Lava Lounge

We made a special trip into Belltown just to go to Lava Lava Lounge. The place was pretty much empty but it was a Sunday night. There is no table service so I ordered a Mai Tai for myself and a Shark Attack for my gf. We took maybe three or four sips out of our drinks and left. They were not good in the least. Strong yes but tasted horrible. Wouldn’t be returning. A few tikis on the wall and a painting of a shark but I would not call this a tiki bar in the least

A dive, but it holds a soft spot in many of the locals hearts. Pro tip: Don’t ask for tiki mugs to purchase unless you want to receive a very large quantity of side-eye

May be we had the wrong night
But a girl on the Fidel playing strang muzikaal thinks
We came in looked around Coed not find the tiki spirit
Dit not even orders a cocktail No buddy was drinking cocktails only bier Strange?!?
Zo for us a no go

Dive bar with some tiki decor... and some tiki mugs high on a shelf.

The Lava Lounge is your basic bar. There is a long bar on one side of the narrow but deep space and a bunch of small booths lining the opposite wall. It was dark but had a fair amount of tikiness mixed in with a quasi-nautical theme. It looks like beer is mainly served, but they do have a limited tiki menu, too.

Not the most tiki place ever but better anything I have in my home town (NOTHING)...but there was one aspect of it I hadn't seen coming based on what I had read here on Critiki. When I walked up to the door, I noticed two older guys sitting together at a little table to the right of the door. Two younger guys were emerging and sitting at a table to the left of the door. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, but the thought "gay couples?" did run through my mind briefly. I didn't think it likely since there was a very obvious gay bar (complete with a ginormous rainbow flag flying in the breeze) right across the street. Whatever.

A friend of mine was texting me as I went in. He had wanted to know how the Giant Shoe Museum at Pike Place Market--which I had visited not long before-- was. I had told him about it and about my visit to nearby Ohana afterwards.

"What's on your agenda for the rest of the day?" he asked.

By then I was talking to the Lava Lounge bartender, who was a regular "Chatty Cathy". I couldn't really text my friend back, so I just sent a few of the photos of Lava Lounge that I had already taken. I was the only customer in the place at the moment. The bartender seemed nice enough, but he also seemed rather flustered and nervous for some reason and...was he flirting with me?

While he made my drink (a Monkey Punch), I texted my friend back: "At Lava Lounge? Lava Lava? Something like that. I think it might be a...gay bar?"

He responded: "Doesn't look very busy." He had obviously seem the photos I had forwarded him. "What makes you think it's a gay bar?"

That's when I saw it... The place across the street wasn't the only place that had a rainbow flag in it. There was one in Lava Lounge as well above the door. I took a photo and sent it on with the following text:

"Oh,,, Duh," I said.

It wasn't a big deal. It would have just been nice to know I was walking into a gay bar beforehand. Ha!

The Monkey Punch was good (but not nearly as good as the Monkey-something-or-other at the Purple Orchid in El Segundo.... Mmmm.) and the place was okay. Would I go back? Maybe--why not? If I was in the area and wanted food too, I'd hit Ohana. But for just a tiki drink? This place would do in a tiki minute. (Besides, I had someone hit on me. Ha! When was the last time THAT happened? Too funny.

Don't let the cool tiki on the entrance fool you. If you want a good tiki drink, and bartenders who know about tiki, go down the street to Navy Strength.

The Lava Lounge is what I like to consider a "punk rock Tiki bar" It's pretty much a punk bar that happens to have a Tiki decor. I'll be honest, I don't really think they serve any Tiki cocktails but the bar is very dark and people that frequent the Lava Lounge are usually laid back.
As I said before, the Lava Lounge is a punk rock bar so punk rock is what your going to hear. That is totally cool with me because I'm a punker myself!
I have to give props to the Lava Lounge just for being around still! Seattle is growing and changing right before my eyes. I'm glad to see that a bar that I loved going to over a decade ago (when I first moved to Seattle) is still here!

This is my full review of The Lava Lounge:
http://www.tikiwithray.com/tiki-bar-review-4-lava-lounge-seattle-wa/

This place is like 30% tiki, 70% dive bar. Definite potential and has some charms like lamps in the booths and shuffleboard. They have a decent selection of rum, but no indication the bartender knows anything about tiki drinks. I ordered a Bacardi/Diet Coke :-/

Was just there on Jan 23, 2015 and it looks like they now serve more than just beer.

I really liked it but it was too dark to see all the smaller details of the place.