Popular local college bar closing after 50 years

What is it that makes college bars so nostalgic? Even though they tend to be a bit, um, dingy and downright smelly, there's just nothing quite like that favorite hangout spot.

For me it was Barney's Beanery in Westwood. When my UCLA Bruins were not playing at the Rose Bowl, you'd find my friends and me at Barney's, clapping our way through the games.

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I'm not going to age myself, but back then, the Bruins were a football powerhouse. Now they've abandoned the Pac-12, and for fans of West-Coast college football, things may never be the same. But I digress.

It's a hard time to be a restaurant or bar owner, no matter where you're located. As many as 20% of restaurants and bars close within their first year of business, but even spots that have been around for decades aren't immune.

College bars, where beer flows freely, are closing, including a beloved spot in Seattle next to the University of Washington.

Image source: Shutterstock

The College Inn Pub closing after 50 years

The College Inn Pub in Seattle has been a University of Washington hangout in Seattle for 50 years, a favorite pre- and post-game spot where alumni mingled with college kids (all over age 21, of course) to cheer for their Huskies and reminisce about glory days.

The pub — originally called Ye College Inn — is steps from campus and situated in one of the last remaining 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exhibition structures still standing in the city. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The College Inn Pub has been for sale for a year, but with no one stepping forward to continue its legacy, the owners decided to close the doors.

The beloved local pub took a huge hit during the pandemic, when it was closed for 16 months but reopened with high hopes. Surviving for another decade was just not in the cards.

In a statement, co-owner Jen Goyer said:

“Seattle is an incredibly difficult environment in which small (and especially micro) businesses can survive, and the current state of the economy and political landscape only compound the challenges small businesses face. Small businesses in the UDistrict will be further impacted by the budgeting crisis the UW community is facing.”

She further explained how those challenges were exacerbated:

“The physical challenges of the Pub's space itself (no ADA access, no hood or fryer in the kitchen, an ancient relic of a beer cooler system, two aging furnaces, no street presence, and so on) were cited as reasons interested buyers passed again and again.”

Are college bars endangered nationwide?

In this day and age, if you aren't able to make online ordering easy, it's difficult to survive, even with in-house entertainment like darts and a pool table.

Beloved college bars shutting down is part of an ongoing trend of restaurants and bars closing up, even those that have had historic runs.

More Food:

In just the last few weeks, The Pub next to San Francisco State University closed after 25 years in business, and Texas Christian University (TCU) closed its on-campus University Pub, which had a 44-year run, earlier this month. Allston's near Boston University closed in 2024, as did The Graduate in Oakland, popular with UC Berkeley students, and the list goes on.

There are many reasons for the closures, including the cost of real estate adjacent to college campuses. Plus, college bars are known for having lots of options when it comes to beer, but not so many when it comes to fancy cocktails or mocktails.

Perhaps it's a sign that the days of the college dive bar are behind us?

So pour one out for The College In Pub in Seattle. Its last day of service is June 15, 2025.