Seattle restaurant update needed.

daughter visiting a friend. Wondering re restaurants. Need advice.

You are in luck. We have restaurants. Care to narrow it down a little? Price, location, cuisine?

Iā€™ve hardly been out to eat in WAY too long, butā€¦ 84 Yesler was surprisingly (only to me I guess) good. Monsoon (Capitol Hill) is Vietnamese and yummy. Great bar. Piatti in university village is decent, i.e. not bad. Tom Douglas chain was really good, but he grabbed big pandemic relief money then fired folks. Iā€™d avoid. I recently tried Eater Seattle recs and was very disappointed so beware.

Spinasse is great for Italian - on Capitol Hill.

Just recently had dinner at Ciudad (in Georgetown), which is a little more casual. I had only ever been to for lunch pre-pandemic. Food is really good and even better at dinner with a glass of wine. Their wine list is very short, but works. I inquired about corkage, which was $30 and didnā€™t make sense given their inexpensive wine list and somewhat clunky glassware.

Is Metropolitan Grill still any good? I remember having some good times there, albeit before I knew anything about wine.

In the Covid dining era Iā€™ve eaten at the following spots:

  • 84 Yesler : good meal with some of the best octopus Iā€™ve had.
  • Cantinetta : Madison Valley location, always an enjoyable experience with great service. Smaller menu but hasnā€™t let us down.
  • Terra Plata : consistent and in a busier part of town if that matters. We end up eating here often for work dinners as they have a lot of sharable options.
  • Monsoon : As stated above this place is ā€˜yummyā€™. Another crowd pleaser for work dinners amongst my team and customers.
  • Le Pichet : For me its hard to beat a meal here if youā€™re looking for a simple French meal and a glass of wine.
  • Umi : Our go to sushi spot thatā€™s open later in the Belltown area of town. Solid nigiri and too many rolls to choose from.
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thatā€™s a relief. Anything interesting? They are broad-minded w great palates and decent checkbooks.

My favorite restaurant is Cafe Juanita for N. Italian food, but it is hard to get a table, and it is located on the Eastside of Lake Washington, maybe 20 minutes from downtown Seattle. In the city, Nellā€™s is a wonderful, quiet restaurant located in Greenlake. Havenā€™t gone downtown in years, but in the Capital Hill/downtown area, Monsoon, Terra Plata, Spinasse and Le Pichet that are mentioned above get a thumbs up. Lots of good sushi places, but I am partial to a small joint in Lake City called Toyodaā€™s.

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Weā€™re (10 of us, including 2 young children) heading to a family reunion in La Conner, WA next month and will be spending a night around SEA before and after the reunion. I need to plan dinners for us for 2 nights and am looking at restaurants in the area relatively close to the airport. Weā€™re leaning towards a place with a good offering of dead cow. My sonā€™s SO is vegan, so he doesnā€™t get the opportunity to indulge in a nice piece of beef very often. 2 that caught my eye are Sharps Roast House and 13 Coins. Any comments on these or other suggestions? A good wine list is always welcome, but not a priority on this trip, and Iā€™d hope to keep the check on the not outrageous side.

For steak?

Bateau. Butcherā€™s table. Metropolitan grill. Bourbon steak is new and I hear good

East side - John Howie, ascend prime (expensive tho but you get killer views)

13 coin. Iā€™ve heard of but not particular good or bad.
The other one Iā€™ve never heard of.

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Was in Seattle for a few days last month. Ate at Cafe Juanita, excellent service but too long and slow and Iā€™m less interested in multi-course small portion tasting menus these days. We did really enjoy ā€œHow to Cook a Wolfā€, odd name but delicious Italian. And for the great view and very good but not great seafood, Dukes on the South/South-East side of Lake Union was very niceā€¦

13 Coins has been around for at least 45 years. Unfortunately, that was the last time I was thereā€¦

I think the idea is he is looking for places near the airport?
Unfortunately most of us donā€™t dine out around there much.
AFAIK 13 coins is basically a 24 hr diner?
It may be a good one thoughā€¦

Not aware of much good near the airport, but admittedly would have to be exceptional to go there. The original bai tong is near there for thai, but havenā€™t been in forever. If you are willing to go at least as far as west seattle, more options will be available. IMO you are making a big tradeoff of quality for convenience by not venturing further north.

Not exactly near the airport, but probably only 10-15 minutes away is Melrose Grill in downtown Renton. Great steaks at reasonable prices. Used to go a lot when I lived closer, but havenā€™t been in a couple years.

Why do you think heā€™s looking for places near the airport?

Iā€™d also add in Sushi Kabisha and Shiros Sushi. And any of the Taylor Shellfish locations (but not for dinner, for lunchā€¦)

Because he said they were staying a night on the way in and out of town near SEA, the abbreviation for the airport, and the two restaurants he mentioned are near the airport. 13 Coins can be a fun and lively place. Never heard of the other one, but the menu didnā€™t really seem ā€˜dead cowā€™ oriented.

Ok. I though I was going blind. I re-read Alanā€™s original post and his 2nd post 3x to make sure I didnā€™t miss the restaurant reference. And then I noticed, 1/2 way down, another poster asked about restaurants near the airport (SEA). So confusing!

I like Bateau, but it may be a little small for a party of 10.
Used to frequent the Met a lot when I worked downtown. Solid and I doubt it has changed much.

Had dinner at Bourbon Steak last month. Good. Not inexpensive of course, if that is a concern for 10. I think we dropped a little over $600 total for the 2 of us, buying 1 off the list for about $130-140 and a $25 corkage. Porterhouse for 2 - $155, you get the idea. But they do have the classic Michael Mina tuna tartare (quail egg, scotch bonnets, pine nuts) that I remember fondly from Aqua and MM Restaurant back in the San Francisco days.

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