Zig Zag Cafe
Cocktail bar · Pike Place Market ·
Craft cocktails & gourmet snacks in a hip, speakeasy-esque space.
Craft cocktails & gourmet snacks in a hip, speakeasy-esque space.
"You can’t know Seattle’s craft cocktail scene without knowing the Zig Zag. Famous for bartender Murray Stenson’s tenure, during which he reintroduced the world to the Last Word cocktail, it remains a top-notch bar even though Stenson moved on long since before his death in 2023. Cocktails are detailed and composed, the staff is warmly hospitable, and the atmosphere combines moodily lit coziness with buzzy destination elegance." - Meg van Huygen
"Zig Zag became a nearly instant mecca for the nascent craft cocktail movement when Ben Dougherty and then-business partner Kacy Fitch bought it in 2002, and many of Seattle’s star bartenders came up through its ranks. Yes, Zig Zag’s past is storied, but its present is just as eminent, with a menu that ranges from tradition-oriented technique to swing-for-the-fences creativity, always with an emphasis on next-level hospitality." - Mark DeJoy
"The Deal: $3 off house cocktails, $2 off glasses of wine, $5 draft beer, $11 martinis, Manhattans, and Old Fashioneds, discounted small plates If you’re planning an early-in-the-game date, Happy Hour is a good excuse to leave work early and spend less money on someone you might never see again. ZigZag is a romantic little spot that works regardless of where you’re at in your relationship." - aimee rizzo
"One version of a perfect night involves a bar stool, a dinner menu served until midnight, and a Last Word cocktail at this low-key Pike Place Market standby where Seattle bartending legend Murray Stenson, who passed away in 2023, popularized the classic drink." - Eater Staff
"During his time at the Zig Zag Café in the early 2000s I learned that Murray reintroduced the classic cocktail the Last Word after digging the recipe out of a 1951 book called Bottoms Up; the Last Word—made with Chartreuse, Maraschino liquor, lime juice, and gin—became a staple on the Zig Zag menu and, as cocktail blogging rose, Murray and the drink became synonymous within the industry. Colleagues also told me about his signature Zig Zag-era drinks like the Over a Hot Charlotte, how bartenders would sit at the bar with pens and paper to learn from his flawless mechanics, and how in 2010 his fellow bartenders named him the best bartender in America at the Tales of the Cocktail festival." - Meg van Huygen