Ivar's Seafood Bar — Restaurant in Federal Way

Oh, heck yes I love seafood and this lil Ivar's bar is my ticket to tasty and affordable fish 'n chips. Every Washingtonian worth their salt knows Ivar's for the Chowder and they got it here, too in White, Red or Smoked Salmon style so no worries there. Drinks are pretty expensive but they offer some local sodas and I really like that. Haven't seen a bottle of "Green River" for over a year and I just noticed it here the other day. It'll run you about 3 bucks, though just like every other bottled soda they offer. I buy them sometimes anyway for the same reason I buy Pyramid, Elysian and Lucille craft beers. I feel we NEED to support local businesses so the extra buck or 2 isn't so bad if you appreciate the product and workers who make it happen. Besides, who wants to spend 9 bucks on a sixer of falsely labeled pilsners like anything Anheuser-Busch brews up? Spend 10 on a legitimate Hefeweizen or IPA instead and your gut will appreciate it, too. But this is about Ivar's and I don't believe they sell beer. I didn't ask, either. If you're looking for a cheaper option there's a Walmart up the road with a LOT of self check out lanes. The service was quick. The food tasted real good. The 2 gentlemen working that night were courteous and the cook even rang me up when I came back for Cole Slaw I forgot to get while the clerk was elsewhere for a moment. He could have just told me to wait until the clerk returned to the register but I could tell he was more eager to make sure I got quick service even though he didn't seem very familiar with it. I appreciate that but I would have no problem waiting a few more moments. I am the one who forgot after all. Small restaurants like this have really awesome employees who work hard cause they're running the whole place on their own. Everyone has their job or duty but there's overlap in some cases like this and you'll usually find they show real initiative in a smaller establishment. Much more initiative than, say, a part timer working a drive-thru somewhere for what I assume is the 1st time ever.

Bottom line: I think you'll like this seafood bar if you're so inclined to try it instead of the stuffy Red Lobster next door with the Ferrari driving manager who parks in their lot instead of his own. It's well-lit and does offfer some seating just not a whole lot. I'm sure you'll like the quick service and safe food. I've never gotten a stomachache or soggy fish at any Ivar's and this one is no different. These are people who truly do specialize in seafood preparation and I'm fairly certain none of the fish...

Ive been coming here for years and have never had any problems with anything. Last night my roommate and I were craving seafood and decided to go to Ivars. The place was busy as it was prime dinner time, but we went through the line rather fast. May, took our order and was very patient when we had questions. We waited outside for our food.

Once we got our food we went home. When we got home we realized we were missing an extra 3 piece of fish. We tried to call Ivars all evening, but the number was busy for my roommate, and on my phone, "the number cannot dial through".Odd.

Today I called. Got through no problem and told the lady who picked up the phone about my missing order. I have no receipt as it wasnt put in the bag, but I can tell her my order, the approx time or order, and I paid with my credit card (not knowing if they could look up my ticket in their system or not). May said, I remember the order. I took it myself. She apologized immediately telling me she remembers seeing the random 3 piece sitting on the counter the night before. She offered to give us a fresh 3 piece if we could come by today. I told her my roommate would come by after he got off of work.

When my roommate got to Ivars, he got to the cashier and said he was there for a missing 3 piece fish order from yesterday. The cashier knew exactly what he was talking about, letting us know that May the GM was in the back...and was very apologetic for the mistake. Even put in a free key lime cheesecake as a sorry for our mistake, which was SUPER appreciated.

May, the GM, and the Staff at Federal Way Ivars deserves a gold star. I appreciate their top notch customer service, especially during these weird covid19 times. This is exactly why I always patronize the Ivars in...

The food is good enough to keep me coming back time and time again. There are a few things that bother the heck out of me though. First, the entry door. It says "ENTER" - so your natural instinct is to push the door in and walk in. But it doesn't swing inward. So you end up looking foolish trying to push on a door that's not moving - then you see the other sign that says "Pull". It happens to just about every person that goes there. I sit so I can see the door when I'm eating, just to watch these poor people. Secondly, the trash cans - the hole in the top is tiny. There's no possible way to fit anything in that hole, so you try to put your trash in the front of the bin, but the door to the bin won't swing inward. So you have to fold everything into a tiny wad, and stuff it through the top.

These issues aren't enough to keep me from going back, because I love the food. But they are important enough that I want someone to fix them. I doubt that this review will make it happen, but who...