Review · Pioneer Square
Smith Tower Observatory Bar: drinks at 462 feet
By the Seattle Rooftops crew · · 1 min read
Seattle’s original skyscraper hides its best feature at the top: a wraparound observatory deck with a bar in the middle of it. You ride up in a brass-caged elevator that has been running since 1914, operated by an actual human, and step out into a 360-degree view of the city.
The Prohibition angle
The bar leans into the building’s speakeasy history — the cocktail menu is built around Prohibition-era recipes, and they’re made properly, not as a gimmick.
When to go
Blue hour. The deck faces every direction, so you get the sunset over the Sound and the city lights coming on behind you.
Best time to go: 30 minutes before sunset, weeknights.