Retro Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Seattle

Although the place doesn't look like much, don't judge a book by its cover. Some may be hesitant to eat at this kinda grunge burger bar, but their food was very good. The ambiance of this bar/restaurant was rock idols such as The Who, The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, along w/ Old Hollywood icons Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, & James Dean. I easily entered the establishment with my upright rollator. The front main area consists of a bar with stools and a couple of tables to sit at. But, if the tables are filled on that level, you will need to walk up 3 steps into the dining area. I had my nephew carry my upright rollator up the steps, and he also assisted me up the 3 steps since there isn't a handrail, nor is there a place for one. So, I don't fault the owners with that. It looks like the bar/restaurant was once two separate buildings, maybe row-homes, where they had knocked out the wall joining the two on the 1st floor. I hadn't taken notice of which section the restroom/s were located on, so I can't comment there. Our waitress quickly greeted us with menus and took our drink order. She apologized upfront, informing us that they had a heavy afternoon rush, which led them to run out of cheddar cheese, leaving only Swiss and blue cheese as your choices for your burger. Honestly, if I were them, I would have run across the street and grabbed some Tillamook from the area pharmacy/convenience store. Anyhow, all burgers are topped with a light shmear of mayo, crisp iceberg lettuce, a thick slice of red onion, and yellow tomato. They also offer a selection of sauces that you can add to or customize your burger. They ranged from ketchup, mustard, & BBQ sauce to teriyaki & others. The bun used was a fresh pillowy large hamburger bun that was equal in size with the fresh beef patty. A perfect vehicle to hold everything together until you took your last juicy savory bite. I had ordered mine well done & with blue cheese. Now, I'm very hesitant to order fresh beef burgers since many do not get the temperature you ordered correct, bringing me to order it well done, which I never do. For any other cut of beef, it's either medium-rare or medium. My burger arrived and was cooked more to a medium well. It had just a hint of pink, which was actually fine with me. The burger was probably about 8-10oz of a deliciously indulgent thick juicy burger. The placement of the blue cheese was perfect in the amount. Slightly melting from the heat of the fresh cooked burger. One of my dining partners had asked for a plain burger, which arrived fully dressed. The waitress apologized and quickly had the kitchen prepare him a plain burger. When it arrived, it was with a fresh cooked batch of fries. This says a lot about the kitchen. Wanting to ensure that you received the order you placed. Not cutting corners by replacing just the burger. But, quickly preparing the entire order. The fries were hand cut shoestring fries, my favorite. They were deliciously crisp and perfectly seasoned with salt. They were quite addictive and in no need of anything else. Honestly, I think it would have been a crime to douse them in ketchup or whatever. Two of our other diners ordered the fish-n-chips, which the waitress replied, "I think that's one of our best items. I love it!" When their order arrived, it was hot, crispy, and juicy. The order came w/ large pieces of battered cod fish (I believe), a side of tartar sauce, & a bounty of fries. You could hear how crisp the fish was prepared. And the fish nor chips were greasy, proving the kitchen pays close attention to their preparation methods. Our dining partners raved at how good it was & devoured every morsel along w/ the perfectly prepared tartar sauce. Drinks are served in plastic cups w/o straws, which was actually surprising for Seattle, due to their attention to the environment. The prices were very fare @ $11-15. I really need to give props to the kitchen. They really paid close attention to the preparation of their food. Each element was perfectly seasoned. I hope you enjoy as much...

The situation: 2 VERY sleep deprived adults and 2 teenagers.... all 4 can't agree on what sounds good for lunch We arrived in town an hour ago at nearby hotel and searched for a lunch place... Wife found this and it seemed to have a bit of something for everyone.

The review: my 17 y/o son and I are passionate about burgers and enjoy trying them at places that claim great burger status. Retro doesn't toot their own horn too loudly about it, but very casually State in the menu that the beef blend is fresh daily from Pike's.... They should be more proud of this burger! Full disclosure I love condiments.... I sometimes use food just as a way to get condiments to my face as it is socially unacceptable to just drink shota of BBQ sauce or wing sauce. The basic burger here comes with just mayo, lettuce, dill slices, tomato, and I got grilled onions on it. They do not try to overwhelm you with an oversized burger to make up for lack of content, they serve you a generously portioned patty ( as thick as my fat thumb) that is cooked to a Perrrrrrfect medium/medium rare.... From edge to edge, not just in the middle, it is perfect (see photo). I took a few bites fully expecting to be grabbing my favorite red and yellow burger condiments for the rest of it, but I didn't. The seasoning and flavor of this patty beg you just to let it speak for itself and it does so. Fries are quite good as well, and it all paired on this 81 degree day with one of their house raspberry lemonades (adult version) perfectly. The wife had a chicken Caesar, and we would also recommend the BLT and onion rings. It's casual. They have great local beers and a full bar. Pool tables and TV's... Check and check. Highly recommend you get your lunch burger fix here anytime! And a special thanks to Floyd the bartender for his guidance and stekar have...

DIVE BAR, but seriously in all the best ways. Low key place where the locals hang out, with friendly, chill staff, good drinks that are a good price and a solid kitchen.

A funny story, we were staying in Seattle last month before we went on a cruise. My father-in-law wanted to take us out to a nice dinner, fine dining, but the bistro he took us to was at a hotel and due to low staff, they were only serving people staying in the hotel that night.

He has diabetes and we need to find a place to eat pretty quickly so he could take his medication. I had read about the good burgers at Retro but didn’t know anything else about it. I suggested we go there because it was just a couple blocks away.

When we walked in the door, it was obvious that this was a VERY different ambience than what my father-in-law had been expecting, LOLOLOL.

Basic bar, plain wood tables, maroon walls with old rock posters, a skeleton in a Santa suit…you know, your usual dive bar motif.

At this point everyone was hungry so we decided to stay even though Papa looked a little nervous.

We had the best time! The servers were so nice, there was a cool local beer menu, our food was good - tasty burger, delicious meatloaf sandwich- and I really loved the two shots that I had - the Washington apple and the Rainier cherry!

There were people playing pool in a separate room, and they had table games out so we grabbed Jenga while we were waiting for our food. Turns out, it was naughty truth or dare Jenga and we laughed our heads off playing while we had our dinner. My teens thought it was great, and I can promise you we enjoyed the laid back atmosphere way more than we would have at some snooty hotel bistro. Once he got his food, even my father in law had a good time.

Thank you Retro for an unexpectedly memorable...