Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union Review

Cool feel here and good food. The views are really cool. I really like the old Northwest native decorations.

Ivar's is one of the highlights of living in Seattle for me. And this one has one of the best views possible, and a totally affordable happy hour. They did charge us $16 for 2 sodas, with one refill each. Without telling us it wasn't free refills (or even that is full price and then some for a refill). During happy hour. I'm almost tempted to remove a star for that, but the fish and chowder is so damn good!

Very good seafood, fast service and friendly.
Their specialty are smoked salmon dishes.
The atmosphere is relaxed, but the view into the ocean is beautiful!
Be prepared to pay for all these item $$$.

Beautiful place with magnificent view over the bay and Seattle. Fresh and tasty seafood.

Great food. Good views right on the water. Seating inside and out on the patio.

Solid seafood restaurant. Good for families as well.

perfect place for a date, beautiful views of the skyline over lake union with some truly fantastic salmon. service was impeccable.

Another amazing evening at Ivar's Salmon House. Our waiter Marcus was very attentive and insightfull. He helped us order what we really wanted not what we asked for. Keep Clam and Carry On .

Really good food and a great place to celebrate my grandmothers life!

Amazing service and incredible view. The great seafood is worth it too!

Nice waterfront restaurant with fast, friendly service and great seafood. Excellent views of the water and the Space Needle. Small outside patio seating without shade, great for sun lovers. Boat dock right in front.
Very impressed with the level of guest service! Our server, Marcus did everything to make our experience the best. Definitely appreciated.
The blackened salmon is amazing, wow so delicious. Food is fresh, good, and very nice presentation.
Parking is free and plentiful - a huge plus being in Seattle and waterfront!

Good Seafood Restaurant! Friendly Staff.
Outside noisy, because of highway-bridge.

Honestly great place to come with visitors for the views of downtown Seattle over SLU. But it's considerably overpriced for the quality.

Great food and service! Charming waiter bringing a wonderfully prepared salmon dish to our table by the water with an incredible view of the Space Needle. And love the Native American Pacific Nortwest decor. Some of the pieces appear museum-quality. Will definitely visit again.

Taste of the Northwest dinner was amazing, beautiful lake views, neat Native history/artifacts, and friendly service.

Take out seafood and eat it on a terrace with geeat views over lake Washington. If it weren't for the noise due to the close by freeway bridge it would be perfect!

Great for the classic Seattle view, especially from outdoor seating on the deck. Happy hour is a good option here. This is also a good stop if you are on a boat or kayak - pull up at the dock for some happy hour treats and then get back out on the water. The brunch here is also tasty and all-you-can-eat, but it is pricey. The regular restaurant is on the pricey side too, and it's a bit touristy. I'd pick the happy hour on the deck over the regular restaurant or the fish bar.

Nice atmosphere inside, nice seating by the water outside. The food was "meh" at best, especially the clam chowder. The bread "bowl" that the chowder came in was, however, very good.

Fish and chips, fresh fish, salmon chowder, tasty and the size is perfect, the place have a nice lake view, it s a good place to share with family and friends, server was kind, but in my opinion the facilities should be more clean it was some stains on the table and some others on the floor. 8 over 10! $$

I enjoyed the native American carvings and cosy interior.

Okay food. $32 app tower was a joke. A few friends really liked the fish with rhubarb sauce. Service was a little off putting..waiter Leo saying how fabulous everything was..it wasn't. Dessert was cold, had to send back. Cesar salad was wilted. My seafood broth fish was terrible.

A bit overpriced. Had the smoked salmon in a bread bowl and all you could really taste was salt.

A place for people who want to see some authentic native American history from the Pacific Northwest along with great food of course. The place was built and 50 years ago to display a lot of the heritage from the area.

Best restaurant in Seattle. If you have a salmon, Incredibly knowledgeable staff can help you choose which river it should be from - there is a map of PNW in the menu.

Love this Ivars and love the location. It has been recently remodeled and is lovely. A spectacular view of the lake and not from just one spot in the restaurant. They have considered the view from most seating areas. Good happy hour, good food, good service and a great place to take out of town guests for a show of the city.

The fish bar is out front from the more upscale Ivar s salmon house. A casual place to order at the counter and grab a table down at lake union or next to the counter. Had the salmon entree with rice and a side of chowder. Excellent food and service here, highly recommended!

The indoor restaurant is rather upscale. The Fishette, however, is exceptionally approachable, offers refills on fountain drinks, has a varied if almost entirely fried menu (there are healthy options available), is *very* handicapped-friendly, and a good social spot. Even in the rain. Good for groups, too.

Food here is delicious. Has great options for holding meetings in their private rooms. They can accommodate a wide variety of group sizes, with a selection buffet and banquet style options to choose from. Easy to work with to organize events.

Expensive for what you get . Needs more gluten free choices

Crowded, parking was a challenge, but the food was good and the service was good.

Eating at the Crab Pot the night before made this seems "just okay ". We asked waiter for a local wine recommendations, he said I'm not a wine person, here's our menu.

If you're looking for a fantastic summer happy hour, look no further then Ivar's Salmon House. With great northwest fare, a quality draft selection, and one of the best views overlooking Lake Union and the Seattle skyline - not too many places beat Ivar's Salmon House in the summer.

I remember coming to the Salmon House when I was younger, and it's always held a soft spot in my heart as the city has grown up around it.

I'll say that the food can be very good, but falls short of being great. There are other seafood restaurants in the Seattle area at the same $30-$40 price point that really knock it out of the park, which makes it difficult to recommend a restaurant that will serve what's largely a very safe variation of fish, veggies and a starch.

Call me crazy, but if I'm shelling out $100+ for appetizers, entrees and drinks with my S.O., I want something that will wow me.

The food here is exactly as described. Well prepared fish, and fresh side ingredients. The clams have always been well prepared, and their drink selection is decent. I've been here for larger group events, and I will say that the buffet style is excellent when they manage it.

Service is just okay. Ambiance is stellar. Give it a try, but in my opinion you can do better for a nice seafood dinner in the city.

Built as a replica Native American Longhouse (for which the builder received awards due to the authenticity of the replication), the Salmon House has a bit of charm and ambiance not found in the many similar restaurants around Puget Sound. The seafood is excellent, of course, and the surf and turf shows they have land-based fare down pat as well. Although the location is directly below the Ship Canal Bridge for the Interstate 5 Highway, the noise is entirely blocked when indoors. Outdoor seating is also available, and situated on a floating platform providing beautiful views of Lake Union, the Seattle skyline, and all the boat and air traffic in the area. A real treat!

Good food but the oil in the fryer is old and dark and needs to be changed.

My mother was visiting town shortly after my father passed away and I wanted to take her out for a great dining experience. Ivar's on the water was perfect. It's a beautiful lodge with ornate native artwork; there are sweeping views of Lake Union, downtown, and the Space Needle; food is delicious (I recommend the surf and turf!), and service is welcoming and friendly -- we we're lucky to be assigned to Ian who gave perfect recommendations and made my mom laugh and smile. We thoroughly enjoyed the night!

Pretty good food. The salmon cakes are delicious! Fun spot to dock and enjoy a nice lunch.

The food was decent. Stay away from fried calamari which was soaked in oil and had more batter than calamari.

Best salmon dinner in Seattle. This place is a Seattle classic that has stayed true to their winning formula for as long as I can remember. Drive-up moorage for boats is another major plus.

Fish is fresh. Affordable. Love the convenience of the walk up bar. Great to eat on the dock if it's a sunny day.

Service, food, and cocktails were all great! Will definitely return, especially with visitors from out of town!

Beautiful views and some of the best salmon in town

Great atmosphere and views, good food and Northwest flavor

I stopped by while riding my bike and ordered a three piece fish with fries and it was fantastic. The oil was clean so the food tasted clean. Being able to sit outside enjoy the sun and a little bit of fried awesomeness made for a great day.

Good options for vegetarians but you have to request the vegetarian menu

The restaurant itself is gorgeous both in it's decor and location. The place the restaurant fell down when we are there was in service. The waitress was friendly but provided very poor service. When we asked what the days special was she told us only the type of fish and nothing about the preparation until we pressed her for details. At which point she told us point blank not to order it that if was a terrible preparation. This was in addition to other issues such as failing to bring drinks forgetting who ordered what not refilling water etc. The food was good perhaps a little over cooked but fine. Overall thoughthe experience given the service was not worth the price. Go for a drink in the bar enjoy the location but save your money for dinner and go elsewhere.

We hold our annual Union dinners there and the food is wonderful.

Seattle mainstay believe the walkup counter still open
Love their clam chowder

The atmosphere and views were great but the seafood was just kinda okay. Even the fish and chips which we told were a "must get" were pretty average (and kinda soggy). Got the Alaskan Halibut since it was fresh and one of the specials and it was pretty tasteless, redeemed only by the risotto it was served on top (not worth the $30 for the while entree though).

I like The Lobster Shop in Tacoma much better. Although maybe going there for Easter Brunch wasn't a great day to judge. It was packed and long lines to get the food.

The host was nice.

The food was awful (clam chowder to creamy no flavor), salmon house seafood saute was awful no flavor tasted sour.
Worst the server, asked if we wanted something to eat? Really?
Didn't bring drinks, didn't check if everything was ok. Dropped the bill on the table and said here you go bro. What a douche!

Worst Place ever!

Good salmon good views of Lake union just a great restaurant has been for years.

Entree pricing to portion ratio was concerning. Expected something closer to a feast for a $37.00 meal. Appetizer, two meals and three drinks=$125.00 with gratuity. Excellent service though!

Great for brunch. Always bring out-of-towners here for Sunday brunch. Good food w/ impressive views

Excellent food, excellent atmosphere, excellent service, with excellent views. Agway love going here.

The chocolate is good of course, but what does it for me is that they took pains to retain the character of the historic building, especially the wrought iron staircases.

30 mins. wait for a table, so we ate at the walk-up counter outside. They wouldn't honor our coupon though outside. :(

Great food and location....right on the water near the docked boats.

My wife and I really enjoy being able to walk from gas works to this spot. The salmon and chips are excellent! Service is relatively quick, even when busy. Outside seating is somewhat limited.

A bit of a tourist trap. The food was nothing to write home about, but the view of the Space Needle across the water is worth the price of admission.

As always, the Sockeye is wonderful, and the view and facility fantastic.

Amazing food and our waitress was patient and answered all our questions.

The seafood medley was amazing. I was bursting at the seams from the portion size but it was so good I couldn't put it down. The cocktails alone are worth the trip.

FIRE EVERYONE BACK OF HOUSE. What a nice looking restaurant. Then we wait. We wait to be greeted by our waitress. We wait 25 minutes for appetizers. The coup de gras was the "entree" steak salad. Of course, we had to wait 20 minutes between finishing our appetizer. 3 uncut pieces of romaine lettuce topped with slices of onion and julienned carrots. A few nuts and pieces of bacon were tossed on the plate, and the 4 oz "steak" was so cold I wondered if it just came from a refrigerator.

Superb experience every time I visit! The staff are attentive, friendly and outgoing! The food and drinks are ALWAYS delicious!! Ivar's is a must visit destination in Seattle!

Very good seafood. Great views of Lake Union. Excellent service. Great prices.

This is my favorite restaurant in Seattle and I've been living here for 4+ years. I've taken dates here and have had my birthday dinner here on several occasions. The food is amazing and the service has always been excellent. They have superb waiters and the menu is always on point.