Merchants Cafe and Saloon

Been here a few times, one of my favorite places in town to grab grub and drink a couple pints in the process.
Tony is one of my favorite bartenders in Seattle. He’s quite attentive, friendly and always worthy of some great banter and storytelling.
Friendly hint: The Fettuccine Alfredo is pretty freaking great. Get it with grilled chicken, you’ll thank me later :).

We were happy to discover the comfy seating in the back (sofa and bench.) Our food was great. The internet was slow (but they do have it!) And the bathroom was terrifying (like so many bar bathrooms.) But the ladies’ bathroom was also completely devoid of toilet paper, so that sucked.

Me and my wife came to Seattle for our honeymoon and made sure we stopped here every night. Ask the bar tender Justin to make you something tell him what you like and he will make you something amazing without fail!!! Thank you Justin for the memories

Make that 4.5 stars.
We ate there Memorial Day.
Not crowded at all; food was very good to excellent. My wife, a devotee of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich declared theirs to be the best on the planet, and she knows whereof she speaks.
I had the meatloaf, substituting more vegetables for the rosemary mashed potatoes; again, both were very good to excellent.
So why not 5 stars?
Our appetizer, the wings (again: excellent!) did not arrive for over 20 minutes, and were served with the dinner. That’s all.
A special shout out to Tony and Justin, excellent wait staff, and the background music — nice, for my generation (Boomer) and sufficiently soft to allow conversation.

Great food and fantastic service! The building had some cool history too. Be sure to ask about it when you go in.

Server was great, t but the food was poor at best. Beer was warm, the avocado in the salad was old, the blue cheese dressing had zero blue cheese. Don’t bother!

My favorite bar in Seattle. The drinks are large and in charge, friendly but not obsequious bartenders. I always stop here if I have the chance. Plus its a beautiful room.

I went for the ghostly haunt but was excited about their online menu seletion. Boy was I disappointed when I saw the actual menu. This menu not only didn’t match what was posted but was filthy as was the table cloth… not too mention the table itself was unstable. The server was pleasant but in my opinion told a little white lie when he said they changed their menu two weeks ago… ummmmm, if that’s what your menus look like at two weeks your even dirtier than I thought. I paid 12 dollars to park to eat, have a drink, and enjoy the atmosphere but was disappointed. Left without eating.

Spent 3 nights staying in this awesome hotel. Rooms are amazing with all the amenities of home. Food in the bar was hot and fast. Drinks were cold and refreshing. Staff was friendly and service was fast. The décor is dated but isn’t it supposed to be that way. Everything was clean and comfortable. We will definately return! Thank you Darcy (owner) for letting us newcomers know about your rooms or I don’t think we would have enjoyed our stay in seattle as much as we did!

I was so pleased with Kats service. She made merchants my favorite bar to hang out. Thank you!

The café is eclectic and the service at the bar was «colorful». Not sure how else to put it. I’ve been here several times and it has been an ok experience. Love the size of the bar and love the theme. The fun attitude of the bar tender was interesting since I didn’t expect it. If it is supposed to be taken lightly, then perhaps advertising or communicating that you will get attitude would be helpful. . like the elbowroom café does. I felt more pressured than relaxed here but fortunately, found that the underground portion was open (which was awesome).
Prices are reasonable and seating is always abundant when I have visited. Bathrooms are downstairs. It’s easy not to find it at this bar.

I’m going to have to agree with Matthew S on this place. There were two people working the front area when we were in, however only one was actually working the bar (the other lady was sitting on her ass at it). I’m not sure if we pissed off our waitress when we first walked in or what (apparently we didn’t hear her telling us to sit wherever we wanted). The dining room was empty — there were a handful of patrons at the bar. My husband had to go up to the bar to get a second beer, I got no refill on my drink the entire meal. She didn’t bring the appetizer we ordered, she brought the wrong soup to the table. The tomato basil soup was basically a can of Ragu poured into a soup cup. My BLT had burnt bacon. The only thing that wasn’t messed up about my meal was my salad. My husbands fries were cold, and Mc Donald’s like. This is the kind of place you just want to get up and walk out from because the service is so slow and so terrible. I had an upset stomach after our visit here — I’m not sure if it was because of the price of the meal or the shitty food.

I got the taquuitos which where too greasy. The meat was «over broiled» the shell was dipped in oil.
My hubby got a veggie burger which had a yucky bun and old lettuce. The kids got a hidden burger which also had a yucky/​wet bun and old lettuce. Not recommending it

The oldest restaurant in Seattle is not still open on the reputation of its food or service. If it weren’t for the (misguided) recommendation of the local underground tour guides and the 10% discount promised, the restaurant would certainly have gone out of business ages ago.
Our server said barely a dozen words to us the entire time we were there, got our order wrong (not just the well done instead of medium rare, but brought out a whole different appetizer than we asked for – she at least removed the charge from our bill) and violated multiple health codes within feet of us (petting a dog that a friend brought in without washing her hands, drinking from an uncovered glass, not washing her hands after touching the insides of the trash can). When it would have been easy to provide us simple amenities like silver wear, napkins or condiments as she brought out the food, she told us to hold on when we asked for these things.
Ultimately, we could not finish our meals – not for being satiated, but rather from the food being unsavory and greasy. (I cannot believe that was wagyu beef, unless the cow’s name was Wagyu.)
She wasn’t in the weeds, the manager passed through several times, and food was coming out on time, so the kitchen wasn’t bottlenecked. This was simply shoddy service from start to finish.
And we didn’t get our 10% discount, neither did we fight for it.

This place is creepy as hell, even if you had no idea about its reputation for being haunted. But if you get past that feeling and are not creeped out by the downstairs bathroom, then you will find their food to be fantastic and the service to be excellent! Their happy hour is priced well too, and their chicken tenders are to die for! Such a unique menu, everything looks good and nothing disappoints.
But seriously, do not watch that Dead Files episode and then go, it does you know no good to think about that while you are going to the bathroom and in such a vulnerable state of dress.

Lovely and fun place to rent for a stay in Seattle. Close to all fun things and cheap. Lots of stairs but the ghosts and old world style make it a hoot. Love the staff in the bar!

I have not eaten here. Please see other reviews.
I moved to the Pioneer Square neighborhood in Seattle on a Sunday coming from Grand Forks, North Dakota and wanted to find my new local watering hole. I was looking for a decent bourbon and a local IPA in a bottle. I asked for recommendations and William, the bartender on staff, advised to try Brimstone, a corn whiskey made in Texas. This stuff was amazing, and paired well with Bale Breaker IPA. The beer was not bottled, as most local brews are in kegs, but William served it in a chilled pint glass. This is the oldest running bar /​restaurant in Seattle, and the experience has definitely been passed through the generations. An absolute must visit if you are in Pioneer Square.

Descriptive phrase: gritty pub.
Merchant’s Café and Saloon bills itself as Seattle’s oldest restaurant, and its age definitely shows. The outside of the building looks unchanged from 100 years ago, which is sort of charming and fits with a lot of the Yesler Square neighborhood. But the inside seems just as dated, which is not a plus. The décor definitely needs an update, and the whole place just seemed to need a good scrub-​down. I just kind of felt a bit dirty.
The service is friendly and the bar area seemed nice for a pint. We sat down at one of the tables for a meal. Tap beer was $ 4, and we decided to split a Beechers Salad ($ 7) and Angus Sliders ($ 8). The salad was their take on caprese, but with cheese curds instead of mozzarella. It was filling, and tasted fine. The sliders (3) were also well-​put-​together and not dry.
The food and service at Merchant’s Café is a solid «fine», but I won’t return for fine food in a place that seems a bit unclean and old. A cosmetic update could help.

Came here after the dreadful Seahawks SB loss, so spirits were low. But they happily served us drinks and food still, and surprisingly good food.
The bar is a bit run down and not super clean — has a divey feel to it. Music is good though, and the bartenders are talkative which I appreciate.
Fried cheese with honey is now one of my favorite things, thanks to Merchant’s. And it’s walking distance from my place… this could be dangerous!

Let’s get the elephant out of the room right away… yes, the Merchant’s does have some spirits who make themselves known to the living from time to time. But, if the only reason that you stop by is for the possibility of seeing a ghost, then you are cheating yourself of a wonderful experience.
After leaving Bellingham at 6 in the morning and spending most of that same morning at Pike’s Market with a friend who had a long layover at Seatac (on his way from Maui to Copenhagen … curse him), we had an afternoon to kill. So we decided to look around Pioneer Square and see what this little slice of history had to offer.
We decided to try out the Merchant’s because a) we had seen it on Dead Files and b) it looked like a cool little place just across from the pergola. Again, to get it out of the way, there were some interesting experiences inside (cold spots, mists in photos, noises in the basements, etc.) but the service was fantastic, the beer was cold and the food was top notch.
We then went exploring for a while and then, after seeing all that Pioneer Square has to offer (in the daytime at least), we stopped by for a nightcap before heading back to B’ham. It was great fun. Talking with employees about the restaurant for over an hour, about ten minutes focused on the ghostly happenings and the rest was just good neighborly conversation. As we noted with the owner, if B’ham had a place with the ambience and good vibes like Merchant’s, we would be there all the time.
And that’s the point about Merchant’s. If you want to check out the ‘haunted restaurant’, that’s fine. But leave yourself open to wonderful dining and drinking experience, and you will be back again and again.

Décor — 5
Service — 3
Ambiance — 4
Food — 3
Prices — 3.5
This place looks great and the food and prices are average. It’s a bit odd to have such great décor and heritage covered by 3 big screen tv’s playing sporting events but otherwise it’s definitely worth a try.
The guide on the haunted tour actually broke the door to the business on our visit so it was a bit cold lol but I would go back again. Loved the couch by the fireplace in the corner where we ate.

The best thing about this place is the location/​décor. The inside is amazing with a great decadent/​speak-​easy feel about it.
We came on the Haunted Pub Tour so it was fun to look around the room & feel as if I knew all the little secrets behind the paintings, the wine bottles, etc.
The bar was full but not packed on a Saturday night but was served by one bartender who was very, very slow. I never got one of the things I asked for. Food was mediocre — we got the fried curds with honey. They were soft & kind of limp.
Prices were OK for the area.