Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union Review

Nice staff, good food and lovely location/atmosphere. Definitely a must try!!

The outside dinning area is gorgeous and the selection of salmon is amazing. The outside dinning area is able to see the whole Lake Union and the view of skyline of Seattle including space needle. The restaurant provides the salmon sampler with different types of salmon. Their grilled halibut is amazing with the juicy and tender texture. The crab cakes are also worth to try. This is one of the representative restaurant of Northwest in my opinion. If there's friends visiting from out of Washington State,I will definitely recommend this to them.

Great food, excellent service, outstanding view from deck.

With great food comes great financial austerity (It's not that bad, just expect $20-40 per plate)

I like to 3at outside qt the sesfood bar (the fat food side), and its always quick and delicious. Great pokemoning here!

the view was spectacular! the food was very good. there was a wide range of food to choose from. the waiters were very helpful.

Very old school Seattle, warm decor, good service, and delicious food, especially (of course) the salmon, which was perfectly cooked. Also have a walk-up To Go ordering place outside with the standard Ivar's menu, which is good for grabbing a quick bite

Great views, food and service. One of my favorites.

One of the best places to get seafood in Seattle. Great location right at the water with downtown views. Lots of parking.

The food is beyond marvelous. The wait staff absolutely fabulous. The only reason I don't go there more often as it's in Seattle and I live in Tacoma. And I hate traffic on I-5. But if you're in Seattle go there as often as you can!

The outdoor patio had a line that lasted one full beer ;) But it was worth the wait! Excellent seared tuna appetizer, salmon ceasar salad, and halibut fish & chips! Most definitely coming back!

Always reliable. Good food. Several rooms for private events which our yacht club uses monthly.

It was my son's wedding night and it was superb. We ate outside by the water and it was beautiful and food/service was the absolute best.

Very historic place, I strongly recommended this place. Prices are really high, however 8 really like tastes and atmosphere!

The clear and open glass windows have a wide view, and you can watch the peaceful bay of the boat. The leisurely boating can calm people's hearts; the food is delicious and makes people reluctant to leave.

Excellent food and service. We will go again for sure.

A Seattle walk-up classic. Prompt and friendly service.

One of the best places I've eaten in a very long time. My waiter was amazing and tentative. I'll be back every time I'm in state again!!! Best clam chowder I had!! I'd recommend this place for everyone

Can't beat Ivar's chowder. They have the best around.

Beautiful lake view ,clean environment and great service but they need to upgrade their menu with a picture one. Since it s a salmon house they should serve good size salmon pieces not the small pieces.
Other than that, I enjoyed the beauty of the place and my friends did as well.

Whether you walk up to the Fish Bar or have a reservation inside at the Salmon House, you'll get delicious food, friendly service and a view of Lake Union. My family and I have been coming here for 40-ish years and it's always a good choice. Our most recent visit was for a birthday dinner -- and a good time was had by all.

Delicious brunch and nice water view from the banquet room hosted by the Resolution 2 End Homelessness

Amazing food, glorious location, hit or miss service, most of the wait staff are wonderful but as with any organization you have those who slip through the cracks, I suppose I should overlook this but out of the 7 times I've eaten here I've had subpar waitstaff 3/7 times, but the food more than makes up for it!

Try the salmon burger on the bar menu.

Halibut is amazing!

They have a seasonal menu that rotates that's a must try.

5/5 would recommend even though I'm taking a star off.

We were a party of six. Some of the dishes we tried were: smoked salmon chowder (awesome!), fish tacos (very good but messy because the flour tortilla fell apart. Note from the Texan: we double up our tortillas so this doesn t happen). Coconut shrimp was a hit. All of us loved the bread baskets! There was a variety of corn muffins and sourdough bread.
Service was attentive and we got to enjoy the Sound right by the water on a beautiful day.

Great view, great food, and even a very nice HH menu.

As always the Salmon was superb and the crab and shrimp louie delightful.

Delicious as always! There was a bit of a wait for the dining room, but found a table in the lounge right away

Such a great place for our banquet. The staff is friendly and the food is delicious!

My daughter and I had drinks and appetizers here, and talked for about two hours! Great atmosphere!!

Best chowder place ever
Very fine quality fries
Super romantic and magical ambience

Amazing place to eat and spend time on the waterfront and I am grateful to WORK FOR AND WITH SUCH AN AMAZING TEAM

Great meal. Great service. Sasha took great care of us.

For those of us that live in the area, it is easy to forget that Ivars is more than a fish 'n' chips stand. The fast food style locations are everywhere.
However, the Salmon House is something entirely different, yet familiar.
The longhouse style building flocked with art of some of the most famous members of indigenous peoples. The salmon dinners that will make you question what fish you've been buying at the grocery store. The patient and friendly staff that make sure everything is up to snuff at every meal.
And finally, the view of the lake. Boats in the sun, birds and wind in the rain, Seattle seen from behind. This place feels tourist friendly and yet welcoming to locals. Go. Enjoy.

Great Seattle seafood with great views. Multiple dining style options from fast casual to sit down dining

Prices have really gone up. 15 dollars for fish and chips to go? What is wrong with the world?

Perfect in every way. The waiter gave us proper attention and visited the table at all the right times. Not too much. Not too little. Just right. I've been here 4 times and it goes without saying the food is amazing. It is pricey, but I can afford $25+ meals once in awhile and enjoy myself. Overall great experience.

Salmon was good, although I would have liked it a bit more moist. Portions weren't as big as they normally are in the US, which leaves some space for an appetizer or desert, but given the high prices I woud have expected a bit more. Interior of the restaurant was nice and staff was good.

Very good food and service. The sampler plates are very good selections of various sea foods

I had the Coho. My friend had the Sockeye. We had the best view in the house.

Great view and delicious food! Next time I ll try to get a seat in the patio

The main dinner items were very delicious, but unless you are here for the tasting of new seafood, you might find the serving sizes to be too small.

You will get an amazing view of Lake Union while you are eating, and the style of the building itself is equally beautiful. Our server was also very attentive and service was fast, even on the busy day that I went.

Fresh, delicious food, great seafood selection, the best clam chowder anywhere (fight me!); great full bar and happy hour; gorgeous water view; attentive, professional staff; everything sparkling clean! We were very happy.

Great food, love the outdoor seating deck looking out over the water. Bit pricey, but worth it...at least for the salmon.

We were seated in the lounge at the window and had a lovely meal. The service was good and the food excellent!

View from outdoor patio is nice but omg worst seafood ever. Everything was greasy, didn t taste fresh. Even the fries weren t good. Drinks tasted like well drinks. Service is mediocre.

This used to be one of my favorite places to go for dinner on my way home after a long day. It was always a place I'd recommend to others as well but no longer. One evening I asked to have mashed potatoes instead of the fingerling potatoes and was told by their evening mgr that while he would honor the request that time it would not be honored again. Geez! Now that's customer service! NOT!!! Apparently "it's easier on the kitchen staff" (the mgr's words) to not substitute anything on the bar menu. HIS manager told me that wasn't the total reason but she basically said the same thing. What's worse is she was going to check with their new chef and see what their new policy would be and call me back "no later than tomorrow.....apparently she (Michelle) is not good for her word as that was weeks ago! I will NEVER recommend them again as customer service is apparently not important to them. They need a management change!

Went in for late brunch on a Sunday. We had the crab bisque and the caesar salad with blackened salmon. They were both very good. The service was good but quite slow due to the waiter in the bar section handling all of the tables. If not for that, this would have been an all around excellent experience.

Went there for brunch today. In the past 30+ years have probably been to brunch here about 5 times. It is ALWAYS wonderful & today was no different. All the food was EXCELLENT - ate in the bar to get a view table right away. Our waiter was helpful, not overly present, but just enough. I was taken aback by the note in with the bill explaining that tipping is not necessary (due to the recent min wage being increased to $15). But it was very informative & useful. Ended up leaving about a %10 tip even though the explanation was thorough & noted how well the staff is paid & compensated in other ways. The waiter never let on that we weren't expected to tip, yet still gave us excellent service. I don't live in the area anymore so this is always a special treat. If you want to impress someone from out of town I would highly recommend treating them to the Sunday brunch at Ivar's Salmon House.

Nice view from outside seating, but service sucked. Server moved at a tired snail's pace, didn't know fish of the day, had never tried the featured dessert (yet recommended it highly), and had to be repeatedly tracked down-- to get the salt and pepper I'd requested 10 minutes prior (there was none on table), as well as summoned back to bring the check (and then didn't have the check in the sleeve when he came).

Food taste was fine, but not extraordinary, and certainly not at $30+ per dish. My medium rare salmon order was cooked poorly-- I like crunch on the exterior, but the ends we're overcooked and tough, most of the inside was medium to medium-well, and some parts were undercooked. Mine was not the only one cooked incorrectly, but the wait was so long between our server's table visits that we just stayed with what we had. The food was lukewarm when it arrived; I wasn't trying to place a new order at that point.

Additionally, bathroom was a mess, and we had a significant wait to be seated (in spite of having a reservation).

Maybe they'd gotten slammed the day before or something. The service and food prep we experienced were totally lazy.

Whenever my friends from out of town want to eat at Seattle seafood (and they always do), I bring them here. Salmon is a Seattle icon and there's a view of the boats on Lake Union. Plus, it's not as expensive as Ray's Boathouse, if l'm buying. There aren't good options for vegetarians and vegans (but in that case, there are other great options for you, such as Moonlight Cafe).

One of the location with the best view, near by the water front and can see the space needle from afar. It has a large parking lot across the street and is free.

Food is great as usual and they have patio seating over the summer time. I will definitely come back for more.

Many mistaken this for the fish bar in the front but the restaurant is located at the back!

Service and view was very good, but food was very disappointing. Had the original recipe fish & chips and the Razor clams. Fish was hard and chewy. Razor clams were OK. The rice that came with them was tasteless. Sorry to say I would have probably had better from a frozen box of fish sticks. The hiked prices thing, to compensate for higher wages, doesn't work for us. We felt very uncomfortable not leaving a tip. At those prices on our modest budget, we just couldn't add a tip on top of the high priced food. I know it's not "expected" but I think it really still is, by the wait staff.

Great food and theme. Was recommended by mutiple people. Service was very polite and helpful. They have a large selection of different salmon to try. Amount of food is generous as well. Would return again.

Really enjoyed the view. Although dessert was a bit over priced everything else was reasonably priced.

An amazing place with great service. The crab stack is delicious. It comes with a sauce that would be great on anything and served over a risotto that I would eat as its own dish.

If I could give zero stars I would... We walked in to wait staff that were completely indifferent to our existence. The items on the menu were many of the same things you can get from the takeout window outside, just four times the price. We were each given a different menu, and after asking which ones were correct, we were given new ones with a flourish and sass. That's when it was time to leave. I have no idea if the food is good or not, and I never will.

My favorite seafood place and I have been to over 75 of them.

It was not worth they hype or the money. $20 for the same fish and chips I can get at red Robin. Service was so so. Waiter seemed as if he wasn't to be bothered. But becuase we had 9 people gratuity was added automatically, so for okay food and poor service. Fish and Chips and two side salads it cost me $82. Won't be back.

Great outdoor view by the water but it comes with sticky seats and tables. The fish and chips are good but a little bland without some vinegar or ketchup.

Been here many times. This time for brunch which is great - awesome selection of seafood and other foods. The fact that you don't have to tip is great as well. Highly.recommend for happy hour as well.

Fantastic place to go! Great view of SLU into Seattle! Go early to get outdoor seating

Always incredible food, awesome views and great service, brought my boss from NC and he was blown away.

This place continually goes downhill. So many better options for seafood around. The service was horrid (our sever had no clue about the menu, and our salads came out when we were halfway through the entree, asked for pepper never got it, and never got a refill on waters), the food came out either raw or over cooked (halibut should never be grey! And salmon should never be dry), and it was so hot in the restaurant. Definitely a disappointment. The view was nice, but for the price you can find so many other options around. It s unfortunate I took a risk coming back... and won t go again.

Easter brunch was just ok this year. We noticed they started using snow crab instead of Dungeness. Very stringy and dry. We have been going every year for over 10 years. Also mothers day brunch. They just seemed to lack quality this year.

Always perfection . We have been coming her for years. The view of Lake Union adds to the enjoyment. We are never disappointed.

Came here as part of the Buzzfeed's "3 Salmon Restaurants in Seattle" tour.

The decor of the restaurant is stunningly beautiful. The dish came beautifully prepared. Although the dish I ordered had many conflicting flavors, the service staff took the feedback and immediately served a refreshing side of zucchini which really helped with balancing the dish. I would rate the dish I had an 8/10 but the overall experience bumps it up to a 8.4/10. The restaurant also offers beautiful river views. It's an experience totally worth the money.

The calamari appetizer was amazing. The Clam chowder delicious as always. The shrimp and mushroom entree... not so much. Small, overcooked shrimp, no seasoning at all on them or the potatoes. Not a dish I will ever try again.

Amazing food, portions are just fine, fantastic atmosphere.

Nice place. Unique interior. Good food. Nice view of Lake Union.

Service was great. Food felt mass produced and like they just wanted to throw on plate. Slightly over cooked halibut. Presentation was poor - looked like salsa was thrown on top. Friend's salmon was also overcooked.

Classic Seattle. All the time HH in the bar, abundant free parking, and the excellent view make it a good place to meet for a drink. Big outdoor patio, but noisy because it's right under the highway.