Mike’s Noodle House
Recommended by: A fellow diner at Dough Zone Dumpling House advised they were there, because they intended to go to Mike’s Noodle House, but it had a long wait and mentioned they had the best Wonton Soup in Seattle.
Description on the Mike’s Noodle House website: Not surprisingly, they ain’t got one.
Neighborhood/Type: International District
Address: 418 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: Wonton Noodle Soup, Wonton & Beef Brisket Noodle Soup
Comments: Update 9/22/19: Mike’s Noodle House just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
You can call Mike’s Noodle House, “The Il Corvo of the ID(International District)”. Like Il Corvo, Mike’s Noodle House has the following qualities:
- It has a loyal following that often leads to lines out the door.
- It has a limited amount of seats, so don’t be surprised if you’re sharing a table with fellow diners.
- Noodles(and wontons) are their specialty.
Like many places in the ID, Mike’s Noodle House is a no frills establishment. If you’re looking for pristine conditions and over the top service, this ain’t your place. If you want fast efficient service and great food that’s served very quickly, then you’ll love Mike’s Noodle House.
First things first, CASH ONLY. Don’t get caught going out on a date and only having plastic on you.
One of the things I like about Mike’s Noodle House’s Wonton Soup is the soup is very subtle and not overpowering. It reminds me a little of saimin. The plump wontons each have an entire shrimp and ground pork that are encased within the thin, but sturdy wrapping. The noodles are long, thin and plentiful.
One of the nice touches is that they provide a pair of scissors when we are sharing a bowl of soup with our 2 yr old. They bring a small bowl for her. If you’ve ever tried to transfer long noodles from one bowl to another, you know it’s going to be a mess. Having the scissors there to cut the noodles during the transfer from bowl to bowl is ingenious. I’ve not seen this in any other restaurant before.
I typically order the OG, Wonton Noodle Soup that comes with 5 wontons. The soup doesn’t come with any veggies which is a bit unusual. My wife orders the Wonton Noodle Soup with Beef Brisket. Their soups are perfect during the cold months in Seattle. Another cool feature is the big window that you can peer through as the cooks prepare the dishes.
In summary, you may have to wait, you may have to sit with strangers, you won’t be getting any travel point since you can’t use a credit card and you won’t get a warm greeting or small talk from the staff, but the soup is totally worth it.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 3.75
Service: 4.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 5.00
Overall: 4.35
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: The servers here are too busy for small talk. But a funny story. We were here eating before going to a friend’s house warming party. We noticed a couple that came in around the same time as we did. We end up at the house warming party and noticed the same couple from Mike’s Noodle House there. We both laughed. Great minds think alike. We made some small talk and we both talked about how much we liked Mike’s Noodle House and asked for some of their other favorites. They recommended Xian Noodles in the University District as a place that specializes in biang biang noodles at a reasonable price.
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Ventoux Roasters – Ravenna
Description on Ventoux Roaster’s website: Providing the highest quality coffee, and promoting our love for cycling in everything we do. Nestled between Seattle’s University District and Wedgwood neighborhood, we’ve supported our community in the Bryant neighborhood with specialty coffee and a gallery of fine racing bikes for 3 years. Come by and meet your neighbors!
Neighborhood: Ravenna
Address:3404 NE 55th St, Seattle, WA 98105
What we ate/drank: Cortado, Macrina Fresh Fruit Muffin
Music Playing: Sade – Hang On To Your Love
Comments: Ventoux Roasters is on a small quiet corner of 35th Ave NE & NE 55th Street. As soon as you walk in you can tell the owner’s love of cycling. There are hanging bikes from the roof and on the walls, cycling jerseys displayed and bike-themed posters. The cafe name is derived from Mont Ventoux, which is one of the stages in the Tour de France.
Their name implies Ventoux roasts their own coffee beans, but on this particular day they were using Everett-based Veltons coffee. They had a small variety of Macrina Bakery pastries. We got the Fresh Fruit Muffin. There’s definitely a neighborhood feel to Ventoux Roasters and I get the feeling most of the people hanging out here are regulars.
The space is long and narrow, so you’d expect the seating to be limited, but surprisingly there’s a lot of seating. You’ve got the store front Adirondack chairs, counter seating looking out on 55th and in towards the back, a few individual tables and bench seating. As you would expect the front of the space is very bright from the store front windows, but unlike many other long and narrow spaces, there is actually windows that let in a bit of natural lighting in the back too. One thing I did notice is that they have electrical outlets all over the place, so if you’re planning on working on your laptop here, you’re covered.
I have a question. There seems to be an inordinate amount of coffee places in Seattle that are bike-themed. In addition to Ventoux Roasters, there’s Meiter in First Hill, Peloton in Capitol Hill, Rapha in Capitol Hill and Good Weather Bicycle also in Capitol Hill. This cannot be a coincidence. I also have a friend overseas and his two passions are coffee and cycling. What is the relationship between coffee cafes and cycling? Perhaps I’ll research and create a post on my findings. I’m curious now.
Here’s a Youtube video that best describes Ventoux Roasters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzw76rT23hQ&feature=youtu.be
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Quaint neighborhood spot with a distinct bike theme. Least Favorite Thing– Owner is a SF Giants fan ;). Go Dodger Blue!
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4.50
Food Options: 4.25
Overall: 4.30
Eavedropping Convo: Two older gentlemen talking right after the 2019 snow storm in Seattle
Gentleman 1(G1) – You still got snow at your place?
Gentelman 2(G2) – Yup. I also live on a slope, so it was a bitch getting in and out of my place. My idiot neighbor tried driving in the midst of it all, hit an ice patch and nearly hit my parked car. No chains, no nothing. Luckily he only hit the curb and slid down the hill until hitting a level area. What a moron!
Related:
Dough Zone Dumpling House – International District
Recommended by: I briefly mentioned Dough Zone Dumpling House in my Little Kitchen review. Friends of ours gave their own opinion on who had the best dumplings in Seattle. They said if you take everything into consideration-price, quality, clean environment, taste, that Dough Zone Dumpling House was the best. We’d thought we’d revisit Dough Zone Dumpling House to see if they were right.
Description on the Dough Zone Dumpling House’s website: Our house special Q-bao are originated from the famous Shanghai Sheng Jian Bao (Pan Fried Buns). They are tasty buns fill with moist pork and wrapped with half fluffy, half crispy dough. Our Q-bao are made with quality ingredients and prepared in a traditional way. After being half steamed and half pan fried, buns are becoming soft on the top and crispy crust on the bottom. it’s PERFECTION.
Neighborhood/Type: International District
What we ate/drank: Pork Q Bao Buns, Beef Stew Noodles, Pork & Shrimp Steamed Dumplings, Pork Xiao Long Bao, Dan Dan Noodles, Broccoli w/Oyster Sauce, Pork Wonton in Szechuan Sauce
Comments: Update 9/22/19: Dough Zone Dumpling just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
You can call Dough Zone Dumpling House, “The Local Din Tai Fung” or “The Seattle Din Tai Fung”. It’s the restaurant that Dough Zone Dumpling House is most compared to. We thought about doing a Dough Zone vs Din Tai Fung review as part of our Food War Series, but the logistics were just too hard to pull off.
Our history with Din Tai Fung:
Back in 2013, Din Tai Fung opened their first Seattle location in University Village. At the time Din Tai Fung only had branches in Los Angeles and Bellevue in the entire US. The long waits started immediately. For the early goers who stood in line, there were bragging rights to have waited so long and posted pictures of meals on Instagram to rub it in their friends’ faces. To this day, we still enjoy Din Tai Fung. We love their efficiency and consistently delicious dishes, but we’ve got to admit, we’ve seen the price go up and up the last few years, which is warranted. Obviously, with long lines still happening anybody who took Econ 101 knows prices will rise until demand is met. And the demand is still there. When Din Tai Fung first opened we felt the food portions, the yumminess and the low prices at the time, made for a screaming deal. Screaming deal now days? Not so much.
Back to our Dough Zone Dumpling House story:
During this time(2014) we heard of a place in the Eastside that had a same type of fanatical following. We’d heard the stories of a place called, Dough Zone Dumpling House that had better food than Din Tai Fung. As you know from our Third Culture Coffee post, we don’t go to the Eastside much, so all we could do was speculate and wonder if the stories were true. We heard that they were expanding their empire on the Eastside with 2 Bellevue, a Redmond and Issaquah locations, so we knew it must be good to sustain 4 branches in a relatively small area.
Then in 2017 word that they were finally expanding to Seattle spread like wildfire. Finally we’d be able to taste for ourselves. In the Fall of 2017, Dough Zone Dumpling House opened in a brand new building in the ID(International District). Of course the lines started as soon as the restaurant opened. We figured we’d wait a bit and let them work out the kinks and perhaps the lines would die down. Our first time going was Christmas Eve of 2017 and we’ve been regulars ever since.
Like Din Tai Fung, there’s normally a long wait. We’ve been extremely lucky each visit we’ve made to Dough Zone in that we’ve been seated immediately. Thank you, Food Gods! And then when we leave the waiting area is packed and we look at each other and say, “perfect timing”.
The prices per dish are definitely cheaper, but smaller than Din Tai Fung. I think we prefer it this way, because we’ve been able to try a lot of different dishes without getting too full. And if you really like a certain dish you can always create your own bigger portion by ordering multiple orders.
The minute you sit down they give you a paper checklist to mark the dishes you want. They are literally back in 5 minutes to see if you’re ready. Like us, I’m sure most returning visitors have their favorite dishes already in mind, so a quick turn around must be normal. No matter how busy it is, the dishes come out in rapid fire succession shortly after ordering. If you’re starving, this is a good thing. If you’re there to have a leisurely meal and catch up with friends and family, shut your pie hole and start eating. There’s an angry mob of people on the wait list screaming to get a seat.
One of the best qualities of Dough Zone Dumpling House is that it is right across the street from the International District Link Light Rail Station, so if you use the Link Light Rail or any of the buses that use the tunnel, it’s super convenient to get to. We typically do take the Link Light Rail, but we’ve also just spent $20 worth of groceries at Uwajimaya a block away and got two hours of free parking.
Below are our ratings of some of our favorite dishes from our various visits. All are very good, but some are damn good!
Because we were advised to go hear specifically to compare the dumplings from our Little Kitchen’s Review, I have to say that Dough Zone’s are better than Little Kitchen’s dumplings, but not as good as Little Ting’s Kitchen.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 4.75
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.75
Overall: 4.70
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: Not a server recommendation, but a fellow diner at Dough Zone Dumpling House advised they were there, because they intended to go to Mike’s Noodle House, but it had a long wait and mentioned they had the best Wonton Soup in Seattle.
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Woodland Coffee
Description on Woodland Coffee’s website : Good Coffee Good People
Neighborhood:Frelard (Fremont/Ballard)
Address: 1417 NW 54th St #101, Seattle, WA 98107
Music Playing: Nothing Breaks Like a Heart by Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus
What we ate/drank: Cortado
Comments: Stumbled upon this place when going to the El Camion Taco Truck(which is not there anymore!) on 54th. Woodland Coffee is in a newer building(Studio Works) which houses a lot of small businesses.
Here’s the history of how Woodland Coffee came to be from their website:
Woodland Coffee began in 2016 out of our family’s love for coffee and a nonchalant place to get it. It all started with our mom and dad’s love for coffee in Seattle in the 80’s, 90’s. The coffee scene was small but growing, and we went to the places that got it right, like Allegro. Our weekend ritual was to grab the dogs, drive to the U-district for coffee and head to Woodland Park. The dogs would run, we would get muddy but at least we were caffeinated. Twenty or so years later, while we don’t spend every weekend together, the tradition of grabbing coffee and getting outside persists. Finally in 2016 our dad built StudioWorks in Ballard with a small allotted space for his dream coffee shop. The youngest (of us) runs the store and the rest of the family pitches in. At Woodland we want everyone to be able to have the feeling of the good old 90’s coffee shop, where we want no snobbery just good coffee.
I like it. It’s a mish mosh of styles and seating areas. You have the modern 4 leather chairs in the corner, the long high counter for single seating looking out on the patio. You have a oval community table that has 8 chairs in the middle and few bar type high tables for four and then the bench seating near the store front. As mentioned there’s also a patio area, which is rather large.
There are plants throughout which makes the space feel fresh and there’s a lot of decorative woodwork on the wall. It’s a dog friendly place, so that’s a plus. They use Olympic Coffee Roasters for their beans. There is a small case of pastries and a few sandwiches.
I have a few qualms, but this is more personal preference, so others may love it. 1) The music is really loud. 2) The lighting is a bit on the bright side. It’s probably due to the fact that it’s north facing storefront, so not much natural light gets in. My preference is warm lighting when going to a cafe. The lighting here reminds me of being in school. 3) The other thing might be small issue, but may be important to others. The website menu is off by about 30% to what is being charged in the actual store. For example, a Cortado is listed as $2.50 on the website, but is actually $3.25. It’s only .75 cents, right? So why quibble? But……
This is an area(Frelard between Fremont and Ballard) rife with breweries(Reubens, Lucky Envelope, Stoup, NW Peaks, Lagunitas, Peddler, Popluxe) but it is a wasteland for coffee. I think it’s because it’s more of an industrial area moreso than a neighborhood. But if you want a good coffee and a cafe to relax in after visiting all the breweries, Woodland Coffee definitely fits the bill.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Really the only option in the area as far as we’re concerned and it’s a good option.
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4.25
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.25
Eavesdropping Convo: Couldn’t eavesdrop due to the music volume.
Related:
D’La Santa Mexican Cuisine & Grill
Recommended by: We advised in our Senor Moose review that we thought Senor Moose was the best Mexican restaurant in Seattle for the mid-tier level(see below) and probably the best overall Mexican restaurant in Seattle. A reader suggested that we try D’La Santa Mexican Cuisine & Grill and promised we would be impressed.
Description on the D’La Santa’s website: We pride ourselves on being 100% family owned. A team of brothers, uncles, aunts and daughters serving grandmothers old recipes. Combined with new rustic and old traditional Mexican food we thrive to serve you the best quality prime meats and organic vegetables.
Neighborhood/Type: Capitol Hill
Address: 2359 10th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
What we ate/drank: Tuetanos-Fire roasted bone marrows boat with cotija cheese and green onion, Picocitos- Jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese & bacon, Tacoarte-Platter filled with a variety of delicious taco fillings: carne asada, pollo asado, cochinita pibil, pastor & refried pinto beans. Tortillas served on the side. (serves 2 people)
Comments: Not taking into account taco trucks, because you know we love us some taco trucks, but in our opinion there are three tiers of Mexican restaurants in Seattle.
- The fancy modernish ones like Barrio, Mezcaleria Oaxaca, Chavez, Fogon Cocina Mexicana, Poquitos
- The mid-tier ones like La Carta de Oaxaca, El Quetzal, Casco Antiguo, El Borracho, 418 Public House, Senor Moose
- The hole-in-the-wall cheaper ones like La Conasupo, Mendoza’s Mercado, Taco Chukis, Gorditos
D’La Santa falls in the mid-tier category.
As mentioned above, a reader suggested D’La Santa as a worthy adversary for best Mexican restaurant in Seattle. We’d never heard of D’La Santa, which opened in late 2017. And I don’t think anybody could blame us since it’s located near a secluded stretch of businesses in North Capitol Hill on 10th Ave E away from the more popular areas of Broadway and the Pike/Pine Corridor. It’s almost borderline Eastlake. Regardless, we gotta give props to this reader for pointing us in the direction of D’La Santa. It is indeed a worthy adversary.
Because the area is away from the more popular streets, parking is no problem at all. The outside has a façade of hanging lanterns that continue inside with a massive tree in the middle of the restaurant also with hanging lanterns. The lights are dimmed, so it definitely gives a romantic vibe that would be a perfect date spot. It did seem like a lot of couples there were on dates, but there was also a good number of groups there with kids in tow.
Another thing that makes this a perfect date spot is the dish that literally every table we saw ordered. That dish was the Tacoarte, which comes as two platters. One filled with a variety of taco fillings: carne asada, pollo asado, cochinita pibil, pastor, pork chorizo & refried pinto beans. For those keeping track at home that’s one steak, one chicken and three pork. The price of this dish is $31.99, but it serves two people, which we feel is totally reasonable. You can definitely fill up 3 people with this dish. Along with the meat fillings, came another platter of toppings, which included onions, cilantro, salsa, pico de gallo, radishes and pickled red onions. The refried beans are really creamy, not lumpy like what you see in most restaurants. This is the perfect date dish because you’re interacting, sharing, you can discuss your favorite fillings, topping and combinations. We quickly ran out of tortillas since the fillings and toppings will easily make 15 tacos minimum. We were asked if we needed extra tortillas, which we did. Every single table had ordered this dish and if when we go back, we’d definitely order it again.
The filling rankings:
1) Carne Asada (my favorite)
2) Al Pastor (wife’s favorite)
3) Pork Chorizo
4) Conchinita Pibil
5) Pollo Asado
One other item that most tables ordered, but we didn’t, was the House Margarita that came in a coconut shell. I noticed there were four tables in a row that each ordered it. We also ordered some appetizers. The Picocitos, which are jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese & bacon. This dish was $4.99 and again we felt it was a very reasonable price considering how big the peppers were and how much cream cheese was applied. It had just the right amount of bacon for a very balanced dish.
The other appetized we got was the Tuetanos, a fire roasted bone marrow boat with cotija cheese and green onion. This was more of a dish for me since my wife doesn’t really enjoy bone marrow. The frustrating thing about bone marrow is there’s just so little of it per bone, but oh how I love me some fatty goodness.
Picocitos $4.99 (3) Jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese & bacon
I have to say that service started out a little rough. We arrived and we had to wait awhile to be seated as there was no workers to be seen even though there were about 6 tables already being served. Somebody eventually came out from the back and we were seated with menus. Again, we waited quite a while before our order was taken. In fact, in thinking back we actually had to flag down somebody to take our order.
To their credit, after this service was impeccable. Our server answered our questions about the dishes, warned us that the bone marrow would take a little longer due to the preparation, periodically checked on us, took away dishes as we finished, asked if we needed more tortillas and also asked if we needed anything boxed up.
Aside from the dishes we got there are so many other interesting dishes that we’d love to try in the future like the Torta Caramelo, which is bread stuffed with anaheim pepper and melted asadero cheese, filled with your choice of meat. Taco Gobernador, which is shrimp sauteed with garlic, onion, butter & cheese.
Let’s not forget their extensive steak menu, starting with a reasonably priced (Wagyu) Mishima Reserved Ultra, grade 8 at $29.99 all the way up to their 40oz Tomahawk for two that’s $119.99. We’ll save that one for a very, very special occasion.
Finding this undiscovered(to us) restaurant is the main reason we try to ask locals where they like to eat. We would have never visited D’La Santa without a local reader suggesting it. This quaint family run restaurant would probably never appear in a Seattle city guidebook. We’re not quite ready to hand over the mantle from Senor Moose as Best Mexican Restaurant in Seattle. We’ll take a few more visits and try a few more dishes, but they are in fact a worthy adversary.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.75
Overall: 4.65
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
-
- Most locals know about it
-
- Locals “in the know” know about it
-
- Only those who live close by know about it.
-
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: Up above we mention La Conasupo Market,which is one of favorites.
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Cafe Lulu – Greenlake
Description on Cafe Lulu’s website: A fun, cozy, welcoming atmosphere might just become a natural extension of your own home.
Neighborhood: Greenlake
Address: 6417 Latona Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Doppio Espresso, Cinnamon Roll.
Comments: It’s actually been awhile since we’d been to Café Lulu, the small little neighborhood coffee shop in between Greenlake and Roosevelt neighborhoods. They just recently did a remodel which really changed the feel of the café. Before it was a cozy colorful spot with orange walls, chalkboard menus and lots of art. Now Café Lulu has been transformed to a more modern clean café with white walls, bright lights and no artwork. Perhaps the remodel is not completely done? One thing that remains at Café Lulu is their collection of travel books. I remember coming here a few years ago and reading through a Japan travel guide right before our trip there.
Here are the before and after comparisons:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
The seating quantity is about the same as before, but the quality is much nicer. There’s some stool seating along the front counter looking out on Latona Ave. There 5 tables of two and 1 table in the front that starts at the wall and goes perpendicular to create a table. The wood tables are quite stunning. The counter between the customers and the barista is much more open and lower now, so you can more easily interact now. Before you could only see their heads as they were making drinks.
The coffee machine they have has a Caffe Vita sticker(yes, I finally figured out Vita vs Ladro), so I assume that’s what they’re serving.Some of the food options are yogurt, banana, oatmeal, breakfast burritos, bagels and I think some bagel sandwiches. One other thing they added with the new remodel is the selling of wine by the glass and bottle. With the addition of wine it only makes sense that they extend their hours from 2:00 closing to 6:00 on weeknights starting in February.
I’ll be honest, even with the upgrades in lighting and outlets, I kind of miss the cozy environment prior to the remodel. Perhaps, it’s just something we need to get used to. I give kudos to any coffee shop that’s been in business for 21 years especially with the plethora of coffee in Seattle. They’re obviously doing something right maintaining their customer base.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Library of travel books
Atmosphere: 3.75
Service: 4.50
Food Options: 4.25
Overall: 4.15
Eavedropping Convo: There must be a Microsoft Connector bus stop nearby. 2 Microsoft employees waiting inside Cafe Lulu for the bus. I think they had just figured out that both of them were both waiting for the Connector.
M1(Microsoft Employee 1): What area do you work in?
M2(Microsoft Employee 2): —-Sales. I just started two weeks ago so I’m still finding my way with the commute and the company. Note: I couldn’t hear the exact sales dept.
M1: It takes awhile to get the lay of the land that’s for sure. It’ll get better. I promise.
M2: Yeah, I’m sure it will.
M1: Where did you come from?
M2: I moved here from Atlanta. Man, this cold weather is another thing I need to get used to.
M1: This? This ain’t nothing. It’s actually been a mild winter. Don’t worry, it’ll get colder.
M2: Gee, thanks.
Related:
Citizen Cafe – Queen Anne
Recommended by: Our Server at Square Knot Diner is a resident of the Queen Anne neighborhood and mentioned a little known and underrated spot called, Citizen Café.
Description on the Citizen Cafe’s website: Welcome to Citizen Cafe and Bar. We are located in the lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washingon in the shadow of the Space Needle. We love our neighborhood and the people that we see everyday, as well as those who might be passing through, looking for a place to grab a bite or a sip. We also love creating food and drinks that are fun and delicious. Things are always changing with new specials for every season and creative new ideas for cocktails and dishes. Be at home in our cozy cafe or on our sun-drenched patio and let us take care of you.
Neighborhood/Type: Queen Anne
What we ate/drank: Pulled Pork Tacos, Korexican Tacos, Macchiato
Comments: Until our server at Square Knot Diner had told us about Citizen Café, we’d never heard of it. Maybe it’s because when going to Queen Anne we’re familiar with the businesses on Queen Anne Ave on top of the hill and the businesses on lower Queen Anne on Mercer Ave. Citizen Café is located on the lower western part of Queen Anne. When we did arrive, we were quite shocked how big the property was. In addition to the two story café they had a huge adjoining outside portion. Citizen Café is a bit of a unicorn in Seattle in that they serve 7:00am breakfast not only on the weekends, but also on weekdays.
.
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The bottom portion of the space is the café portion, where a lot of commuters are just ordering coffee to go. There is some counter space along the window and a few stools near the cashier, but the second story is where the main seating area is. Our server told us that the second story was added on only a few years ago. The space has a lot of character. You’ll notice the exposed brick throughout and the exposed wooden beams. Our server advised that prior incarnations of the space were a fire station, a horse stable and more recently storage for the auto repair business next door. An original touch is the pages of Anna Karenina wallpapered along the wall on the second floor.
We both decided on tacos for breakfast, the pulled pork tacos and the Korexican Tacos(see details in the picture below). I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t expecting much when we ordered our meals. Maybe we thought that they were mainly a coffee shop first and food would take a back seat in quality. We were happily surprised that their tacos were really good. I especially like their pulled pork tacos. I thought for the portion size and quality, the dishes were also reasonably priced.I’m more of a savory person than a sweet person, so the Korexican tacos were not a hit for me, but my wife loved them.
Our server was accommodating and friendly. I point this out because we were there with two kids-(2 yr old and a 3 month old). The place is really unique and we’ll be sure to add it to our list of places to take visitors or local friends. Just a warning, it’s not a place that can accommodate larger groups. I would say maybe 6 people max and even that’s pushing it. Citizen is coffee cafe/brunch spot by day and bar/cocktails in the evening.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.65
Bang for the Buck: 4.25
Overall: 4.50
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: Our server(Brian) mentioned The 5 Spot as another option for breakfasts in the area when asking for suggestions.
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Caffe Ladro – Fremont
Description on Caffe Ladro’s website:Visit Caffe Ladro in 15 different neighborhoods in the Seattle, Washington area. Each of our cafés is unique and built to suit the neighborhood where it makes its home. You will find the same great coffee and fresh-baked goods at any Caffe Ladro location you visit.
Neighborhood: Fremont
Address: 452 N 36th St, Seattle, WA 98103
Music Playing: It’s A Jungle Out There-Buddy Guy, Let the Good Times Roll-BB King, Bleeding Heart – Jimmy D Lane
What we ate/drank: Gibraltar
Comments: This is the 4th Caffe Ladro we’re writing about. In a previous Caffe Ladro review, we mentioned that each branch has a very distinct feel. For example the one located in downtown on Pine Street, we call, The “Jetsons Caffe Ladro”. This one in Fremont we call, “The Library Caffe Ladro”. Why? This one has three sets of long tables that have the little lamps on them that you see in university libraries.
In addition to the library style tables, there are 6 or 7 smaller marble tables and counter seating all along the front looking out on N 36th.
I’m not sure if they always play this type of music in this location, but on the morning we went they were playing the blues-Buddy Guy, BB King, Jimmy D Lane. The music definitely adds to the laid back relaxing atmosphere of this location. This location is the exact opposite of The Jetsons Ladro, which has a very futuristic feel to it. This Ladro has an old nostalgic feel-exposed wood beams, warm lighting from Edison bulbs, beautiful huge wooden window frames.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The library style lights on the bigger tables.
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.50
Food Options: 3.75
Overall: 4.25
Eavedropping Convo: As you can tell by the pictures, we ended up going here very early in the morning. This would be the perfect time to have a personal discussion with your boss outside of business hours. The weird thing is this conversation happened on a weekend morning and it was definitely a boss-underling conversation.
Boss(B): Why did you want to meet this early?
Underling(U): I just felt I needed to get some things off my chest before I made any rash decisions.
B: The floor is yours
U: I feel that some of the things promised are not being followed through on. You said you would mentor me, but it seems you are spending way more time mentoring the others and I want to know why. Is it because I’m not as pushy? Are you too busy? I want to improve, prove myself and get promoted as I’ve mentioned before, so how do I do this?
B: Sure, sure Ok. Fair enough. I’ve probably been more occupied with some of the others because they’re more outspoken. They’re go-getters and you know actions speak louder than words.
U: I don’t want you to mistake my quietness for not wanting do improve.
B: Sure, OK. But in my defense, you have never asked to meet until now. I want to give you every opportunity, but you’ve never asked for feedback.
U: I feel like, you should be the one to provide feedback to me because I don’t know.
B: Sure, sure Ok. Well, first you need to improve your grammar in your correspondences. Your use of plurals and pronouns needs work.
B always started his responses off saying, “Sure, sure OK”. Also, as you can see B got quite defensive and once that happened B went on the offensive and was painfully blunt. Not only did he say U had to improve on her grammar, but also talked about her getting to work earlier, staying later, being more outspoken in meetings, meeting deadlines that she thought were unrealistic. Once B was finished, he asked U, “How will you prove this to me”? Savage.
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