Now the four star rating is based upon a comparison against other "dive bars." The labeling of dive bar is not a knock by any means. I dig this bar, but can see where many would not.
This is not a sports jacket and tie kind of place. The service is always fast and they have pool, darts and shuffle board. Never had any issues with physical confrontations, but can see where those might occur here.
The Rolling log is the quintessential dive bar! In my mind a true dive bar has the following:
* A variety of beers on tap, but perhaps more importantly, a variety of beers in the can (Rainer, PBR, High Life...etc)
* Pool & Darts
* Shuffleboard (huge bonus)
* Tacky beer posters & neon signs for decor
* Jukebox
* Salty bartenders
...Last but not least the "eau de dive bar" fragrance that lingers long after your departure
The Log has all of the above. There is no real food to speak of, but they do have an old school popcorn popper with FREE popcorn! The crowd can appear a little rough around the edges but I have always found the vibe welcoming and entertaining. Hands down, this place is a 5 star dive bar!
When i'd first moved to WA, my friend visited on a summery day. We were going to my favorite wine bar, Vino Bello in Issaquah... but it didn't open until 4pm or something.
So, we walked a couple blocks and found the Rolling Log Tavern. The outside looked very cabin-y and NW rustic. And it was open. Cool.
Once our eyes adjusted to the dark we see it is NOT quaint and kitchsy... it was serious, sad and somewhat scary. And every patron in the bar was staring at us, wondering what the hell two 40ish Anne Taylor clad Dooney & Burke carrying pedicured moms were THINKING walking in there. So we did the only logical thing... bellied-up and ordered a couple PBRs.
I am giving the place a great review because it is what it is. Â It is a spectacularly good, perfectly defined, definitively ideal DIVE BAR. Â The beer is cold and cheap. Â The patrons seemed to be dedicated professionals (of the reprobate and/or dipsomaniac career paths). Â All-in-all... it was was I'd expect to see and experience in a dark, divey bar at 3:00 on a Tuesday afternoon.
A fine establishment.
I went there a few years ago, and all I can say is this... If you're dumb enough to play the shuffleboard, don't play the regulars. When you beat them at their game they cry, then threaten violence. I had to buy them beers even though I won so they would calm down. Hopefully they've died of liver failure by now.
Review Source:If you ever wanted to join fight club, just take a trip to the rolling log. Â I have been there 15+ times and have had only one time where some a-hole didn't try and start something. Â This bar is just bad kharma all the way. Â I'm a guy that usually gets along with anyone, but not here. Â Service is slow, drinks strong, though....shocker....
Review Source:The girl named Becky who wanted to give this place 'negative stars' isn't very bright. Â Its a dive bar. Â That means that its actually fun. Â Its not some stuck up, ritzy, club-like scene thats super uncomfortable just to be around. Â You dont have to deal with asshole muscleheads and bitchy bellevue chicks.
This place was made for you to relax and have fun with real people. Â
Yes its dive bar. Its grungy, loud, scary, and its the best place to bring a bunch of friends if you're looking for fun. Â Pool, shuffleboard, arcade, good music, cheap beer.
Its the real heart of Issaquah if you ask me. Â Its got the best regulars you can ask for (myself included)
You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. Â Too bad i can only give 5 stars...
Sunday through thusday this place is a biker bar, no kidding. On friday and saturday nights it is quickly becomming a very popular place for the non-leatherclad.
I don't know if they have food here but I know they have cheap alcohol, good music and a very entertaining variety  of patrons.
My favorite memory of this place: Salmon Days 2008, Tequila shots with a few bartenders from the Joker, roasted ear of corn somehow immediately available.
Don't go during the week, go on the weekend. Unless you like getting mugged/groped//stabbed/shot etc...
For those of you looking for a fancy schmancy bar, skip the Rolling Log. Â
For those of you who are looking to hang out, play some Big Buck Hunter or pool, listen to some good jams, and drink cheap beer, go to the Rolling Log! Â $2.25 PBR Tall Boys! Â Yes please! Â Folks who go to the Log are really nice too. Â Check it out if you just want to hang out with some friends.
Unfortunately you can not give negative stars, because I would try!
My friend Andy was helping my celebrate my birthday a couple years ago and we decided to visit most of the bars in Issaquah along front street and sunset.
This was before the smoking ban and also before I really started enjoying beer.
I do enjoy dive bars and even have some favorites. This will never be one of them. (including but not limited to The Beaver, the Rouge and the horseshoe in Bellingham and  the redwood in Seattle.
I barely saw the bar because it was filled with cigerette smoke.
I walked through it and looked around. I couldn't breath with all that smoke, so I walked out.
That was my one experience with the rolling log and my last.
Gross!
I was invited to this lovely establishment by one of my favorite WSU Coug's AMBER. Disgust does not begin to describe my feelings towards it.
Rude customers, dirty bathrooms, messy floor.
This is the diviest of dives. We were man-handled, insulted, and accosted. Some of the patrons looked like they were asleep on their barstools.
I was a little worried what the existing reviews of the Rolling Log would be, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see GREAT reviews.
To start off...this is a dive bar. Â Perhaps the best dive bar in the area. Â They have shuffle board, pool tables, essential bar video games (e.g. Golden Tee), and a juke box with everything from Johnny Cash to Britney Spears to Offspring.
You come here to remember that drinking beer was supposed to be about drinking beer with good friends...and doing it for under $6 a pitcher!
Not much more to say...it's not fancy, it's not trendy, it's not probably the best place to impress a first date...it's just about drinking beer and having a good time doing it.
5-stars for premier dive bar status!
Fair Warning, My 5 stars is because I love this kind of kind-of-grungy, dirt cheap beer dive bar. Â If that's not your thing, you might not agree.
But I love the Log. Â High Life is $2. A couple of TVs and a big screen for sports. Â I've seen food items listed on a dry erase board but people usually get pizza delivered. Â There's a couple of Micros on tap and Macros too. Â Well drinks are super cheap too.
The atmosphere is pretty interesting. Â There are regulars who look like they've been here since before I was born. Â On many weekends it feels like the Issaquah kids who are home from college, or still living at home, decend on it. Â People come in for the pool tournaments. Â (I saw a 65+ woman run several people off the pool tables one night.) Â One night, a regular sat next to me at the bar and told me the best ways to drive out of Old Town without picking up a DUI. Â Awesome!
As a youth, my school bus took me past the Rolling Log Tavern twice a day as it grumbled through old town Issaquah, just as I and Issaquah reached our pubescent growth spurts.
Daily, I'd turn to the window and gaze at the log cabin walls with the little cabin room with the wood shingles that protrudes from above the door. I wondered how long that bar had been there, next to the Grand Central Hotel, where a broken and faded neon sign listed rooms for like 25 cents.
At the time, I had no idea what the inside of a tavern might look like. It never occurred to me that I was getting a glimpse of them if I just looked over at the bar section of any family restaurant. To me, it could have been a foreign country, a place where the laws of gravity did not apply, or akin to a dangerous place like a prison. In fact, the presence of large and loud motorcycles parked in front generally gave me the impression that the world's most dangerous and frightening things might take place within the walls of The Rolling Log.
I clearly remember one day riding by on the bus as someone opened up the door and pressed my face against the window to get a good look. All I could make out was the green glass of a light hanging over a billiard table.
So, nearly 10 years after graduation, when some friends and I had converged in Issaquah, and when someone jokingly mentioned that we should get a drink there, I jumped at the opportunity.
That first night, I was surprised to realize that some of my peers back in high school had never made it much farther from high school than their own stool at the bar of the log cabin tavern, a couple even taking up residence as bartender.
The Log, as the regulars call it, abandoned the log cabin motif at the facade. Inside, it was smoky, damp, and lit by billiard lights, televisions with sports, Budweiser lights, computer darts, and a jukebox. I put in some G 'n' R for nostalgic reasons.
There was ample PBR and a nut bar. There were plenty of snarky little signs and stickers, all fitting in what I now know is the accepted decor of your average, typical tavern.
The Log wasn't as dangerous as I had anticipated as a kid, nor was it nearly as fascinating; it is just a run-of-the-mill tavern. Which isn't to say that nothing interesting took place. The highlight of my night was watching a 4'11" Hispanic cowboy in cow print chaps, hat and boots come in sporting his own pool cue and proceed to clean up. No one gave us a hard time for obviously not being regulars, or for looking out of place. I never figured out how to get into that little room above the door though, and the bar now occupies part of the Grand Central Hotel (the bar used to be the Grand Central Cafe, according to this site <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.issaquahhistory.org%2Fsites%2Fgrandcentralhotel.htm&s=0d36f83dcb388ca21465b9bb938a3b9963005ceec835bed0f21b816f42ef375e" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.issaquahhisto…</a>).
One of the disappointments of adulthood is the discovery that some things mysterious as a child are rather banal as through an adult's eyes. Sure, there are adventures to be had at the Rolling Log, and I am sure some of my old classmates do; but none could measure up to the fantasies that filled my imagination as a kid on the school bus.
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