The Atlantic Crossing

Basics: $1 off draft and bottled beer; $1 off well drinks; $2-6 food specials. Daily food and drink specials run 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; daily food specials also run 11:00 p.m. to close.


The Atlantic Crossing is the type of bar that almost – almost – makes you wish indoor smoking was still legal in Washington. The dimly-lit bar – overly shady even at 3:00 on a sunny August afternoon – practically begs its customers to imbibe booze and inhale nicotine simultaneously, as if its namesake is the spot on the map where the twin addictions cross paths.

The Crossing also intersects several genres of bar: the neighborhood, the sports, and the dive. There’s the catch-all trophies, jerseys and hi-def flatscreens broadcasting ESPN and FSN batting for the sports element; the balding 40- and 50-somethings sipping alone together, literally bellying up to the dive bar; and the slim, chatty lady bartenders in their 20’s that make each drinker feel like he lives in the surrounding Roosevelt neighborhood.

Labeled a “British and Irish pub,” in actuality The Atlantic Crossing is little more than a hole-in-the-wall dive that blends in with most businesses on Roosevelt Way. Anyone not living in the area and who wasn’t stopped at a red light on NE 65th would doubtfully know the joint exists.

And to regulars here: they like it that way. It’s the type of crowd that prefer a drinking place where they know the bartender, she knows them, and together they can revel in their neighborhood rather than the city. Case in point: this particular afternoon the soundtrack jolted from Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” to Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” The change in atmosphere was immediately palpable, uncomfortable to the point that the barkeep changed the song after a scant few “Rah, rah, ra ah ah-ah”’s. The five men seated with a three-stool buffer between each both breathed and sipped a little easier.

Food options at The Crossing don’t wander far from the deep fryer, but they do satisfy (beer-battered avocado tastes much better than it sounds), and the well drinks come out with a medium pour. And, after all, since eye candy is pretty much off-menu, cheap drinks and deep-fried foods are about all you could ask from a neighborhood dive.

The Atlantic Crossing. 6508 Roosevelt Way NE (NE 65th St and Roosevelt Way NE), Seattle’s Roosevelt. Daily 3:00-6:00 p.m., food specials nightly 11:00 p.m.-close.