A very good selection of brews on tap and even wider range on bottles. Good service and the place wasn’t too crowded.

OK. Here is what I like about the Eastside: Outstanding selection - not only to they carry a wide variety of the best regional craft beers, you also find small batch craft beers here that are so rare they only have one or two reviews on ratebeer. Prices are good too. $3.75 or even $3.00 for some of the beers on Thursdays. A few beers like Pliny are more expensive of course. Atmosphere is kind of like a hippy dive bar. But sports on TV for those of us who like that. And pool tables. Order at the bar like in England, no waiter to bother you. This is the only place to go in Oly for beer geeks. You can order some excellent pizza etc. through a window to the restaurant next door.

Unusual place where you can do your laundry, shoot some pool, have a beer and order a meal from the place next door. Good prices on beer make this a tempting opportunity. has a great selection of beers 30+. It’s kinda cool that there aren’t any waiters, just a bartender. So you gotta go up to the bar and order your beer - efficient operation. The bad It’s a bit seedy, with a bad smelling bathroom.

A mandatory stop for ale tourists and locals who love their craft brews. I don’t know how they manage to maintain such an impressive selection of fresh ales at reasonable prices, but they do. ESC also seem to have a direct line to Russian River and always seem to have 2-4 of their brews on tap. Service is excellent and the staff know their stuff. A broad cross section of local micros and nanos is here, along with key Cali beers and a few from non-Left Coast brewers. They are now serving "authentic Sicilian cuisine" which I didn’t sample on this outing but from the looks of things I am officially concerned for my waistline. Prices are excellent (5.50 for a pint of Pliny!) and better if you catch a special. There is pool, air hockey and ping pong in the back and the game will be on (silently) on one of a few screens. The place is a dive bar with all the things I look for in a place which cares about its beers. If they added some international choices, I’d move in!

Great place. Huge beer selection. Plenty to do, pool, air hockey even ping pong. They seem to have Pliny on tap every time i go. Only downside is no food and they only have casks on wed.

The best pub for craft beer lovers in Olympia. Loads of atmosphere, but it may be a tad low-rent for some folks. Not to fear: the service is excellent, the staff are knowledgeable and the varied crowd mixes well. Prices are very good and even better if you catch a special or happy hour. No food is served, but you can BYO, order in or go with one of the informed recommendations of the bar staff as we did. Pinball pool and other electronic entertainment are on in the back area, the game will be on discrete TVs, you can chat with your mates or sit at the bar and talk beer with the barkeeps. A shining star (figuratively, not literally) of the craft brew world in the PNW.

Ha! One of my alltime favorite bars, 36 beers on tap these guys have been keeping Evergreen College drunk since Matt Groening went their in the 70’s! Just the right amount of Oly hippy, mixed with young college kids, mixed with lawyers and musicians... and oh yeah, BEER! They had always been a micro brew bar and pool hall, well I’m happy to say they are keeping up with the times and bringing in some great beers! But go there often, they do so much volume that the beer goes fast!

Dive bar in Oly with some damn good taps and at very good prices. I have been in twice now and one time I got a RR Damnation for $4 (12oz) and the other time I got a 2 year old Gnarlywine on draft. Draft selection has alot of the usual suspects, but there is usually about 2-4 that are standoutish. Like the feel of the place, but I have to knock the draft lines...way dirty.

The Eastside quickly became my local after I moved to Olympia a couple of years ago. It’s an old bar & the current operator, Adam, is, I believe, the 3rd generation to run the place. Tremendous selection w/ no macros on tap (well, they have Oly on tap but hey, it is Olympia). There is a selection of about 20 beers that are on the regular board and another 20+ on the seasonal board. There are 2 nitro taps (usually Hale’s cream & a rotating seasonal) and a hand pump. The focus is on NW craft brewing plus some California - there’s generally a few Deschutes on tap, Laguinitas, Russian River, Stone, Port Townsend, Manny’s, Elysian, etc. ESC doesn’t serve food (other than popcorn & pretzels) but you can bring your own in - the latest restaurant next door closed a couple of months ago. The ESC is still cash only and has some of the best deals around during happy hour ($2.50 for most pints of craft beer) and thirsty thursdays. The ambiance is kinda cool b/c there is such a mix of people - lots of Evergreen students & hippies, lots of government employees, tourists passing through, etc.

Excellent stop, especially on thirsty Thursday, when most pints are $2.50. Amazing selection includes beers on cask and nitro. Only one person seemed to be working, but he is destined for the bartenders hall of fame for both speed and quality of pour. Food available through window to neighboring diner. Pool tables and plenty of PNW young adults with dreads and facial hair. A lovely place.