The Stepping Stone

I love this place. A totally solid little dive, with delicious sandwiches, good beer and a neighborhood feel rarely felt these days."Little" is the operative word here. It seats maybe 30, 35 if it's warm and dry and the outside seats are available. Good beer on tap, very good sandwiches available, solid cocktails. This place is a resource when I need a nibble and a friendly face in Ballard without fighting a crowd of man-buns with attitudes and fake tanned former sorority queens, or entitled high-maintenance baby factories... I just want a beer, and a sandwich that makes me make that "mmmph" sound in the back of my throat; the sound of decompression, soulful exhale, sweet relief... and they got the goods! Excellent Reuben and turkey sandwiches. Eventually I hope to be brave enough to try the "Sloppy Sven" offerings...Missing star? Well, I was on the fence about that. It's a dive bar, and a good one. But it's not perfect. They leave boxes of supplies lying around in back by the restrooms. They tolerate obnoxious patrons a little too long sometimes. They don't have fries. Blah blah blah, whatever. This is an excellent bar, and I'm glad they're here, and I considered momentarily writing them a completely crap review in some vain attempt to keep it relatively undiscovered for a while so I could enjoy it. But they recognized me when I came in...AND, I'm not a total jerk... ah, fate.But then I smiled and realized: 1) I'm not that important, this is a working class joint, and (2) the "Biff and Muffy" crowd that secretes hormones all over Shelter and King's Hardware every weekend won't like it much anyway, because they don't play dance music or pucker properly to kiss their entitled asses, pardon my French. So: It'll take care of itself, well enough.Recommended, if you dig old school Seattle like I do.

I give this place 4 stars but do note in my books this is a dive bar. But super cute! It's smaller but has great TVs for a chill place to watch a game. The bartender was super friendly and generously pours my wine. Awesome little neighborhood bar a bit further away from the DT Ballard crazyness

Cool slightly grungy vibe at night. The drinks were decent though nothing to go there especially for. The crowd seemed to know each other the night we went and it got kinda rowdy. Seems like a cool place to make your regular spot to hang out. The bartender was nice and it was an overall fun experience hanging out there for a few drinks in one of the booths.

Don't let the small footprint intimidate you. I was in the area on business and my wife and I walked by questioning whether or not we should land here, glad we did. The gal bartending was very nice and personable. She recognized our accents and struck up a pleasant conversation while making our food. On the food front, you probably wouldn't think they could turn our pub fare as good as they could but the polish sausage and their version of the sloppy Joe was spot on. The beer selection isn't huge but diverse and well thought out. It seems to be a local place that welcomes folks from all around. Great place! Highly recommend.

The owner (Kim) and the bartender were so friendly! I organized a meetup at a nearby location, which ended up not being able to host us and they were so nice to host our group of six for coworking (laptops out, several hours, across two tables since it's a small space). We purchased drinks and some snacks but since we'd planned to be somewhere else (that didn't have food) we'd brought it with us, and they were understanding and totally fine with us eating our outside food. They even made sure we had any condiments we needed and kept really attentive to our group. THANK YOU for helping our group and making such a great first impression!!

What a nice find - a small, neighborhood bar with great TVs for watching sports, and a nice but simple food menu with nice sandwiches and apps. I had the Reuben, which had great-quality pastrami, a generous amount of cole slaw and was well prepared, and good value! Full bar and nice list of wines and beers - check it out!

Good people, good service, good drinks, good times.Glad to have Stepping Stone in the neighborhood. They are the local bar that Ballard needs to hold onto and not give in to an ever increasingly conglomerate feel. Stay true Stepping Stone!

Happy, nice people. Great bartenders. Easy place to grab an inexpensive drink in a costly city.

This is my favorite spot to stop in for a quick glass of wine or cocktail. Owners, bartenders and clientele are all really nice people. It's a very cozy welcoming place!

I just love this place! One of the best neighborhood dive bars in Seattle. Kat is THE "poster child" for service with a smile, is ready to refill your glass (generous pours!) at just the right time, and makes great cocktails. If you're lucky enough to catch Dara working, she makes the best Corpse Reviver around, and mean Mojitos. Usually during the days on Saturday or Sunday, but sometimes you can catch her at other times. I was surprised to see Dikita M's, and Jeanne R's comments. That has not been my experience. The Stepping Stone reminds me of the 80's show "Cheers." Come on back, and give it another try!