Sam's Tavern — Restaurant in Seattle

This 1 star review is ONLY given because of the security guy.

We came all the way from London to Seattle for our honeymoon and decided on our first night to try Sam’s Tavern. The menu looked awesome and the reviews were not too bad.

On our way in, we were “welcomed” by a security guy, not sure if he’s the only one working there so I’m just gonna identify him as the bearded guy with the glasses to avoid any confusion.

He asked right away for proof of ID which is very unusual for us (we’re both 33 and 34 yo) but we get it the place sells alcohol and it was 20:30 plus it seems to be very common to card people here in the states. My husband didn’t have his with him, so we went back to our hotel and came back again to Sam’s Tavern with our UK driving licences.

He checked the cards and said with a smile “no , I need your passport”. I honestly genuinely thought he was joking, so I replied “ahah funny”. Well it wasn’t. He got super aggressive and yelled at me “I’m 100% for real, not joking with you bro”. We did remind him that we came earlier and he never said anything about Passports, only proof of ID. How are we supposed to know that only Passports are accepted for foreigners if you don’t tell us? It’s our first time in Washington and we never had this happen before anywhere else in the USA. Anyway, again if it’s the rule it’s the rule, but the fact that you knew we were coming back and didn’t even bother to say that it was a passport you were after and then have the nerve to lose your cool with us because we asked you if you could just be a bit clearer. NOT a people person. It’s beyond me how we can put people like him on a job like this. So dangerous, in fact he escalated things so bad that the lady (who I assume is the manager or owner) had to calm him down and talk to us -she was lovely btw- so nothing against her (or the food here, we weren’t lucky enough to taste it). But really, if you ARE NOT American, and don’t carry a passport 100% of the time with you (from fear of losing it and not being able to fly back to your country or just because it’s twice the size of your ID card for example…) you won’t be able to go inside as they don’t consider non-US ID as valid documents.

Also, if you don’t want to be intimidated or yelled at in front of everyone for not knowing/understanding the laws of a state you are not from, AVOID this place.

And for the guy who this is about: if you ever read this, you need to take anger management classes dude, cause this is unacceptable and a very bad look for the brand who...

I have been to this place twice, and I would not recommend this place. The service, especially the bartender is very rude and they don’t even hesitate to humiliate or cuss at you. The bartender said we don’t have manners to order at the bar. What we did was - we opened the tab at the bar, gave my card, ordered some items and signed. That’s it. I got back to my table and was waiting for the order, but she came back with an attitude - gave back my card and showed us the receipt saying that I didn’t sign the receipt which is very weird because once you open the tab you don’t get your card back until you are going to leave the table and neither should you get any receipt before that. I also noticed that even one order was wrong with wrong price on it. So, I went back at the bar, gave her the signed receipt as she asked, and told her that she typed the order wrong. She said “It’s fine, just tip and it will be fine”. This was very confusing because you don’t generally tip until the end, and during our first time visit to this place - we did tip at the end of our meals. I think she just wanted the tips and was making up all these things to get it. But, we were not expecting what happened next. I just went to the bar to confirm if she had the right order because the price difference, to which she says “I have the order, I am not deaf” [what the h], and continued saying that “you don’t have any manners or don’t know how to order at the bar, don’t just fking stand there and sign your receipt”. This was a very bad experience and nobody wants to be treated like this. So, I am not ever going to that place again. Their rules keep changing. We did what we generally do at every bar restaurant. I hope this doesn’t happen to...

What a great find (though admittedly I didn't really "find" it)! This place is great for lunch during the week. I would imagine it is equally as great the rest of the time it's open, but to that I can't attest first hand. The first time I went here I was looking for a place to have lunch I hadn't been to before, and this qualified. On the menu, my eyes immediately honed in on the 50/50 Burger and thought to myself NFW! A burger that is 50% Angus Beef and 50% Hempler's Bacon, and they have the "huevos" to put bacon on it as well! I could almost hear my cardiologist groan (in perfect harmony with my gastroenterologist and nephrologist). That sealed the deal on what was for lunch, and it has been every time I've gone back. Over-the-top excellent! The space: comfortable, sort of rustic, with a sprinkling of ne'er-do-wells such as myself making all feel right at home. The music: Perfectly dated, old songs from the 60's and 70's mostly, but not the smarmy, AM radio, pop turds. It's the music from those days you still want to hear (or hear for the first time), the ones you're amazed that you still know all the words to. I too have had the great fortune almost everytime I've gone in, to have Abby working behind the bar and serving food. She is so great. So friendly and a delight to just talk with while you're slamming another $1 Rainier and chomping one of those 50/50's. She brightens my day everytime I'm there and she's working. Great food, great music great, staff...great place (or maybe it's just the $1...