A Coney Island dive in Belltown stacked with pinball, hot dogs and cheap beer, themed in clown memorabilia and open late on 2nd Ave since 1997.
Published Mar 12, 2026 Last reviewed May 19, 2026 · How we pick bars Location 2316 2nd Ave, Seattle Belltown Price $ Cheap beer, hot dogs, quarters for pinball Hours Mon–Sun 12:00pm – 2:00am Pinball Quarters at the back Kitchen Hot dogs all day Booking Walk-in only Drinks Specialty Beer and pinball Cheap beer, Coney Island hot dogs, classic pinball Dive Bar Pinball Hot Dogs Belltown 4.2 ★★★★☆ aggregate across Google and Yelp reviews (n=714) Visit Shorty's Suggest an edit Ask the editors Listings are editorial. Tell us if hours or details have changed and our editors will verify and update.
Shorty's sits at 2316 2nd Ave in Belltown, a Coney Island-themed dive that has run since 1997 and helped build Seattle's pinball scene. The room is wall-to-wall clown memorabilia, with a back area and a basement Trophy Room full of machines.
The offer is cheap beer, hot dogs and pinball, in that order. It is the right call for a loud, low-budget night with quarters in your pocket, and the wrong one for anyone after a quiet seat or a cocktail menu.
The theme is committed. Clowns watch from every surface, the hot dogs nod to Coney Island, and the pinball machines take quarters with a change machine near the staircase down to the Trophy Room. FOX 13 covered the bar's move down the street after 21 years at its original 2nd Avenue address, a sign of how rooted it is in Belltown.
It is a pinball bar first and a dive second. Kineticist lists Shorty's among the key Seattle spots to play pinball, and the beer stays cheap to match. For more of the city, see our Seattle hidden gems guide, the best bars in Seattle, and the near-me dive bar finder.
Late evenings are when Shorty's comes alive, with the machines busy and the room loud toward the 2am close. Come earlier for an open machine.
Weekends draw the biggest pinball crowds. A weekday afternoon is the calmest time to actually get a long run on a table.
