The George and Dragon is one of the oldest soccer pubs in Seattle. It opened in 1995, back when the Sounders were a lower-level team playing games in Memorial Stadium. As the city has become more of a soccer town, the George has remained a pillar of the “other football” scene, especially for fans of the English Premier League — the George is often open for EPL matches that begin as early as 6 a.m. Seattle time. Combine that with a menu of English culinary classics (it’s one of the few places around town serving a full English breakfast), and it’s like someone dragged an English pub across the Atlantic and the continental U.S. before depositing it at the bottom of Fremont.
All that makes the George a natural hub for World Cup viewing. But until recently, it was missing a key ingredient: a liquor license. As the Seattle Times reported two weeks ago, the pub’s license expired in early May due to a combination of tragedy and administrative hurdles. Owner Dan Pagard told the Times that he missed emails from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board because they went to the inbox of his business partner, Jayson Cottam, who died in 2023. That meant the George had to temporarily close, and Pagard’s other bar — St. Andrews, in Green Lake — closed permanently.
“The past few years have been a struggle, and I’ve been stretched way too thin,” Pagard told the Times.
This story has a happy ending, though: The pints are flowing once more thanks to a workaround: the George is open for "private parties," meaning you can drink there as long as you (and your entire party) RSVP in advance. That makes the bar once again the center of the Seattle soccer scene. The only downside is that with so many people wanting to visit at the height of World Cup fever, the dark wood interior and sunny outdoor patio are both packed. “We got our butts kicked this last weekend,” Pagard wrote in a text.
Correction: This article previously reported that the liquor license for the George had been restored, but that was incorrect.
