The Sunset Tavern

History

Betty and Jim Jones opened the Sunset Tavern in 1972 on Ballard Avenue, in a space that is now the Ballard Smoke Shop, then moved it in 1976 into the former Chung Sun restaurant two doors down. Betty ran the bar until April 2000, when she sold it to a group led by Max Genereaux. Live music nearly every night began that June, and the back room has booked punk, rock, alt-country, hip-hop, and comedy, from local bills to acts such as Mudhoney and Fleet Foxes. A 2014 remodel split the club into a front bar, Betty’s Room, and a performance space. The Seattle Times marked 25 years of that music-room era in 2025.