Sizzle & Crunch – “The Vietnamese Chipotle Grill”

Sizzle & Crunch

Recommended by: We noticed a line out the door at Sizzle and Crunch when heading to our favorite Korean spot, Korea Tofu House.  With a line out the door we decided to see what all the hub-bub is all about there.

Description on the Sizzle & Crunch’s website: Sizzle & Crunch Vietnamese Grill serves crunchy banh mi, rice bowls, vermicelli bowls, and salad bowls topped with sizzling meats (or tofu) and your choice of fresh toppings. You can expect a fast-casual experience where the food is served “line style.” In Vietnam, it’s common to have the ingredients separated and prepared in front of you.

Neighborhood/Type:  University District

Address: 1313 NE 42nd St, Seattle, WA 98105

What we ate/drank: House Pork Plate-Our signature all-natural grilled lemongrass pork and braised pork belly, green onion aioli, fish sauce, broken rice. Grilled Pork-Our signature all-natural lemongrass pork, green onion aioli, fish sauce, broken rice

First of all, I’ve got to say this an ingenious business model used by the creator of Sizzle and Crunch. Take an existing conveyor belt style food prep model like Subway, Quiznos, Taco Del Mar and Chipoltle Grill where you can pick and choose fresh ingredients to create your meal. Then apply it to a type of cuisine that really utilizes fresh ingredients like Vietnamese food. You have a quick meal prep to your specifications, you can watch it being prepared and you can see the ingredients being used. The creators of Sizzle and Crunch took an existing model and put a twist on it based on their personal expertise-Vietnamese food.  It’s a simple concept where you wonder, “why didn’t anybody think of this sooner”?

The University District location opened in 2017 and another location opened up in South Lake Union recently.   You understand why there’s a line out the door comprised mainly of poor struggling UW students. It’s fast, the assembly line process makes it simple and catered to your specific tastes and the portion to cost ratio is student-friendly.

So instead of choosing type of tortilla, rice and beans, you’re doing this:

• Choose between a banh mi sandwich or a rice bowl, salad bowl. The sandwich comes with jalapeno cilantro aioli, garlic mayo. The rice bowl comes with green onion aioli, fish sauce, broken rice. The salad bowl comes with green onion aioli, fish sauce, romaine lettuce.
• Choose a protein- grilled pork, chicken, beef or tofu.
• If you chose the rice bowl option, advise if you want an over easy egg.
• Then pick your toppings-house-pickled daikon & carrot, cucumber, chopped jalapeno, shredded scallion, cilantro, and tomato.  You can choose either a fish sauce or green sauce(cilantro, green onion, jalapeno—I think.)
• Watch them make it, pay and you’re ready to grind.

All ingredients are made in house including the baguettes, sauces, pickled vegetables and pate. The food is prepared daily and in small batches to ensure freshness although there does appear to have been some stumbles.

Both dishes we had on this visit to Sizzle & Crunch were representative of what we typically think about Vietnamese food-flavorful meats and fresh light veggies.  I especially love the green sauce which I think is cilantro, jalapeno and onions.  Parking can be a bitch while construction of the Link Light Rail is going on for a few more years, but the price is right, the wait is short and the food is made to order.  We’ll add this to our list of mainstays on The Ave along with Korea Tofu House, Little Kitchen, Morsel and Aladdin Gyro.

Ratings:

Atmosphere: 3.50

Service: 4.50

Food/Drinks: 4.50

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!

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