently located for me. It’s a good spot for a low key hangout. I also like this spot because it seems like they would treat «regulars» well — I love «neighborhood bars» and this definitely feels like one.
PS I’ve been there for lunch as well. The «side salad» (a $ 2 up charge if you get an entrée) is much larger than a normal side salad (so good bang for your buck). I would order that again. Their mac n’ cheese, on the other hand, I would not recommend unfortunately. I think the corn beef, mixed with the ale cheese sauce (or whatever it was) was not the best combination.

One of the better Irish pubs around. Clever Dunne’s has an authentic atmosphere and a laid back vibe. Lots come here to eat — we only enjoyed a few beers before heading on our way. This is a good place to avoid huge lines on the weekends.

Nope. My friend and I came here for the first time to meet up with some friends on a Saturday night. The beer selection was decent and prices were fine, but the last 15 minutes of the night is where Clever Dunne’s lost me.
Our other friends left around 1AM and my friend and I spent the next 45 minutes sipping our beers and chatting. The place was mostly empty. The overhead lights came on a bit earlier than I expected and I looked at my phone — it was only 1:45 AM. Not two minutes later, a bouncer comes over and tells us flat out to finish our drinks immediately. He wasted no time jumping to, «Do you guys have tabs? Settle them… now.»
I’m sorry, but being rude to some quiet patrons 15 minutes prior to closing time does not win you customers. I’ll never be back, especially considering I realized after getting up to the bar that the wall clock is intentionally set 10 or 15 minutes ahead. Clever Dunne’s, try not to be such jerks to your clientele and you might actually have more people willing to spend their money on your drinks.

Average, A OK place. Solid, not quite a dive, but pretty close. It doesn’t really stand out amongst some of the very overdone bars in Capitol Hill, but that isn’t a bad thing. Nice space to hang out, have a couple beers, watch a game, read (yeah, I read in bars after work, don’t judge me), and people watch from the large windows. Bartenders pour a heavy handed drink if you order hard A.

My one and only experience at this place included a very, very drunk acquaintance being served a ridiculous amount of booze. I was appalled by the copious amounts of liquor that was served to this woman even though I (and another member of our group) clearly told the bartender that she should be cut off. We stopped ordering drinks for ourselves and started trying to contain the drunken one to wrangle her home.
I ended up grabbing a cab home before things got completely out of hand, leaving her in the bar with another friend who lived close and planned to share a cab with her.
Apparently, the bar continued to serve this inebriated woman.
Our friend got her home but was told by the bartender that this is a regular occurrence at that establishment with this woman. It seems like an irresponsible way to run a business.
I’ve never been back to the bar and never been out with that acquaintance again. Once was enough, thank you very much.

Average spot. With so many better options in the area, I pass this place a lot. It’s a fun bar if you’re into Irish pubs. Especially on St Paddys Day. Fun trivia nights as well.
I hate to sound negative though, this is a cozy, large bar. There are tons of regulars and I have a few friends that frequent this spot a lot. So don’t pass it up with at least checking it out. Just don’t expect anything too fancy or too quiet. It’s a great, low key hangout.

Hey! It’s a bar.
Sort of strangley spaced, with lots of booze and tv’s sort of bar. I somehow got finagled into coming here for a Seahawks game — and even though sports aren’t usually my thing I had a good time here. Drank beers. Hooted and Hollered. You know how it goes.
I may like this place more than I should because they have a painting of Father Ted on the wall. Oh, and they play Adventure Time episodes apparently late night before last call. Now that’s cool.