Targy's Tavern — Restaurant in Seattle

I really hate to have to write a review like this; about a bar I've been coming to probably around once a quarter for the past couple years, and have recently started coming to more often, to the tune of once a month as a little home away from home from my usual local dive bar in a nearby neighborhood, but felt obliged to say something about the experience I had the evening of May 15, 2025.

I walked in around 11:30 PM with my buddy that I met during freshman year orientation in college back in Vermont in 2016. We've remained friends over the years and they recently moved to Seattle from Connecticut a few months ago. We had been to Targy's a few times since they moved out here, and had even been served by this particular bartender one of those nights. Never had any issues before. But not this night.

The bartender spent around 30-40 seconds looking at my ID which is a WA state license I got around a year or two ago and then gave me the okay. The bartender took my buddy's CT ID (which might I add was issued less than a year ago) spent 30-40 seconds looking at that one as well, and then took it over to their book of ID images for comparison and discussed the ID with some locals at the bar.

The bartender comes back and says "Unfortunately I can't serve you tonight" and in my view got slightly frustrated with me after I inquired about what we could do to prevent the situation from happening in the future; they really just wanted us out of the bar and to be done talking to us.

Now listen, I get it, if working at a bar is your livelihood, and you serve someone underage, then working at a bar likely becomes a past livelihood. That being said, I clearly look around 25 (I'm currently 27) and likely slightly older with a little evening shadow. My buddy has a horizontal Real ID, good enough to get them on a domestic flight in this country. My buddy definitely looks closer to 21, but they're only a year younger than I. This situation raises a lot of questions for me:

Why did you serve my buddy and I a couple months ago? What changed since then? Does he look younger now? Maybe you just forgot our faces since you see a fair amount of customers on a daily basis. Why would I, who clearly is around 25 based off looks be hanging out with someone underage that isn't my actual brother? Why would I take them to a dive bar in this neighborhood? Like if I wanted to drink with underage kids, I'd just go to Flowers (good riddance). There are plenty of other bars in this city where underage kids go to drink, and I've been around the area long enough to know where they are (and to avoid them for the garbage fires that they are).

All this to say, if you're going to check your book for comparisons, maybe don't consult the locals that are probably two or three drinks deep at that point in the evening to ask what they think of a strangers ID. You're the bartender, you make the call.

If you're going to check your book, maybe it should be one that's up to date. There's no way that my buddy's ID that they got 7 months ago should be an issue for a bar that's on top of this.

And finally, if you really think that this is a bar that someone underage would try and get into on a regular basis, get a scanner. My friend with a horizontal Real ID should not have an issue with a nationally standard ID (additionally, out of the ten or so other bars in the area that we've been to before we've never had this issue).

I'm frustrated that what was supposed to be an evening nightcap of one drink and game of pool with one of my closest friends to an otherwise good day had to end on such...

This is a hidden gem - I say hidden because every times I've been here, it hasn't been overpacked like every other Seattle bar I've been to. It's got a great casual vibe and the bartenders are so awesome - they're the type that remember your order and are attentive to everyone even though they're always running around busy doing something.

Tuesday BINGO - This is what I LOVE coming to!! At 8 PM, they have Bingo for all - free to play, multiple around PRIZES (which range from $25 GC to Pringles!!!) I love how fun Kevin makes it - I feel like Bingo can be hard to host and to make entertaining but Kevin always makes it fun and enjoyable. He keeps everyone engaged and keeps things moving - never a down time except for break time. This is definitely not your grandmother's bingo! And is there ever a tie in Bingo? NO!

Wednesday Trivia - They also have trivia on Wednesdays at 7 and April does a great job hosting that too. Again, free to play, 6 on a team, and prizes!!

I love that Targy's has all these super fun events and free for everyone to enjoy. I mean, Tuesdays are slow night so what better way to spend it than to play Bingo and drink!

So much fun, can always find street parking. The food is lacking here - boxed pizza, frozen pizza bites, frozen pretzels, etc. However, they allow you to bring food in and just enjoy their drinks. How...

Lived about a block away for well over a year. I wanted this place to be my spot soooooo bad. Cheap beer, good company and inexpensive food; that’s my kinda joint! When I got “cut off” for ordering two doubles within 45 minutes I got really confused. The bartender tried to console me by telling me “I know my boyfriend drinks as much as you...” or some other sob story. It’s BS. A couple months later my girlfriend and I tried (again) to get a couple drinks going before the Morrisy concert. I couldn’t order two doubles within an hour now? The presumption is that they don’t want people to get too rowdy. I only learned this through being friends with several bartenders (who had friends that work there) who explained the real story of an overzealous resident on the same block who was ready to call the liquor board if they heard an ant fart. This place is killing off real business by doing this. I don’t know how you want to split up the blame but all of those parties played a part in making an amazing place a mediocre spot. I don’t even get rowdy when I drink. I get more polite, actually. Congratulations Targys... you’ve...