Seattle venues for kicking off the World Cup

Café Presse
Pressed for local places to watch the World Cup? Look no further than down the block at our neighbor French cafe, Café Presse. Since it's launch two and a half years ago, Presse has become a frequent haunt for students and faculty at Seattle University due to its proximity.

Presse also caters to demure soccer fans in Seattle who come for a quiet environment for watching soccer.

Though Presse is not a sports bar, owner Jim Drohman is a soccer fanatic himself and insists on showing nothing but soccer, presidential debates and occasionally the Tour de France, in homage to the café's origins.

Starting June 11, Presse will kick-start viewing the World Cup at 7 a.m., showing the first game between host nation South Africa and Mexico.

The café will be showing the cup live and featuring replays all throughout the day until the final match July 11. Come to Presse to pick up a schedule of all the matches being played and check its website (www.cafepresseseattle.com) for any schedule changes. Forgo the conventional sports bar food of hot wings and questionable looking peanuts, and dive into some pomme-frites while enjoying the World Cup.

The George and Dragon Pub
The George and Dragon Pub takes the World Cup seriously.

"PLEASE PLAN NO WEDDINGS, BIRTHS OR VACATIONS JUNE 11 TO JULY 11 2010," the pub's website warns.

Instead, G&D advises you park it at Fremont's favorite British pub for the month-long tournament to get boozy with other soccer-loving blokes and birds in the city.

According to bartender Jeff Skokna, The G&D is the best place to watch the World Cup because "it's like a huge party here the whole time."

Skokna predicts the pub's outdoor viewing area—a parking lot-turned-beer garden with two big screen TVs—will be packed with hundreds of soccer fans for this summer's games.

To say the pub will extend its hours for the cup is a huge understatement. The G&D will begin serving pitchers to patrons as early as 6:30 a.m. for live viewings of several matches that kick off at 7 a.m., starting with the June 11 face-off between South Africa and Mexico. Games at 4:30 a.m., more than two hours past most bars' bedtime will also be shown at the G&D, which pronounces itself "the home of football" on its website.

"Back in 95, 96, up until 2000 you pretty much could only come and watch Soccer at the G&D," says pub owner John Bayliss, who is also a member of the Seattle Sounders
advisory board.

With the World Cup just around the corner, the G&D, located in the heart of Fremont at 206 North 36th Street, is hanging fiercely on to its reputation as a soccer fan's haven this summer.