Ba Bar Capitol Hill — Restaurant in Seattle

For starters, the parking around the facility is not the best. I went on a Friday afternoon and parking was okay. Every tight quarter's parking. (Go Seattle.) I parked east of the facility by Championship field.

For the Pho Ba Bar, it's self is quaint. Small, but it has the college city vibe. Would not recommend for very large parties. (10+) If you have a group of six, they can seat you at bar style table or they have benches to accommodate.

The menu section is about one page with a good section. It comes on printer paper with a clipboard. Not for sure why the choice, but when going to a restaurant I do not want to feel like I’m back at the office.

For the food that I ordered, I had razor clams and beef pho. The razor clams are really good. Some of the best that I’ve had in a long time They cook them in a mixture of herbs and other stuff to give you a clam broth that isn’t just water.

For the Pho, the size was kind disappointing. And the ratio of beef to noodle for me, off. Lots of beef, good size though, not a lot of noodles. But I will say that the broth was really good. If you like fish sauce with your pho, don’t add too much. You’ll get a saltier taste.

My one complaint about the Pho Ba Bar is that why did it take about 15 minutes for my Pho to get to me when the rest of my party already had their entrées? It could have been a communication issue, but not the best impression of a first timer.

Over all, if you live in the area, a great place to eat and hang out. Very good selection of alcohol if you're into that. But for a person who lives south of Seattle going back is not very likely. I would say go eat at this place once and form your impression Me, not likely to go back because of...

Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Ba Bar. The house cocktails are wonderful, I tried 3 different ones and highly recommend the Garden Shed. The bartender was super knowledgeable and kind. However, when it comes to food, I do have some advice for anyone who is gluten free (GF). It is important to note that the menu is not labeled GF, rather GS (gluten sensitive). This is because nearly all menu items are not gluten free, but can be altered to accommodate the allergy. There is a lot of pushback when it comes to gluten allergies and I was informed that the owner has requested a few items MARKED GS to not actually accommodate those with a gluten allergy or celiac. The lemongrass beef vermicelli is wonderful, but note that the imperial roll is not GF and you have to request AND clarify that you do not want it for a gluten allergy. If you are not celiac, but have high concerns, it is better to say you are to be taken seriously. The ice cream is labeled GS but the staff has been ordered to not serve it without the cone, making me wonder why they even bothered to put a GS label... what part of a glutenous cone is GS?? Ba Bar is a wonderful place to eat, but I feel I need to emphasize how ridiculous it is to refuse to make small adjustments to accommodate a gluten allergy. If the staff was a little more knowledgeable on what gluten is and how a dish can easily be altered to make it GF (simply removing the rolls for example), or if ice cream was allowed to be served in a cup, my experience would be 5 stars AND I would enthusiastically recommend my other GF friends to try it. Ba Bar is so close yet so far from being accommodating, it's a bit...

I love love love Vietnamese food! This place was recommended by my cousin who lives in Seattle so right after I got off the plane, jumped in my rental and headed straight to the restaurant with my parents to met my cousin there for lunch.

The interior is modern/hipster like. Not your typical Vietnamese restaurant interior with the bright white walls and fluorescent lighting. You can tell it's more of a mixed Vietnamese fusion type restaurant. That did not bother me, but my parents were a bit skeptical, they like the traditional Vietnamese restaurants.

We ordered a bunch of stuff and I must say everything I tried was good but not amazing to the point that I want to continue going back. The fried rolls with rice paper was probably my favorite. I don't know why, but I prefer to have the spring rolls with the rice paper and deep fried instead of the regular ones you get at a Chinese place. I like both, but at a Vietnamese place, I think it's just my preference for the rice paper one. We did everything family style. We also ordered the half-moon glutinous dumplings that I did not care for. The skin was too thick for my liking.

We got an order of the Bun with mixed meats. It came with chicken, shrimp and a beef patty. This was actually really good and I'd definitely order this again. You can definitely taste the lemongrass flavor in the meats, which I love, that pairs so well with the bun, fresh veggies and nuon mam.

Servers were friendly and helpful. Food came out hot and fresh. Place was clean. No complaints.

Parking is street parking, but ample...