Tavern Law — Restaurant in Seattle

I came from the UK to visit some friends in Seattle, and we went to the speakeasy Needle and Thread in Tavern Law. Unfortunately, our experience was ruined by the bartender with pony-tail who, instead of welcoming us, decided to make my first day in the city less enjoyable.

When you’re bartending, a smile goes a long way, especially when customers are friendly and engaging. I loved the unique concept of not having a menu, and I was excited to order my first drink. The bartender asked me to describe my favourite drink, which can be challenging for many of us who aren’t cocktail experts. We tried our best to convey our tastes, excited about the interaction. However, the bartender's attitude turned rude, making the experience feel more like an interrogation than a casual conversation. Initially, we thought he was joking, but when we laughed, he shot us a serious look, killing the vibe. Of course, he could have been having a bad day, but that doesn’t mean he should take it out on customers.

Drinks: Despite enjoying the drinks and the interesting "no menu" concept, we quickly realised this place wasn’t for us. We decided to save the rest of our night and headed to a different bar.

Atmosphere: The venue itself is cozy, nice and intimate, with a cool hidden entrance. Unfortunately, the tension and unease caused by the bartender overshadowed what could have been a delightful experience.

Food: The food was good, but there was a moment that stood out. The bartender asked if he could take our empty plates, and we said yes. However, he ended up taking our two-thirds full plate of chicken popcorn as the last thing, and he did it so quickly that we were left surprised. It felt like he wanted to...

This review is for the speakeasy Needle and Thread upstairs

Our first round of cocktails was 5 stars. It was the second round where the experience fell short.

We waited almost 30 minutes to get our drinks when the first round took less than 10, and the restaurant was at roughly the same capacity. The second round of drinks was basically a concoction of every ingredient we agreed we liked when speaking to the waitress, which I thought meant you give the bartenders options of what you like, not a soup of everything you talked about. It was not great for me because I ended up with an overly sweet fruit juice cocktail when I asked for something light, and the other drink was also a miss.

What sucked was the waitress didn’t come back to check if we liked our drinks this time, while she attended to the table next to us a few times. She then tried to drop off the check without saying anything at all, ignoring the fact that my drink was barely touched. We had to stop her to say we were unhappy. She apologized, took the drink and they filled it with tonic water to “be more of what I asked”. So then it was juice and water at that point…. For $23.

At $23 a cocktail and a 20% service fee automatically tacked on to the bill, if someone doesn’t like what they ordered one would hope that the bartenders would replace the drink to provide a better customer experience.

If we just ordered our first round, we would have given this 5 stars. But the wait time, customer service, and second drinks unfortunately flipped our positive experience to something lackluster.

PS - they don’t do anything special for birthdays, which they told me upfront when I called before making a...

NOTE: This is not a review of tavern law, our experience at tavern law was excellent. This is ONLY in reference to the speakeasy above TL, called Needle and Thread.

We arranged a 10:30pm reservation, and were promptly seated. The unique format of Needle and Thread should leave you with two expectations for a late evening reservation: You’ll only be allowed one drink, and expect it to take time.

With the speakeasy about 1/2 full, our order was taken. Our server asked us detailed questions about the bespoke, hand made cocktails we wanted, and clearly cared about delivering a good experience (at least at first).

We ate a lovely cauliflower dish from the Tavern Law kitchen, and awaited our drinks. About 50 minutes after seating and 35 minutes after ordering, we received our drinks. They were PHENOMENAL. The bartenders clearly have talent, and it shines. One of the best cocktails I’ve had in the city.

Here’s the problem, around 11:35 I finished my drink - before my partner could finish hers, without a word of ‘would you like anything else’ or ‘the bar will be closing soon’, the server left the bill and walked away. Paying through Tock, we had no further interaction.

For a $72 check, this felt like a massive ripoff. I don’t know if the bar was closing or what, but that was never communicated. I would have happily stayed and provided the server a much larger check and tip.

TLDR: Don’t make a reservation after 9pm, because regardless of the air of exclusivity, they want you out quickly - no matter how much you’re...