Garage Billiards & Bowl

Ok... so we were there last night for a BDay party and we rented the room for the night and they didn't let us know about a minimum drink/food order. We didn't have a contract with them and this minimum was never discussed until it came time to pay. When it came to check out they stuck us with a $600.00 tab on top of what the 40 or so people paid individually. We thought it was unreasonable and their managers said that they have a min and we need to pay it or they will run it on our credit card anyway. Then they said "you can just take home several bottles of wine to make up the difference." So we did trying to be "fair" and "agreeable". Then, they literally took 1.5 hours to find the bottles of wine, run the credit card, etc. Terrible. The very last thing you want to do as the party thrower, and Bday boy for 1.5 hours after you just drank and bowled for 4 hours. We asked for help to speed it up and their terrible waitress says in a snide way "I don't want to be here either, this wasn't exactly a huge party (looking for tips) and I want to leave too..." Anyway, they lacked tack in every way... when we asked to speak with the decision maker my brother in law literally got kicked out of the bar for asking even thought it was polite. We have had fun other times here and have had a good experience in general... until we came with a party. They showed total devotion to themselves over the customers and were just terrible to deal with. Apparently they have new management too... so maybe that is the difference from other experiences here. I would highly discourage any large group from using the Garage as a venue. They clearly don't care about their customers... and again... the worst way to end a party is to standing there while someone takes an hour and a half checking you out. Terrible... more

This is a fun place to have a pool or a bowling party. It used to be an old garage. It has even more appeal, now that there is no longer any smoking. They serve food and beverages - good beer and drinks - right at your pool table or bowling lane. They also have a restaurant seating area. The menu is pretty good, with pizza and burgers. They serve a heaping plate of good french fries. There are four bowling lanes downstairs, and numerous pool tables (the real ones!) upstairs. more

The Garage is actually two different businesses - one side has the ~16 pool tables and the other side has ~14 bowling lanes (some upstairs, some downstairs). It's located in between the Capitol Hill and First Hill neighborhoods on Broadway, in one of the few areas where you can actually find free parking. From the bowling side, the Garage does make it accessible and cool to non-bowlers - you can't not hear Big Lebowski quips, or see "The Dude" as someone's screen name - as (on the weekends at least) you'll find numerous clutches of hotter-than-average groups of gay and straight 20- and 30-somethings hanging out, dressed-up to be seen, drinking and and watching each other bend over at one sport or the other. The bars are good and easily accessible, the wait staff are attentive and the food is more than good enough for a drinking crowd. They have great little personal-sized thin-crust pizzas, decent burgers, and we had a great Mediterranean plate to pick at between turns. Lanes can be expensive though if you don't have a big party to split with, as weekend bowling prices run $25/hour/lane + shoe rentals, food, and drink. You can make lane reservations, but not last minute - you've got to call at least 2-3 days ahead. If you do a drop-in on the weekends, be prepared to wait *at least* 30 minutes to get a lane. I haven't spent as much time on the original Billiards side, but it seems the hipper place to hang while eating and drinking - I had one of the top 10 spicy bloody mary's I've had in Seattle there not too long ago. The Garage is a great place to bring a big group of people for a birthday or event, as there is lots of space, and people can choose to bowl, play pool, drink, eat, or even play on one of the city's few long shufflepuck tables for free! It's also a short walk to numerous Capitol Hill clubs in the Pike/Pine area. more

Sure this place has the three B's: bar, billiards AND bowling. Don't get me wrong, I think it's always good to know a place in town that has one or two of those things. The fact that this place has all three is great. But they also have shufflepuck -- along with some french fries that are absolutely incredible after six beers -- which together helps to make this place an adult Disneyland. (I wish I could comment on the service, but I frankly don't remember. I'm sure it was great though.) more

If you were wondering if there was a place that had bowling, pool tables, restaraunt, and bar all in one place, you got it. Located in Broadway is Garage Billiards. They have many pool tables, bowling lanes, and restaurant, and a full bar. Their prices are very good too. To get into the billiards area you must be 21 and over to play pool. Check out their website. more