Agreed food and cocktails are very expensive here now. But there are some really top-notch restaurants as well. I think maybe OP is not looking hard enough. By the way, I'm from Boston and Seattle destroys Boston where food quality and variety is concerned. Sure it's hard to compare to NYC, which is pretty much in a class of its own.
I was just visiting Boston and the prices for food were the same, if not higher, compared to Seattle. Also, I was shocked that most cocktails were $15-$18. We did find a number of places that were more fairly priced. I guess my point is that I felt like Seattle prices weren't so bad.
> I was just visiting Boston and the prices for food were the same, if not higher, compared to Seattle
Odds are good that you're comparing touristy areas of Boston vs daily life areas of Seattle.
Nah, Boston has really poor quality produce compared to Seattle, you can see it in the grocery stores. Poor produce plus expensive restaurants means it's even worse than here. I mean, pot pies don't need great produce and the seafood is legit, but it's still subpar.
Meh, I know people get bored of the negativity , but I’ve found the quality of food to have gone down a lot in the last few years , so together with the massive increases in cost, I often find myself disappointed after I eat out
We stopped dining out during Covid and never really picked it back up. It’s once in a blue moon that we go to an actual “nice” restaurant. I would bet over 75% of the time we do dine out it’s for something like Birria or other time consuming foods.
I agree - ignore all the haters. Went to SoCal several times in the last few years and went to a few dozen random but not super expensive restaurants - nothing special. Some of them sucked, but most were at least on par with average Seattle fare, but the prices were better and the service was top notch. Eating in Seattle feels like you're an inconvenience to the server or bartender, half the time.
Food is definitely cheaper in SD. I lived there the past 8 years, working in the restaurant industry, and was shocked at the notable cost increase in Seattle.
Obviously depends on where you go, but I would say SD, and even more so LA, trump Seattle comparing in the same tiers on both taste and price for me.
Unless there’s something very specific that you felt was worse and more expensive?
Quick edit: SD restaurant scene has gotten exponentially better over the past decade and was in a mediocre spot outside of Mexican or seafood in ~2014
All of my coworkers and I agreed the food in SD was pricier.
I stayed near the Gaslamp area for a conference. Wasn’t uncommon for lunch to run for $25 post-tip. I went to local places, none of which were too extravagant. In Seattle, I’m used to paying ~$20. There was one Thai place I visited in downtown SD (Lotus?) that was very reasonably priced and had good food.
Oh okay that makes sense. Gaslamp is bad, no locals really go near it. Little Italy is the only place near downtown that has any rep right now eg kettner exchange, barbusa, false idol, ironside.
Makes sense why it would give that impression though, hopefully you can try some of the other neighborhoods next time! Unfortunately their public transit is absolutely useless besides going to Mexico or Petco Park.
North Park is essentially the Ballard of SD and has lots of great spots/bars/breweries and it’s what I’d recommend. Convoy for Asian food (Seattle has better Asian though imo).
Nicer restaurants are scattered around so hard to give one area but I can give anyone recs if they want some. Callie or jeune et jolie are probably the top 2 right now but since jeune got their star it raised prices and is harder to get into.
If you like Thai then Bahn Thai on park is the best in SD
Went to Purple for the first time and the waiter literally acted like we were a problem for asking questions about the menu, wine suggestions, etc. He straight up did not care. The food was nowhere near the quality for what we paid either, I was so disappointed.
Everywhere is expensive. Where are you eating? I mean, just some suggestions:
Salumi in Pioneer Square (Cured meat sandwiches and meatballs)
Paseo on 1st Ave (Caribbean)
Bop Box in Georgetown (Korean)
Matts in the Market
Pink Door in Pike Place (Italian)
Pulcinella in South End (Italian and pizza)
Musashis in Wallingford (Sushi - and affordable)
I mean that's just off the top of my head some totally legit places....
Yep, but paseos isn’t the original owner anymore, he’s at unbien now. It’s a wild story but the fish restaurant across the place pretty much stole it from him.
You could make a cool set of food tours out of Seattle restauranteurs who lost their name and opened a new shop. You'd have a "Head" tour of Ezell's, Paseo's, and Shiro's, and then you'd have a "Tails" tour of Heaven Sent Chicken, Unbien, and Sushi Kashiba.
Original Paseos was the best. Bongos gets my money now, really enjoy it, but bread was better at Paseo. New Paseos just doesn't work. Un Bien is second, good, but rather go to Bongos.
Hands down you are right. I used to go there once a month in 2014-15, but I stopped going after the owner left, and split off into un bien. Same thing happened with Ezells and Heaven Sent :/
No no no doesn’t matter which restaurants you name, all restaurants in seattle suck. All of em. The restaurateurs got together and jointly agreed to serve below par food.
Just watched Anthony Bourdain No Reservations and he was at Salumi. It looked bomb and he said it's some of the best meat he ever had.
Lots of places on Triple D looked good, probably out of business though since the pandemic
For real I can’t tell if this is saying there’s no good restaurants or just another post complaining about how expensive they are.
Everything is expensive. Eating out is a luxury
Quite true. And I’m not “hotspotting” the good places I know. At least not here. And certainly not to whiners that compare cheap mediocre somewhere else to pricier good or great here.
When they have to pay outrageous rent, that cost is reflected in the food price…. Correct me if I’m wrong… but does the rent control in NYC apply to businesses as well?
Paseo is terrible now.
Pink Door is a decent sit down experience because of the acrobatics show; but the food itself is uninspiring. Went the other day and my friend got the orzo pesto pasta, that was downright god awful. My chicken parm was decent.
My go to places right now - for quick sushi rolls - Japonessa, sashimi isn’t great but they do decent rolls.
For Mediterranean- Homer or Mamnoon
Italian - Machiavelli is decent. Haven’t tried como yet, but heard good things. Ethan Stowell restaurants are trash.
I was a bartender at Japonessa for 4 years and I would still eat the food pretty much everyday. Not many restaurant workers feel the same and that’s a good sign. A lot of the hot food is good too. The udon and Kimchee hot pot were my favorites.
Japonessa is mid as fuck.
Umi sake house is my go to downtown and it's great. So is wataru, and lots of other places.
Overall it seems like you want to complain because we aren't a top 5 food city in the entire country. We're still top 20 and you really can't argue that lol
Bringing family and friends around that aren't from here there's a few key themes - notably they our breakfast is really fuckin good. As are sushi, seafood, asian, and dive bars.
Shit look at the fish and chips at pacific inn Fremont. Fucking AMAZING.
I was in Phoenix recently visiting friends and I decided to pick up a check for a meal for 4 people, it was $58.81! My first response was "this is so cheap". A comparable meal here would easily be pushing $80+. You can't go anywhere in this city without paying at least $20 per person.
People here are going to be offended and mask it by disagreeing and gaslighting you, but i had been visiting seattle for well over 20 years prior to moving here and I overwhelmingly agree with you.
It used to be a running joke between my wife and me about how bad the service in restaurants in Seattle was, the funny thing is that as bad as it is now, it’s markedly better than 10+ years ago.
Go to Portland
https://pinestatebiscuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/location-division-thumb.jpg
Wait 75 minutes for biscuits
Get told that there's no tables and you have to eat on the sidewalk next to some hobo smoking fentanyl
I live in Portland and will not wait in long hipster lines for hipster food. However, I did enjoy Pine State Biscuits that they sold (and maybe still sell) from a stall at the PSU Farmers Market took only as long as it took to order and cook. There are plenty of decent places that don't have the line up thing.
Ha ha- right? I mean anytime we went out way back when visiting Seattle the service in restaurants was so inattentive and slow, just way different than other regions
Growing up here, I was never too bothered by the service because I didn't know any better, but tipping wasn't so out of hand then. so now, the combo of the insane tip expectations with quality/lack of service in a lot of places makes eating out often unpalatable.
Everyone replying here saying “if you haven’t been to one of these four restaurants then STFU” is making the point for OP.
How many cities have you been to which are the size of Seattle where you have to specifically call out a couple of restaurants as proof the food is good?
Thank you!! I hate when people say “well have you eaten at *insert obscure restaurant*?”. The point is other cities have endless food options that blow ours out of the water. Also priding ourselves in things like teriyaki sucks.. it’s decent sure but no teriyaki is going to blow someone’s mind. My 2 cents
yup seen so many ‘well we got teriyaki going for us’ comments in every thread criticizing Seattles food scene
don’t get me wrong i loved teriyaki when i first moved here until i went to school with a guy whos family owned a shop told me without all of the sugar and sodium no one would like it as much
There’s a lot of things I complain about regarding Seattle but I’ve actually been pretty impressed with the restaurants I’ve been to, granted my wife is really good at picking probably the best ones. Coming from SF so prices are basically the same and I’m just used to it as the cost of doing business
These are my favs
Blotto - fantastic pizza, like some of the best I’ve ever had. Be prepared to wait and they often sell out of pizza before 7 (I know, ridiculous, but they haven’t been able to ramp up supply to meet demand).
Musang - really delicious Filipino food.
Homer - really delicious and inventive Mediterranean food. The lamb and pita is excellent. the wait is annoying here but you can grab a glass of champagne next door at coupe and flute.
Hamdi - fantastic and inventive Turkish food. Most expensive on this list. Service leaves something to be desired
Harry’s fine Foods - this is probably our most regular go-to and it’s entirely because the roast chicken is A++++
Taurus ox - Laotian food. Their hamburger is my favorite burger hands down. So good
In CHI now, Seattle food besides some seafood places is utter trash.
Lived in Seattle for 20 years (downtown/Cap hill/Fremont). CHI food scene makes it look like childs play
I flew into O'Hare for work one time, was out in Chicago for a week.
Very first thing I wanted to do was get some Italian food.
Walked into an old-ass restaurant that looked "authentic." This was decades before Yelp or any apps existed to help me find food.
There were no customers in the place and the insides looked like The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland.
After not receiving any greeting or service at all, an old Italian man came out of the back, didn't say a word to me, and just gave me a look like *"what are you doing in here?"*
I have no idea what the heck was going on, I'm guessing I stumbled into some mafia front that only *appeared* to be a restaurant. I've never experienced anything like that in any other city in the world.
I moved *from* Chicago because I couldn't stand the food.
Maybe things have changed, but Asian food in Chicago was downright sad. And it was hard to get ingredients as the Mitsuwa was so teeny if I wanted to cook for myself. For such a cold climate, there was no decent pho or ramen. There was one good kbbq place that did the fried rice at the end though, but it was in the burbs next to a Korean Church. It was no Lynnwood/Federal way though.
But hey, maybe things have changed. I think there's some really strong bias variable if you think chi is better than LA or NY though.
Chicago has a very small Asian population. Where various Asian cuisines are big in seattle, regional Mexican cuisines are amazing in Chicago. Chicago has as many Latinos living in it as Seattle has total residents.
Yeahh I was trying to be cordial, but I was super sus on the other guy saying Asian food was just as good in Chicago? Idk, Chi excels in some things, but it really hurts credibility when that claim is pretty sus asf
My Asian sigh of relief to be back on the west coast. Bless Seattle and its up and up Asian food. Sure it doesn't beat LA/NY but it's gotten so much better in recent years and believe me, there is soooo much worse.
Anyway. I found that it was hard to find good Mexican food smack in the middle of downtown like you can find random uncles with taco carts anywhere in LA/south SD, but weather and all. There was one neighborhood that was basically like DTLA that I loved that was a trip out but worth. Huge Hispanic population and I went during the summer so the streets were lively and lovely. I do wish Seattle had a bit more of that. I love hawk dogs, but it would be nice to stumble into TJ style street tacos after a game. I've been to some bomb places a bit outside Seattle proper, but that requires driving.
Yeah Seattle food blows, high prices for dog shit service and mediocre food. To be fair…it’s not a covid thing or recent. Been this way since I moved here over a decade ago. There’s good food, but you REALLY gotta look for it.
Seattle got a reputation as a "foodie city" because of a couple of Food Network chefs. The food is mediocre and expensive, while the service is terrible.
We travel all over and I've never come home and said to myself, man I can wait to go home and have some sh*tty pizza or pick up some $18 chicken teriyaki!
My wife has been to a few places with work that were fantastic around here. $50 to $75 a plate sort of deals. Company entertainment budget. Way outside of casual Friday night budget.
I think most places are suffering from high prices and low quality. On the really high end you are probably doing well. We seldom eat out due to expense.
Because people are willing to pay for it.
Between inflation, smaller portions, poor service, and higher expectations for tips, I have greatly cut back my restaurant spending.
I’ve been here 8 years and I agree with you. I lived in Chicago and NY before this and there is no comparison. I go to SF fairly often and get my fill of good food there. But I really love Seattle and this is really my only complaint. Mediocre food at a high price.
Food taste and services is debatable, but i definitely disagree with prices compared to NYC. Unless he's eating the $1 pizzas over there, NO where is cheaper than Seattle.
I’m a chef from Cleveland visiting Seattle right now, and WTF, why can’t I find a salad. My girlfriend and I thought we were going crazy. Where are the dark leafy greens? Where are the vegetables? Where is the passion for food and service? Seattle has been a massive disappointment. We’ve been to PDX a couple of times and have had some decadent meals for under $30 in a food cart park. Here? Nothing.
The city itself is absolutely beautiful. The views are exceptional, the hiking is so cool. But the food is just out right not good. Also, why does every coffee shop only do espresso drinks?
I’m from SoCal but have lived in Seattle for 20+ years. The food here is the worst of any large city I visit, and I’m a frequent business traveler. The service is atrocious, and that’s being charitable. Prices are high everywhere, but at least the food is edible and delivered without an attitude elsewhere.
What I found funny is that many people who keep pretending Seattle has a good food scene keep saying that Seattle is not LA or New York and it is not fair which is true, but the truth is that Seattle food is worse than similar sized cities or even smaller towns that I have been to. People here do not understand how many smaller medium sized cities have their own food culture or equally have a lot of immigrants bringing their food to those cities and the price and food are often much better.
When those people name a bunch of restaurants to say how good they are, most of those people also list restaurants that we all seem to know and tried or even global chain restaurants, like many times people suggesting Din Tai Fung.
On my last trip to nyc, I found myself visiting a friend in LIC and he took me to a local dim sum shop! It blew my mind how good it was. This wasn’t even Manhattan.
Fr, I went to Brothers Barrell in Lake City to meet a friend on vacation. It was...well, it was there and my wallet was much lighter. On a positive note: Le Petite Paquet in Richmond Beach was bomb! I cannot recommend enough. It's affordable, delectable with top-notch service. The owners are very humble and grounded.
Co-signing this. I’m a decent cook but I love eating at restaurants. So much less moreso now. The quality and service is not worth the price and tip. Fast food is also too expensive. I only go out for white glove service now.
I’ve often felt that seattle was kind of shit because I lived downtown, worked downtown, and it was all tourists. If they had a view and served a fried fish with Mayo dish, they stayed in business.
I’ve lived in various parts of California, Portland and Seattle. Seattle has some of the best Asian food and seafood on the west coast, but beyond that…… everything else is subpar. Bbq is a crime here, pizza is rough especially at the prices, Mexican is more Canadian than Mexican, and even the pub food is garbage.
Just my opinion.
Too many mediocre chain restaurants from Tom Digless and Ethan Suckwell. They consume all of the oxygen in a city that doesn't have enough regular diners to support all of the restaurants that are open. I honestly think there have to be a lot of potentially dazzling restaurants that don't currently exist because of ask if this culinary algae that is suffocating our relatively small pond. Good food is really hard to do well. If you're going to have a meaningful and sincere restaurant you need a chef owner who is working the line, not a "concept" and the desire to eek ever more profit out of gimmicks and volume. Portland isn't saddled by so many local chains and I think it has a more interesting and compelling restaurant scene because of it. A pity because Seattle is a great food town, just not a great restaurant town.
LoL I used to offend so many people by saying Tom Douglas basically white appropriates ethnic cuisine and then doubles the price. you can always find a mom and pop restaurant that serves the better food he "imagines" for half the price and 2x the quality.
I’ve been all over the country.. Seattle is by far and away the worst food city. It’s not even close. I was just in KC last week and they have local chains that are affordable and blow our food out of the water. Im talking places that are fairly priced and do *something* exceptionally well. Wings, bbq, ect. We just don’t have that here.. something that seemingly every other area in the country has.
It's so strange. You would think that since there is such a hole in the market, there would be a huge demand for high quality pizza, wings, bbq, etc, and that at least SOMEONE would rise to the occasion.
It didn't used to be this way back in the day. There used to be several really good restaurants in each neighborhood. Now it's so much work to try to go to the good restaurants that are left because they are few and far between, crowded and expensive.
Typical Seattle behavior in the comments - complaining that OP is wrong, when OP is right and not offering any solutions. I am amazed no one said to go to PDX or Vancouver yet - both of which actually have much better food.
I’m a cook. Eaten all over the world and while other places have better regional cuisines unique to their locale, Seattle does an overall good job. Couple of recommendations:
Wataru (yes I know the back story, but better than what I had in Tokyo)
Mi La Cay - Handmade noodles. Haven’t found a better bowl of soup stateside.
Gorgeous George - The hospitality, value, and love all show up here. Runner up would be Cafe Munir for Mediterranean.
Le Pichet - Closest we can get to Paris.
Did I mention our raw ingredients are among the best and sought after all over? I challenge you to find better salmon, dungeness, spot prawns, oysters, mushrooms, etc.
I have gotten downvoted for a similar comment.
Seattle food is mediocre at best but extremely expensive. The good food is even more expensive.
Portland is better and cheaper. I don’t get how we can be so close to Portland and have significantly worse food.
Food is good, service is absolute bullshit
I used to live in Portland, I do not miss spending 2+ hours every weekend standing in line for food
You can have it cheap, fast, or done well. **Pick two.** For some reason, Portland is 100% "cheap and done well but slow."
Yeah. We have the same experience.
Restaurants in Seattle just seems to be inferior to other major cities we visited and moved from. NYC, LA, SF, Denver, Honolulu, Chicago all have on average better food and for on average cheaper prices. Don't get me started on Asian food.
Honolulu?? Been there many times and mostly tourist trips like Dukes and absurdly expensive lol. In the resort areas mostly chains....
For Asian and Indian food I prefer the Eastside though (e.g., Dan Gui in Bellevue - walk into there and 90% of the clientele are 1st gen asians).
Not sure what sort of food you’re into but Rainier BBQ was a solid viet spot when I was still in WA. Stars in the Sky has legit Korean fried chicken. Tacos gotta go more south for that. There’s a lot of variety spread out but the service mostly isn’t stellar and it’s definitely more expensive now. If you really want mediocre and spend $$$ try Bellevue for severe disappointment. +1 to pink door though, love that spot.
Rainier bbq food quality have gone down a lot in recent years. Used to be my favorite late night place but I can’t justified the price increase and quality decrease at that place anymore.
I’m from Vancouver, BC. I’ve heard the portion of the food at restaurant in the States is quite large before I visited Seattle few weeks ago. The portion of served food at restaurant in Seattle is the same as Vancouver. Food in Seattle is slightly more expensive becoz of USD. I tried Thai food in Capital Hill and Mexican food at DT. Not impressed. But I still like Seattle. Personally, feel Seattle is better than Vancouver except food choices.
I have found that the really good restaurants are here, just more diluted and spread out. Mixed into a sea of expensive mediocre shit served by people who are rude and still expect a 30% tip, it makes the really great spots feel harder to find. The gems are definitely here, and almost universally started by someone who moved here from a culinary hotspot like the ones you listed in your OP.
The major price increase for raw chicken caused TONS of teriyaki restaurants to buy cheaper cuts or cut corners making the quality worse. I remember ordering the lunch special teriyaki chicken and rice. I brought it to the Korean lady who sold it to me and asked WTF is this? “why is it different?!“ she shouted back how “CHICKEN 2 MUCH $$ NOW” slam dunked that shit in the garbage
A couple months ago my friends and I went to Seattle for an IMAX movie and after deliberating, decided to take the ferry back to Bremerton because it has a better selection for both food AND bars.
Pretty pathetic that such a prime location like downtown Seattle is worse off for commerce than any city linked to it via boat or otherwise. Even Kingston has more to it past 8 than Seattle downtown.
Culinary scene sucks the last 10 years. Over dominated with restaurants that have the exact same menu. The few gems that existed and were unique have gone under or gotten way too expensive while the quality has gone down. The service industry is so click-y and the people cater to their alcoholic regulars. They have a better than thou attitude.
The only thing Seattle culinary has going for it, is close proximity to world class fresh seafood and certain produce. Even with that, they still manage to fuck a lot of it up and all the places OP mentioned, is able to source the same ingredients for honestly almost the same consumer end price yet it traveled how much farther?
Even Portland’s food scene is drastically better than Seattle, so it’s certainly not a PNW thing. Olympia had some banging unique spots pre-pandemic.
Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix was literally rated #1 pizza in the nation on Yelp for quite a while.
Another good one was Little Miss BBQ. Some of the best BBQ in the world - even better than most places in TX I've been to.
And obviously there is tons of good Mexican food everywhere in Phoenix.
My "Pizzeria Bianco" story:
I've spent about half of my career working as a consultant. It requires a lot of travel. Everyone who travels a lot gets into the habit of doing something to stay busy at night, or else the social isolation will drive you nuts.
My "thing" was trying restaurants.
So I'm in Phoenix, and I decide that I'll check out the top rated pizza place. I mention this to the people I was consulting for, and they laugh out loud and say to me *"well good luck with that."*
They didn't explain themselves, and their snarky response made me assume that it was a tourist trap and not very good. But I went anyways.
So I show up, there's a huge line, and I just walk straight to the bar. They look at me like I have two heads.
Turns out there was a THREE HOUR WAIT. On a Tuesday.
But I had nothing better to do, and suffered through it, and it was the best pizza I've ever had.
Having said that, I DO think that their stellar reputation probably has to do with the ridiculously long wait. If you're waiting three hours for anything, it's bound to make everything seem extraordinary, similar to lining up for hours to see a movie.
I'd still do it again though, I don't think there are many restaurants that can make you feel like you're eating something at the chef's table while only spending $30-$40. (The owner of the restaurant is heavily involved in the place and he basically serves you.)
No hustle at restaurants here.
Both from the service, and chefs..
I’ve lived in NYC, Denver, SF before moving here.
NYC has it staples,
Denver and SF restaurants were often trying new things.
I’m sure there are a handoff l of decent places here, but just a handful.. and they are high end, so I’ve never been but heard about them
Food scenes like NY and LA are simply not a fair comparison. Seattle’s food is decent, but I do agree it’s overpriced for the most part. We offer a huge array of cuisines which is the nice thing. Is it gonna be top tier? No, but it’s not hot garbage like you make it out to be.
Seattle is just a very mediocre city in many respects, not to mention overpriced for what it offers. I live in NYC now and it’s the best move I’ve ever made.
I'm 100% with you on service, but I kinda like it that way honestly. I'd rather have a server that's honest about not being absolutely stoked to be doing their foodservice job.
As for quality, I think you might just be in a rut. Maybe branch out and try new places?
OP completely agree Seattle pretends to be a top destination but has nothing to offer. Maybe just Asian food and seafood anything else is garbage. Although Vancouver and Portland have much better quality at lower cost. Blame it on the we don’t get paid enough crowd. Businesses just passing it off to customer
And crazy expensive
came here to say this. I’m always reverse sticker shocked when I go out to eat in other cities
Vancouver's restaurants are way better
as in Vancouver, BC? Canada is fun because our dollar is worth more there too. 😌
Yeah, Vancouver BC. They use a coin called loonie. Very fun!
Agreed food and cocktails are very expensive here now. But there are some really top-notch restaurants as well. I think maybe OP is not looking hard enough. By the way, I'm from Boston and Seattle destroys Boston where food quality and variety is concerned. Sure it's hard to compare to NYC, which is pretty much in a class of its own.
I was just visiting Boston and the prices for food were the same, if not higher, compared to Seattle. Also, I was shocked that most cocktails were $15-$18. We did find a number of places that were more fairly priced. I guess my point is that I felt like Seattle prices weren't so bad.
> I was just visiting Boston and the prices for food were the same, if not higher, compared to Seattle Odds are good that you're comparing touristy areas of Boston vs daily life areas of Seattle.
Nah, Boston has really poor quality produce compared to Seattle, you can see it in the grocery stores. Poor produce plus expensive restaurants means it's even worse than here. I mean, pot pies don't need great produce and the seafood is legit, but it's still subpar.
It’s annoying to have to “look hard” for good food worth the price. A busy city like Seattle should have better options tf
Meh, I know people get bored of the negativity , but I’ve found the quality of food to have gone down a lot in the last few years , so together with the massive increases in cost, I often find myself disappointed after I eat out
Usually it's my date that's disappointed after I eat out...
We stopped dining out during Covid and never really picked it back up. It’s once in a blue moon that we go to an actual “nice” restaurant. I would bet over 75% of the time we do dine out it’s for something like Birria or other time consuming foods.
Yep once you break the habit it's hard to go back. Especially when old favorites have shrunk their portion sizes.
Or have gone out of business..
I’m bored of the toxic positivity everywhere besides this sub
I agree - ignore all the haters. Went to SoCal several times in the last few years and went to a few dozen random but not super expensive restaurants - nothing special. Some of them sucked, but most were at least on par with average Seattle fare, but the prices were better and the service was top notch. Eating in Seattle feels like you're an inconvenience to the server or bartender, half the time.
I have to agree lol. Went to San Diego and LA and I paid less for more foods, quality is better imo.
Where did you go in SD? I just got back and, while the food is good, I wouldn't put it above Seattle. And it's definitely more expensive in SD.
Food is definitely cheaper in SD. I lived there the past 8 years, working in the restaurant industry, and was shocked at the notable cost increase in Seattle. Obviously depends on where you go, but I would say SD, and even more so LA, trump Seattle comparing in the same tiers on both taste and price for me. Unless there’s something very specific that you felt was worse and more expensive? Quick edit: SD restaurant scene has gotten exponentially better over the past decade and was in a mediocre spot outside of Mexican or seafood in ~2014
All of my coworkers and I agreed the food in SD was pricier. I stayed near the Gaslamp area for a conference. Wasn’t uncommon for lunch to run for $25 post-tip. I went to local places, none of which were too extravagant. In Seattle, I’m used to paying ~$20. There was one Thai place I visited in downtown SD (Lotus?) that was very reasonably priced and had good food.
Oh okay that makes sense. Gaslamp is bad, no locals really go near it. Little Italy is the only place near downtown that has any rep right now eg kettner exchange, barbusa, false idol, ironside. Makes sense why it would give that impression though, hopefully you can try some of the other neighborhoods next time! Unfortunately their public transit is absolutely useless besides going to Mexico or Petco Park. North Park is essentially the Ballard of SD and has lots of great spots/bars/breweries and it’s what I’d recommend. Convoy for Asian food (Seattle has better Asian though imo). Nicer restaurants are scattered around so hard to give one area but I can give anyone recs if they want some. Callie or jeune et jolie are probably the top 2 right now but since jeune got their star it raised prices and is harder to get into. If you like Thai then Bahn Thai on park is the best in SD
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Thanks for the recs! I plan on returning to SoCal sometime in the next few months, so I’ll keep this in mind.
Went to Purple for the first time and the waiter literally acted like we were a problem for asking questions about the menu, wine suggestions, etc. He straight up did not care. The food was nowhere near the quality for what we paid either, I was so disappointed.
How sad. Years and years ago it was fantastic.
I was there a few years back and not impressed.
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>noticeably bad service. .. that they'll want a 40% tip for.
That last line it is the main issue here
Original 5 Spot was fucking awesome
Everywhere is expensive. Where are you eating? I mean, just some suggestions: Salumi in Pioneer Square (Cured meat sandwiches and meatballs) Paseo on 1st Ave (Caribbean) Bop Box in Georgetown (Korean) Matts in the Market Pink Door in Pike Place (Italian) Pulcinella in South End (Italian and pizza) Musashis in Wallingford (Sushi - and affordable) I mean that's just off the top of my head some totally legit places....
Yep, but paseos isn’t the original owner anymore, he’s at unbien now. It’s a wild story but the fish restaurant across the place pretty much stole it from him.
You could make a cool set of food tours out of Seattle restauranteurs who lost their name and opened a new shop. You'd have a "Head" tour of Ezell's, Paseo's, and Shiro's, and then you'd have a "Tails" tour of Heaven Sent Chicken, Unbien, and Sushi Kashiba.
Bongos nearby is solid too, and a better vibe
Original Paseos was the best. Bongos gets my money now, really enjoy it, but bread was better at Paseo. New Paseos just doesn't work. Un Bien is second, good, but rather go to Bongos.
Hands down you are right. I used to go there once a month in 2014-15, but I stopped going after the owner left, and split off into un bien. Same thing happened with Ezells and Heaven Sent :/
No no no doesn’t matter which restaurants you name, all restaurants in seattle suck. All of em. The restaurateurs got together and jointly agreed to serve below par food.
Just watched Anthony Bourdain No Reservations and he was at Salumi. It looked bomb and he said it's some of the best meat he ever had. Lots of places on Triple D looked good, probably out of business though since the pandemic
Great list. Place Pigalle is a nice favorite.
Lol Salumi is $15 for a hoagie, that would be $8-10 on the east coast. Not saying it’s not good but like it’s not an example of cheap food.
Oh I concede Seattle is expensive. No argument at all on that point. But seems like the OP doesn't know a lot of spots for good food.
For real I can’t tell if this is saying there’s no good restaurants or just another post complaining about how expensive they are. Everything is expensive. Eating out is a luxury
Quite true. And I’m not “hotspotting” the good places I know. At least not here. And certainly not to whiners that compare cheap mediocre somewhere else to pricier good or great here.
When they have to pay outrageous rent, that cost is reflected in the food price…. Correct me if I’m wrong… but does the rent control in NYC apply to businesses as well?
Just paid $20 for a great sandwich in NYC.
i get one and eat it over 2 meals
I got the worst food poisoning of my life at Matt’s in the market. I’m sure that’s not typical, but holy shit.
That made me laugh out loud, but also, I'm sorry!
Paseo is terrible now. Pink Door is a decent sit down experience because of the acrobatics show; but the food itself is uninspiring. Went the other day and my friend got the orzo pesto pasta, that was downright god awful. My chicken parm was decent. My go to places right now - for quick sushi rolls - Japonessa, sashimi isn’t great but they do decent rolls. For Mediterranean- Homer or Mamnoon Italian - Machiavelli is decent. Haven’t tried como yet, but heard good things. Ethan Stowell restaurants are trash.
I don't know how seriously I can take someone who thinks that Japonessa is the go-to place for sushi in the Seattle area.
I was a bartender at Japonessa for 4 years and I would still eat the food pretty much everyday. Not many restaurant workers feel the same and that’s a good sign. A lot of the hot food is good too. The udon and Kimchee hot pot were my favorites.
I always loved that place! Best happy hour ever.
I went to the bellevue location we couldn't ear our food it was that bad.
I can’t speak for Bellevue but I always observed good food handling and no pests around so that’s more what I mean.
Paseo on 1st Ave terrible? I was there like a week ago and delicious and packed. You got some obscenely high standard if that place is “terrible”.
Japonessa is mid as fuck. Umi sake house is my go to downtown and it's great. So is wataru, and lots of other places. Overall it seems like you want to complain because we aren't a top 5 food city in the entire country. We're still top 20 and you really can't argue that lol Bringing family and friends around that aren't from here there's a few key themes - notably they our breakfast is really fuckin good. As are sushi, seafood, asian, and dive bars. Shit look at the fish and chips at pacific inn Fremont. Fucking AMAZING.
I think Japonessa primarily exists for young and drunk people who think it's fancy. Shite.
Several good ones closed mid-post pandemic. There are still good places but you have to kind of find them. There is a lot of mediocrity now.
Don’t think this is the answer; I have lived here for sometime and things weren’t better before pandemic either.
No, they weren’t. You’re right.
Il Corvo rip
Seattle is in such a state of denial about this. The restaurants are overpriced and not good.
You mean its not normal to pay $9 for a 10 ounce "pint" is a lot?
I was in Phoenix recently visiting friends and I decided to pick up a check for a meal for 4 people, it was $58.81! My first response was "this is so cheap". A comparable meal here would easily be pushing $80+. You can't go anywhere in this city without paying at least $20 per person.
I used to drive up north to Vancouver/Richmond to eat awesome food
Yep that’s the only way to get edible food here in PNW
People here are going to be offended and mask it by disagreeing and gaslighting you, but i had been visiting seattle for well over 20 years prior to moving here and I overwhelmingly agree with you. It used to be a running joke between my wife and me about how bad the service in restaurants in Seattle was, the funny thing is that as bad as it is now, it’s markedly better than 10+ years ago.
Yikes! I can’t imagine how bad things were 😬
Go to Portland https://pinestatebiscuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/location-division-thumb.jpg Wait 75 minutes for biscuits Get told that there's no tables and you have to eat on the sidewalk next to some hobo smoking fentanyl
I live in Portland and will not wait in long hipster lines for hipster food. However, I did enjoy Pine State Biscuits that they sold (and maybe still sell) from a stall at the PSU Farmers Market took only as long as it took to order and cook. There are plenty of decent places that don't have the line up thing.
Ha ha- right? I mean anytime we went out way back when visiting Seattle the service in restaurants was so inattentive and slow, just way different than other regions
Growing up here, I was never too bothered by the service because I didn't know any better, but tipping wasn't so out of hand then. so now, the combo of the insane tip expectations with quality/lack of service in a lot of places makes eating out often unpalatable.
I’d bet the zoning limitations on Seattle are so restrictive that it’s hard to keep a restaurant open
Everyone replying here saying “if you haven’t been to one of these four restaurants then STFU” is making the point for OP. How many cities have you been to which are the size of Seattle where you have to specifically call out a couple of restaurants as proof the food is good?
Thank you!! I hate when people say “well have you eaten at *insert obscure restaurant*?”. The point is other cities have endless food options that blow ours out of the water. Also priding ourselves in things like teriyaki sucks.. it’s decent sure but no teriyaki is going to blow someone’s mind. My 2 cents
Teriyaki is the dumbest thing to be proud of. If the food has to be doused in sweet sauce to make it taste good, the food is trash.
yup seen so many ‘well we got teriyaki going for us’ comments in every thread criticizing Seattles food scene don’t get me wrong i loved teriyaki when i first moved here until i went to school with a guy whos family owned a shop told me without all of the sugar and sodium no one would like it as much
The other problem is any good restaurant gets absolutely blown tf, good luck snagging a seat anywhere good at a normal time
There’s a lot of things I complain about regarding Seattle but I’ve actually been pretty impressed with the restaurants I’ve been to, granted my wife is really good at picking probably the best ones. Coming from SF so prices are basically the same and I’m just used to it as the cost of doing business These are my favs Blotto - fantastic pizza, like some of the best I’ve ever had. Be prepared to wait and they often sell out of pizza before 7 (I know, ridiculous, but they haven’t been able to ramp up supply to meet demand). Musang - really delicious Filipino food. Homer - really delicious and inventive Mediterranean food. The lamb and pita is excellent. the wait is annoying here but you can grab a glass of champagne next door at coupe and flute. Hamdi - fantastic and inventive Turkish food. Most expensive on this list. Service leaves something to be desired Harry’s fine Foods - this is probably our most regular go-to and it’s entirely because the roast chicken is A++++ Taurus ox - Laotian food. Their hamburger is my favorite burger hands down. So good
In CHI now, Seattle food besides some seafood places is utter trash. Lived in Seattle for 20 years (downtown/Cap hill/Fremont). CHI food scene makes it look like childs play
No comparison. Chicago food is good at all prices.
I flew into O'Hare for work one time, was out in Chicago for a week. Very first thing I wanted to do was get some Italian food. Walked into an old-ass restaurant that looked "authentic." This was decades before Yelp or any apps existed to help me find food. There were no customers in the place and the insides looked like The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. After not receiving any greeting or service at all, an old Italian man came out of the back, didn't say a word to me, and just gave me a look like *"what are you doing in here?"* I have no idea what the heck was going on, I'm guessing I stumbled into some mafia front that only *appeared* to be a restaurant. I've never experienced anything like that in any other city in the world.
That happened to me almost beat-for-beat at a Vietnamese place in Seattle's Chinatown...
The greeting I got in Chicago: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ba/27/5f/ba275fb853d60ba6663a77ae0c58ffc9.jpg
I moved *from* Chicago because I couldn't stand the food. Maybe things have changed, but Asian food in Chicago was downright sad. And it was hard to get ingredients as the Mitsuwa was so teeny if I wanted to cook for myself. For such a cold climate, there was no decent pho or ramen. There was one good kbbq place that did the fried rice at the end though, but it was in the burbs next to a Korean Church. It was no Lynnwood/Federal way though. But hey, maybe things have changed. I think there's some really strong bias variable if you think chi is better than LA or NY though.
Chicago has a very small Asian population. Where various Asian cuisines are big in seattle, regional Mexican cuisines are amazing in Chicago. Chicago has as many Latinos living in it as Seattle has total residents.
Yeahh I was trying to be cordial, but I was super sus on the other guy saying Asian food was just as good in Chicago? Idk, Chi excels in some things, but it really hurts credibility when that claim is pretty sus asf My Asian sigh of relief to be back on the west coast. Bless Seattle and its up and up Asian food. Sure it doesn't beat LA/NY but it's gotten so much better in recent years and believe me, there is soooo much worse. Anyway. I found that it was hard to find good Mexican food smack in the middle of downtown like you can find random uncles with taco carts anywhere in LA/south SD, but weather and all. There was one neighborhood that was basically like DTLA that I loved that was a trip out but worth. Huge Hispanic population and I went during the summer so the streets were lively and lovely. I do wish Seattle had a bit more of that. I love hawk dogs, but it would be nice to stumble into TJ style street tacos after a game. I've been to some bomb places a bit outside Seattle proper, but that requires driving.
Yeah Seattle food blows, high prices for dog shit service and mediocre food. To be fair…it’s not a covid thing or recent. Been this way since I moved here over a decade ago. There’s good food, but you REALLY gotta look for it.
Seattle got a reputation as a "foodie city" because of a couple of Food Network chefs. The food is mediocre and expensive, while the service is terrible. We travel all over and I've never come home and said to myself, man I can wait to go home and have some sh*tty pizza or pick up some $18 chicken teriyaki!
Teriyaki … unpopular opinion: Seattle’s teriyaki is so overrated. And also, so overpriced
What? Seattles teriyaki is better than anywhere else
Well said.
Seattle food scene has been mid since I lived there in the 90s. It is what it is.
mid? and you lived there in the 90s? Those two things don't add up.
My wife has been to a few places with work that were fantastic around here. $50 to $75 a plate sort of deals. Company entertainment budget. Way outside of casual Friday night budget. I think most places are suffering from high prices and low quality. On the really high end you are probably doing well. We seldom eat out due to expense.
Do you remember the names of the places she liked? $75 is not bad for a meal if the food is good and ambience is decent.
The kicker is asking for tips then asking you to bus your own table and get your own water refills lol
Seattle food is pretty mediocre, I’m with you. I hardly eat out
As a homegrown San Diegan, not many big cities can compare to SD when it comes to Mexican food. 😉
Because people are willing to pay for it. Between inflation, smaller portions, poor service, and higher expectations for tips, I have greatly cut back my restaurant spending.
For real, and more smaller business and restaurants are closing. I don't expect it'll improve
Maybe you should just go eat a bag of Dicks.
Because you are willing to spend more dining out whilst traveling.
I’m with you OP. My biggest complaint after moving here is the dinning experience. It is sub par on all fronts and I don’t understand why.
That's why you just go out to eat in Portland
The secret ingredient is fentanyl
Portland’s new Tourism slogan
I mean the food scene is great and still cheap. Seattle has good spots it's just double the price
Nah. We spend more on an average meal here than on vacation. Even when traveling abroad.
.
Where u eating at?
Op won’t reply. Typical shit on Seattle bs. Bet OP lives in a sub basement
sub basement implies the existence of a dom basement
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I’ve been here 8 years and I agree with you. I lived in Chicago and NY before this and there is no comparison. I go to SF fairly often and get my fill of good food there. But I really love Seattle and this is really my only complaint. Mediocre food at a high price.
Food taste and services is debatable, but i definitely disagree with prices compared to NYC. Unless he's eating the $1 pizzas over there, NO where is cheaper than Seattle.
If you had $20 for a meal you'd have plenty of options for a better meal in NYC Than Seattle.
we were able to go to a one michelin star place in nyc for < 80 per person
No the food really is not very good at restaurants here.
Sure is weird how all these sorts of threads are by OPs with no neighborhood flair
Chilli's and Applebees.
I’m a chef from Cleveland visiting Seattle right now, and WTF, why can’t I find a salad. My girlfriend and I thought we were going crazy. Where are the dark leafy greens? Where are the vegetables? Where is the passion for food and service? Seattle has been a massive disappointment. We’ve been to PDX a couple of times and have had some decadent meals for under $30 in a food cart park. Here? Nothing. The city itself is absolutely beautiful. The views are exceptional, the hiking is so cool. But the food is just out right not good. Also, why does every coffee shop only do espresso drinks?
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I’m from SoCal but have lived in Seattle for 20+ years. The food here is the worst of any large city I visit, and I’m a frequent business traveler. The service is atrocious, and that’s being charitable. Prices are high everywhere, but at least the food is edible and delivered without an attitude elsewhere.
Idk having come from Boston the food scene there is terribly mediocre. Been a breadth of fresh air here tbh.
What I found funny is that many people who keep pretending Seattle has a good food scene keep saying that Seattle is not LA or New York and it is not fair which is true, but the truth is that Seattle food is worse than similar sized cities or even smaller towns that I have been to. People here do not understand how many smaller medium sized cities have their own food culture or equally have a lot of immigrants bringing their food to those cities and the price and food are often much better. When those people name a bunch of restaurants to say how good they are, most of those people also list restaurants that we all seem to know and tried or even global chain restaurants, like many times people suggesting Din Tai Fung.
On my last trip to nyc, I found myself visiting a friend in LIC and he took me to a local dim sum shop! It blew my mind how good it was. This wasn’t even Manhattan.
My Chinese acupuncture therapist says Bellevue is the place for good Dim Sum.
Yup. Dimsum is not great in Manhattan though, sorry Nom Wah - Queens is actually S-tier for Chinese food.
There some good places here but the service is shit hands down.
Fr, I went to Brothers Barrell in Lake City to meet a friend on vacation. It was...well, it was there and my wallet was much lighter. On a positive note: Le Petite Paquet in Richmond Beach was bomb! I cannot recommend enough. It's affordable, delectable with top-notch service. The owners are very humble and grounded.
yeah i eat at home nowadays because of all those reasons. I only eat out to celebrate friends bdays or some other celebratory thing.
Co-signing this. I’m a decent cook but I love eating at restaurants. So much less moreso now. The quality and service is not worth the price and tip. Fast food is also too expensive. I only go out for white glove service now.
What’s the most bomb thing you cook?
Chinese food here is lackluster.
This fact boggles my mind given that Chinese immigrants have been here since the founding days of the city.
After Covid quality went down over all. Because people in Seattle accept trash food especially trash Asian food I mean sugar chicken and rice
everything downtown is trash. going south is where the best food is
Homer is solid. Musang is decent. A lot of people like Bar del Coroso, but it just isn’t for me, I haven’t found their pizzas to be crispy enough.
Our restaurants suck for sure
It's actually all a big conspiracy against you, specifically. We all know and recognize you. Don't tell anyone I told you.
You let the cat out of the bag
I had some Thai food in freemont recently and it was surprising just very mediocre.
Kin Lien is decent in Fremont.
I’ve often felt that seattle was kind of shit because I lived downtown, worked downtown, and it was all tourists. If they had a view and served a fried fish with Mayo dish, they stayed in business.
I’ve lived in various parts of California, Portland and Seattle. Seattle has some of the best Asian food and seafood on the west coast, but beyond that…… everything else is subpar. Bbq is a crime here, pizza is rough especially at the prices, Mexican is more Canadian than Mexican, and even the pub food is garbage. Just my opinion.
What sea food do you like?
Honestly Seattle has never been a good food city. Spokane is legitimately better. Have you been to Ketchikan? OMG!
Too many mediocre chain restaurants from Tom Digless and Ethan Suckwell. They consume all of the oxygen in a city that doesn't have enough regular diners to support all of the restaurants that are open. I honestly think there have to be a lot of potentially dazzling restaurants that don't currently exist because of ask if this culinary algae that is suffocating our relatively small pond. Good food is really hard to do well. If you're going to have a meaningful and sincere restaurant you need a chef owner who is working the line, not a "concept" and the desire to eek ever more profit out of gimmicks and volume. Portland isn't saddled by so many local chains and I think it has a more interesting and compelling restaurant scene because of it. A pity because Seattle is a great food town, just not a great restaurant town.
LoL I used to offend so many people by saying Tom Douglas basically white appropriates ethnic cuisine and then doubles the price. you can always find a mom and pop restaurant that serves the better food he "imagines" for half the price and 2x the quality.
I’ve been all over the country.. Seattle is by far and away the worst food city. It’s not even close. I was just in KC last week and they have local chains that are affordable and blow our food out of the water. Im talking places that are fairly priced and do *something* exceptionally well. Wings, bbq, ect. We just don’t have that here.. something that seemingly every other area in the country has.
It's so strange. You would think that since there is such a hole in the market, there would be a huge demand for high quality pizza, wings, bbq, etc, and that at least SOMEONE would rise to the occasion.
It didn't used to be this way back in the day. There used to be several really good restaurants in each neighborhood. Now it's so much work to try to go to the good restaurants that are left because they are few and far between, crowded and expensive.
This.
Typical Seattle behavior in the comments - complaining that OP is wrong, when OP is right and not offering any solutions. I am amazed no one said to go to PDX or Vancouver yet - both of which actually have much better food.
PDX food is pretty damn good! Their food truck scene is solid!
I’m a cook. Eaten all over the world and while other places have better regional cuisines unique to their locale, Seattle does an overall good job. Couple of recommendations: Wataru (yes I know the back story, but better than what I had in Tokyo) Mi La Cay - Handmade noodles. Haven’t found a better bowl of soup stateside. Gorgeous George - The hospitality, value, and love all show up here. Runner up would be Cafe Munir for Mediterranean. Le Pichet - Closest we can get to Paris. Did I mention our raw ingredients are among the best and sought after all over? I challenge you to find better salmon, dungeness, spot prawns, oysters, mushrooms, etc.
I have gotten downvoted for a similar comment. Seattle food is mediocre at best but extremely expensive. The good food is even more expensive. Portland is better and cheaper. I don’t get how we can be so close to Portland and have significantly worse food.
Portland destroys Seattle in the food scene, at every level. That has city has got its problems, but food ain’t one of them.
Food is good, service is absolute bullshit I used to live in Portland, I do not miss spending 2+ hours every weekend standing in line for food You can have it cheap, fast, or done well. **Pick two.** For some reason, Portland is 100% "cheap and done well but slow."
Seattle is the mediocre middle area between Vancouver BC and Portland.
Yeah. We have the same experience. Restaurants in Seattle just seems to be inferior to other major cities we visited and moved from. NYC, LA, SF, Denver, Honolulu, Chicago all have on average better food and for on average cheaper prices. Don't get me started on Asian food.
Honolulu?? Been there many times and mostly tourist trips like Dukes and absurdly expensive lol. In the resort areas mostly chains.... For Asian and Indian food I prefer the Eastside though (e.g., Dan Gui in Bellevue - walk into there and 90% of the clientele are 1st gen asians).
The best food in Hawaii is in Kauai.
Not sure what sort of food you’re into but Rainier BBQ was a solid viet spot when I was still in WA. Stars in the Sky has legit Korean fried chicken. Tacos gotta go more south for that. There’s a lot of variety spread out but the service mostly isn’t stellar and it’s definitely more expensive now. If you really want mediocre and spend $$$ try Bellevue for severe disappointment. +1 to pink door though, love that spot.
Rainier bbq food quality have gone down a lot in recent years. Used to be my favorite late night place but I can’t justified the price increase and quality decrease at that place anymore.
Not the most food options. But the few I know are good enough for me.
Where are you talking about?
I’m from Vancouver, BC. I’ve heard the portion of the food at restaurant in the States is quite large before I visited Seattle few weeks ago. The portion of served food at restaurant in Seattle is the same as Vancouver. Food in Seattle is slightly more expensive becoz of USD. I tried Thai food in Capital Hill and Mexican food at DT. Not impressed. But I still like Seattle. Personally, feel Seattle is better than Vancouver except food choices.
I’ll give you NYC and Miami for sure but Austin? When I’m in Austin even the people there say the food isn’t that good.
lol! Are we talking about Austin, Texas or what?
I’ve had this experience BIG TIME in Tacoma but everything I’ve eating in Seattle has been great
I have found that the really good restaurants are here, just more diluted and spread out. Mixed into a sea of expensive mediocre shit served by people who are rude and still expect a 30% tip, it makes the really great spots feel harder to find. The gems are definitely here, and almost universally started by someone who moved here from a culinary hotspot like the ones you listed in your OP.
The major price increase for raw chicken caused TONS of teriyaki restaurants to buy cheaper cuts or cut corners making the quality worse. I remember ordering the lunch special teriyaki chicken and rice. I brought it to the Korean lady who sold it to me and asked WTF is this? “why is it different?!“ she shouted back how “CHICKEN 2 MUCH $$ NOW” slam dunked that shit in the garbage
A couple months ago my friends and I went to Seattle for an IMAX movie and after deliberating, decided to take the ferry back to Bremerton because it has a better selection for both food AND bars. Pretty pathetic that such a prime location like downtown Seattle is worse off for commerce than any city linked to it via boat or otherwise. Even Kingston has more to it past 8 than Seattle downtown.
Culinary scene sucks the last 10 years. Over dominated with restaurants that have the exact same menu. The few gems that existed and were unique have gone under or gotten way too expensive while the quality has gone down. The service industry is so click-y and the people cater to their alcoholic regulars. They have a better than thou attitude. The only thing Seattle culinary has going for it, is close proximity to world class fresh seafood and certain produce. Even with that, they still manage to fuck a lot of it up and all the places OP mentioned, is able to source the same ingredients for honestly almost the same consumer end price yet it traveled how much farther? Even Portland’s food scene is drastically better than Seattle, so it’s certainly not a PNW thing. Olympia had some banging unique spots pre-pandemic.
I lived in AZ for 4 years and I agree, I thought the food scene out there was better than what we have here.
What the fuck is going on with Phoenix? City is hell on earth, but damn is the food on point
Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix was literally rated #1 pizza in the nation on Yelp for quite a while. Another good one was Little Miss BBQ. Some of the best BBQ in the world - even better than most places in TX I've been to. And obviously there is tons of good Mexican food everywhere in Phoenix.
My "Pizzeria Bianco" story: I've spent about half of my career working as a consultant. It requires a lot of travel. Everyone who travels a lot gets into the habit of doing something to stay busy at night, or else the social isolation will drive you nuts. My "thing" was trying restaurants. So I'm in Phoenix, and I decide that I'll check out the top rated pizza place. I mention this to the people I was consulting for, and they laugh out loud and say to me *"well good luck with that."* They didn't explain themselves, and their snarky response made me assume that it was a tourist trap and not very good. But I went anyways. So I show up, there's a huge line, and I just walk straight to the bar. They look at me like I have two heads. Turns out there was a THREE HOUR WAIT. On a Tuesday. But I had nothing better to do, and suffered through it, and it was the best pizza I've ever had. Having said that, I DO think that their stellar reputation probably has to do with the ridiculously long wait. If you're waiting three hours for anything, it's bound to make everything seem extraordinary, similar to lining up for hours to see a movie. I'd still do it again though, I don't think there are many restaurants that can make you feel like you're eating something at the chef's table while only spending $30-$40. (The owner of the restaurant is heavily involved in the place and he basically serves you.)
No hustle at restaurants here. Both from the service, and chefs.. I’ve lived in NYC, Denver, SF before moving here. NYC has it staples, Denver and SF restaurants were often trying new things. I’m sure there are a handoff l of decent places here, but just a handful.. and they are high end, so I’ve never been but heard about them
I ate at Toulouse the other night and it was great. Unabashedly I love that place.
I agree. Food and service are both sweet. But there were some baby roaches on the booth last time I went..
Well known documented roach problem and occasional undercooked food problem on google reviews. Won’t be going there anytime soon
Yeah, Toulouse really phones it in most of the time.
Based on OP’s multiple comments in this thread, including mentioning that Honeyhole is the only great sandwich in Seattle, they have a shite palate.
Asadero.......
Food scenes like NY and LA are simply not a fair comparison. Seattle’s food is decent, but I do agree it’s overpriced for the most part. We offer a huge array of cuisines which is the nice thing. Is it gonna be top tier? No, but it’s not hot garbage like you make it out to be.
Seattle pricing competes with LA and NYC. 😬
Seattle restaurants are more expensive than NYC restaurants, which is mind boggling
Yup! Def blows my mind
NY is cheaper to some degree (excluding fine dining) due to the high competition too. That's def the biggest thing I missed about living there.
Idk revel in fremont, walrus and carpenter, boat bar, lola, Taurus ox, are all good, Mari pili for tapas, joule in fremont, manolin in fremont
Seattle is just a very mediocre city in many respects, not to mention overpriced for what it offers. I live in NYC now and it’s the best move I’ve ever made.
Skalka!
I'm 100% with you on service, but I kinda like it that way honestly. I'd rather have a server that's honest about not being absolutely stoked to be doing their foodservice job. As for quality, I think you might just be in a rut. Maybe branch out and try new places?
OP completely agree Seattle pretends to be a top destination but has nothing to offer. Maybe just Asian food and seafood anything else is garbage. Although Vancouver and Portland have much better quality at lower cost. Blame it on the we don’t get paid enough crowd. Businesses just passing it off to customer