Bellevue, WA (near Factoria Mall)

Lucky in its location, Taqueria el Tapatio sits in Loehman’s Plaza right below the T-Mobile Field Service Center campus. Every day, hundreds of hungry T-Mobilers walk down to this plaza to a plethora of foreign restaurants. Being hungry for Mexican and with a little extra money to spare, I thought I’d visit Tapatio.

The restaurant is brightly decorated and clean. The staff is warm, friendly, and very efficient. The food, on the other hand, was not great. I ordered their Tacos Al Carbon and what I got was dry, tasteless meat in corn tortillas, uber-salty refried beans (no whole bean options) and mediocre Spanish rice. Tacos Al Carbon is a dish I’ve ordered at two other restaurants, El Gitano and Chihuahua’s. At these two places, the meat was tender and flavorful.

I don’t want to base all of my opinions on one meal but I’m not inspired to visit again. If I end of visiting Tapatio’s again, and I find the food better, I will update this blog on my better experience. As for now, I’m not comfortable placing my recommendation on this restaurant.

They have the most god-awful commercial known in this area. I can’t stand that damn kid and that awful awful poem. I refused to go there for years because that commercial drove me nuts. The thing is, they have a good reputation. They can handle large parties and their food is known to be good. I had a celebration with a large group of coworkers and my options for family-friendly, American-palate fare are slim. I decided to bite the bullet and give them a try and I wasn’t disappointed.

Billy McHales is a steak and rib house. They have a lot of dining space and can easily seat large parties. They’re food isn’t anything unique but when you want a good steak or, in my case, a nice fillet of wild-caught Alaskan salmon, its a good place to quench that thirst. To be honest, this place is better than the Outback Steakhouse whose prices are enormous but whose quality has dropped. I should mention the prices at Billy’s is fair. You can agree. It wasn’t an “omigod I have to go more often” type of experience but overall, it wasn’t bad.

I called yesterday to make a reservation for today. I felt adequately taken care of on that call and I was pleased they didn’t forget today when I came in. I came early, waiting for friends, and I saw people getting in and being seated quickly at prime dinner time. They have the greatest waiting area I have ever seen a restaurant have. That is smart. The wait staff was attentive enough–not over, not under. They knew how to upsell without being overbearing. They accommodated us quite well.

Overall, if you’re looking for a nice family meal, I say go. If you’re looking for a unique, never-been-done-before experience, this isn’t what you’re looking for. For a steak, burger, rib joint, they’re better than the local Bob’s Burgers and Brew. They’re good.

Hey guys,

Some of you have heard and some of you are now finding out that I have been offered a position with my employer that causes me to relocate south. As a result, I will not be eating out as often as I have to be careful with my spending as well, I’m very busy. Other causes for less posts, I keep eating at the same restaurants I love and blogged. My new main restaurant is my kitchen at this time. My favorite chef is my boyfriend. Tonight, in celebration of my last day at my old position, my friends and I went out to a locally owned small restaurant chain. I will blog.

Seattle, WA

This restaurant isn’t bad if you’re into football, sports-related, bistro food. The service isn’t bad. The cleanliness and atmosphere isn’t bad. It just isn’t all that good either. Located in the hoity-toity University Village shopping center, this restaurant serves hamburgers, steak, seafood creations, and beer. It’s almost as if Red Robin married Skagit Brewery and its offspring went off to college.

It isn’t that the food isn’t tasty. The hamburger I had was good minus all the mayonnaise. The beef was a great quality chuck that I really appreciated however, there was a serious lack of healthy alternatives. I thought I could have the coleslaw with my burger instead of their fries but the slaw was so rich with mayo and HORSERADISH I couldn’t eat it. Who puts horseradish in their coleslaw? Also, it had just as much red onion as it did carrot which, combined with the horseradish, made for a very pungent salad. I appreciate a restaurant that tries to be different but they should taste their coleslaw before serving it.

My boyfriend had the rueben and thought the amount of horseradish was overwhelming.

My waitress did a good job. She wasn’t over-approaching but she was around frequently enough to make sure we’re fine. We didn’t wait long for our food or our check. We never needed a refill because the glass they provided was enormous. The restaurant was very clean and well decorated.

Would I recommend this restaurant to anyone? If you’re the beer-drinking, bistro foodie, then you might like this place. Certainly the service was good and the beef was great so I wouldn’t discourage people from trying this restaurant. I just feel as though I could live without ever visiting this place again.