A century-old watering hole at the wedge-shaped corner of 1st Avenue South is preparing to pour again. The Triangle Pub, a Pioneer Square fixture dating back to 1909-1910, has planned a soft opening with beer and wine service, according to the bar’s own website, even as food and a full bar program remain on hold.
A Phased Return After Years Dark
Per the Historic Triangle Pub, the planned soft opening in early November includes only beer and wine, with food service and a full bar program to follow once construction and licensing are complete. The bar also said on its site that it planned to be open for Monday Night Football on November 2. As The Seattle Times reports, the pub is scheduled to reopen by next weekend.
The bar sits at 553 1st Ave. S.
Why Food Service Is Still Waiting
The delay in full food service traces to a city requirement: the pub’s water supply line must be enlarged, work that will require digging up 1st Avenue. The pub says it has been told that process may take up to six months. Until then, the bar says it will operate as a tavern serving only beer and wine, with no in-house food offerings.
In the meantime, the pub’s patio will host events, though the bar notes those opening dates are weather-dependent since the patio is currently the only space in operation. Once the kitchen comes online, the owners are remodeling the basement kitchen and plan to use a dumbwaiter service lift to carry food up one flight to the bar, the Times reports.
A Wedge-Shaped Building With Many Lives
The building has the triangular, wedge-like footprint it’s known for today and sits beside rail lines. It opened in 1910 as a hotel with a ground-floor saloon and, according to the Times, was a popular hangout for longshoremen and railroad workers in the early 20th century. Tavern operations during Prohibition are less documented.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Seattle designated it a city landmark in 1977, according to DJC.com; the Triangle Pub itself occupied the ground-floor commercial space from 1987 to 2020, per the same trade publication. Over the decades the space has gone by at least four names, including Jack’s Bar and the Flatiron Tavern, before the bar closed during the pandemic.
Plans for Upper-Floor Hotel Suites
A 2025 account by DJC.com said plans called for renovating the upper floors into two hotel suites.
