The Eastlake Zoo Tavern opened in 1974 at the corner of Eastlake Avenue East and East Lynn Street, in a 1902 building that had housed various bars and taverns since the mid-1930s. In 1974, a group of individuals, many from the nearby “hippie” houseboat community in Eastlake, acquired the building and opened the Eastlake Zoo as an employee co-op. Ownership percentage was based on number of hours worked and positions, which were held in a rotation. In 2007, operation of the Zoo was taken over by former employee-owner Howard Brown, who had been a member of the co-op from 1978 until 1992 and continues to run the Eastlake Zoo Tavern as of 2024. The venue has changed little in 50 years of business, still featuring a cash-only bar serving beer and wine only, the same eclectic décor, and a variety of bar games. Early on, the venue hosted live band performances, but later used that space to expand its game area, which includes pool tables and a snooker table, darts, shuffleboard, ping-pong, Skee-Ball, and other arcade games.

This poster advertises the band Cool Ray and the Shades performing at Eastlake Zoo, probably in the 1980s.

Caption information source: "Zoo's Keepers" by Mike Lewis, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 8, 2007, p. 1, 8
Caption information source: "The Eastlake Zoo" at the Rotgut.org Blog,March 11, 2021, retrieved at Rotgut.org Blog